Set the margins for your paper to 1 inch on all sides. Use size 12-point Times New Roman font.
Double-space all sections of the paper including the appendices and footnotes. Use a single space after colons and semicolons and two spaces after punctuation marks at the end of a sentence.
Create a header in your word processing program with the title of your paper flush to the right and page number flush to the left.
Center the title of your paper on your title page using proper upper and lowercase letters. APA recommends that you keep the title 12 words or less and avoid using abbreviations. Double-space and write your name, leaving out titles and degrees. Double-space once more to write the institution where you conducted the research.
Make a new page to write your abstract. Center the word "Abstract" on the first line of the page, then double-space down and type your abstract in a single, double-spaced paragraph using from 150 to 250 words. Do not indent.
Begin the body content of your paper on page 3. Keep all text flush-left and indent the first word of a new paragraph five to seven spaces.
Use in-text citations to avoid allegations of plagiarizing. List the author and year of publication in parentheses at the end of the sentence where the fact appears. The complete citation should appear at the end of the paper in your references section.
Create a references page at the end of your paper to list all sources from which you obtained information. Center the title "References" on the page and arrange the sources alphabetically using the author's last name. Align the first line of each reference to the left and indent additional lines.