All APA papers have certain basic formatting. They are written in 12-point Times New Roman font, double spaced, with 1-inch margins on all sides and use page headers showing the title of the paper and the page number. In-text citations appear in parentheses at the end of a sentence and usually include the author's last name, the date she published her findings and the page number, such as (Curie, 1925, p. 100). If you have used the author's name in the body of the essay, it can be dropped from the citation, and if you paraphrase an entire article, you need only the author's name and the year.
A Reference page is required for all APA papers. This is often the hardest page for students to format correctly, but just remember that every item needs certain information that is presented in exact order. Each item differs slightly, depending on the source, but in general includes: authors, date, title of article, journal or book it came from, page number and/or a digital object identifier (DOI). The page is done in alphabetical order, and each item uses a hanging indent paragraph style, where the first line is flush with the left margin and each subsequent line is indented five spaces.
APA papers are divided into clear sections through the use of headers. The number of sections varies, depending on whether you write a review of literature or an experimental report. The headings can be nested, with each section containing one or more subsections.
In a literature review, you are asked to read several articles on a given topic, such as "Resocialization in College Students," and summarize the authors' methods and findings. The first section is a Title Page, which includes the title of the paper, your name and the name of your institution. Then comes the Introduction, which may contain an Abstract, a one-paragraph summary of what you did and what you found. After that is the Body of the paper, followed by a separate page of References.
If your paper is based on an experiment you conducted, it likely will have several sections. The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University lists these as Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, References, Appendices and Tables. The Method and Results sections lay out in great detail the specifics of your experiment, while the Discussion section offers your interpretation of the outcome, as well as possible avenues for further study. The Appendices and Tables present data, charts, illustrations and any other supplemental materials that pertain to your study.