The American Psychological Association Format is NOT the same as the Modern Language Association Format!
General Paper Format:
Ultimate goal: Consistent and accessible by all—including screen readers
8 ½ X 11" paper with 1 inch margins on all sides.
Double space (All sections)
12 font Times New Roman (accessible)
Page headers on every page with the page number flush right. For student papers, the page number is sufficient. For professional papers, “the running head” includes a shortened version of the title.
Numbers: General Rule: write out numbers 1-9 as words, 10+ as numerals.
Title page: Centered in the upper half of the title page. (Should also have page number in right header!)
Title of the Paper in Bold Font in Title Case
Firstname M. Lastname
School or College, Saint Louis University
COUR####: Course Name in Title Case
Dr. Cool Professor
Month, Day, Year
In-Text Citation
Two main types:
Parenthetical:
Young children using the means principle "judged harm as a means to be more permissible when the harm benefited the victim as opposed to others" (Levine & Leslie, 2022, p. 2901).
Narrative:
As Levine and Leslie (2022) found, young children utilized the means principle and "judged harm as a means to be more permissible when the harm benefited the victim as opposed to others" (p. 2901).
Page numbers are not required for paraphrasing, summarizing, or synthesizing; but, are required (when available) for direct quotations.
Reference List
Remember, the citations that can be exported from databases may not be correct or up to date per the current APA Citation Style. Please note: one of the updates in APA 7th is that up to 20 authors should be included in a citation!
General Style for a book:
NOTE:
A DOI, or Digital Object Identifier, is a string of numbers, letters and symbols used to uniquely identify an article or document, and to provide it with a permanent web address (URL).
A DOI will help your reader easily locate a document from your citation as it is a static web address that will never change and only apply to that article (sort of like your Social Security Number or Student ID). It will always refer to that article, and only that one. While a web address (URL) might change, the DOI will never change.
General Style for a journal article:
NOTE:
A DOI, or Digital Object Identifier, is a string of numbers, letters and symbols used to uniquely identify an article or document, and to provide it with a permanent web address (URL).
The following sources may be helpful! (These will open in new windows.)