APA: GENERAL INFORMATION
*Information on this handout is summarized from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (American
Psychological Association [APA], 2001). Examples are fictional in content.
Formatting of Text:
Choose 12-pt Times New Roman as your font.
Double-space and left-align text; indent the first line of each paragraph five to seven spaces (or 1/2 inch).
Leave a one-inch margin around the page.
Do not divide words at the end of the line.
Numbers:
Do not use an apostrophe when pluralizing numbers.
e.g. “sixes,” “1930s,” “10s and 20s”
In most cases, write out numbers from one to nine and use numerals for 10 and above.
e.g. four cars; 10 cases; 18 years
Title Pages:
The title should be explanatory and detailed (approximately 10 to 12 words in length).
The title should be centered on page horizontally and positioned in the upper half of the page.
The information on the title page should be double-spaced.
Page Headers:
Page headers consist of a short title and the page number (with five spaces in between).
Position page headers 1/2 inch from the top of the page, right-aligned, starting on the title page.
Seriation Within a Paragraph
When listing complex elements, use letters to identify each element.
e.g. We performed the test on (a) females under 18 years of age who had been smoking for more than five years,
(b) females between 19 and 30 years of age who had been smoking for more than 10 years, and (c) females between
31 and 50 years of age who had been smoking for more than 20 years.
Abbreviations
In the text, write out the abbreviation in full followed by the abbreviation in parentheses the first time it is mentioned in
the paper. Subsequently, use the abbreviation only.
e.g. First Citation: Women Against Smoking (WAS). Subsequent Citations: WAS
An abbreviation that appears as a word entry in Webster’s Collegiate does not need explanation in the text.
e.g. HIV, IQ
Do not abbreviate the words “day,” “week,” “month,” and “year.”
Appendixes
The plural of appendix is appendixes.
If your paper includes more than one appendix, place each appendix on a separate page. Label them Appendix A,
Appendix B, etc. Appendixes should be labeled according to the order they are mentioned in the paper.
After the Appendix label, double-space once, then place the title centered on page. Double-space again, then enter the
text (aligned left) or the table (centered).
If there is only one appendix, label it Appendix.
If there is only one appendix consisting of one table, enter only the centered appendix label and title (no
table number or title.
Brackets [ ]
Use brackets to enclose information that is already in parentheses.
e.g. (Teens for World Peace [TWP], 2006, para. 2)
Place brackets around material that is not part of the original quote.
e.g. “When [Brown’s] results were reviewed” (Littlejohn, 1999, p. 44), the findings proved the theory.
Parentheses ( )
Use parentheses to set off phrases, such as (see Figure 2) or (see Table 1).
Place parentheses around citation information in the text, such as (1991) or (O’Henry, 2003, p. 3).
Place parentheses around abbreviations in the text.
e.g. Teens for World Peace (TWP)
Do not place parentheses back to back ( ) ( ).
Punctuation and Parentheses
Place punctuation inside the parentheses when a complete sentence is enclosed in parentheses.
e.g. (The photographer set up his equipment on time.)
Place punctuation outside the parentheses when only part of the sentence is enclosed in parentheses.
e.g. When John arrived with Dana (Billy’s sister), Billy left the room (with Joanna).
Punctuation and Quotation Marks
When the quote is placed midsentence, cite the source in parentheses, then insert punctuation if the meaning of the
sentence requires punctuation.
e.g. Bright (2001) states, “One should be cautious in giving out personal information” (p. 37), but he does not point out
other important safety tips for travelers.
When the quote is placed at the end of a sentence, cite the source in parentheses after the quote, and end with the
punctuation mark.
e.g. Bright (2001) warns travelers to “be cautious in giving out personal information” (p. 37).
When the quote is 40 words or longer, it is a block quote. In this case, insert the punctuation mark and then cite the source
in parentheses.
e.g. Naoke (2003) implied the following:
Aggressive behaviours declined when the patients were allowed, and even encouraged, to express their emotions
during daily group support meetings. Furthermore, group support meetings provided an outlet for patients to express a
wide range of feelings, which led to effective team building. (p. 341)
Levels of Headings
Two levels of headings:
Centered Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
Flush Left, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase Side Heading
Three levels of headings:
Centered Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
Flush Left, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase Side Heading
Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.
Four levels of headings:
Centered Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
Centered Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
Flush Left, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase Side Heading
Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.
References
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington: Author.
This handout was developed by the Writing Service at Conestoga College (2007). Any reproduction should acknowledge the source.