Communication Arts

The Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) provides a useful guide to proper APA formatting. This document will answer many of your questions.  Be sure to include the entire legal notice at the bottom of the page when printing this resource.

Begin by formatting your paper:

• Set margins at 1" on all sides.  You can do this by clicking on file>page set up. and entering 1.0 for all margins.  The paper orientation should be portrait. Click ok to save your settings.
• All typing should be double-spaced, including your Works Cited Page. Set this by clicking on the format tab and then the drop down paragraph option.  The body of the paper should have 1/2" paragraph indentations.  The Works Cited page should be formatted with 1/2" hanging indentations. 
• The suggested font is 12 pt. Times New Roman.  You can set this by going to the Format tab and clicking on font from the drop down box. 

• Include a page header at the top of every page. To create a page header, insert page numbers flush right. Then type "TITLE OF YOUR PAPER" in the header flush left.

• Unlike MLA, APA consists of four sections including: Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and References.  For more information about formatting these pages, consult the APA Style Guide or the Purdue OWL APA Formatting and Style Guide Link on this page.

• A MAJOR change in recent APA editions is the requirement for a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) in the citation for print and electronic resources when available.  More information is available in the detailed formatting guides.

• Leave only one space after punctuation at the end of sentences.