How do I format my assignment using APA 7th referencing style?

Guidelines for essay writing style and format are governed by your School, and can usually be found in your course outline. The information provided on this page adheres to the guidance in the APA Manual of Publication 7th edition, but as different disciplines have varied preferences for format and style, you should first check with your lecturer, tutor, research supervisor or ask at your School if you wish to follow the APA formatting guidance or use the template linked below.

American Psychological Association (APA) – APA Style Manual 7^th edition provides slightly different directions for formatting student papers and professional papers from the previous 6th edition. Major changes in respect to formatting student papers as per the new manual are as follows:

General formatting rules for student papers:

• 2.54cm margins on all four sides
• Double spacing throughout (with a few exceptions)
• Use a font size and style consistently throughout the paper. Font can be any of the following:

Calibiri 11pt, Arial 11pt, Lucida 10pt, Times New Roman 12pt, Georgia 11pt

• One space after a “full-stop” throughout the paper
• Headings:

First level: Centred and Boldfaced in Title Case – starts on a new line

Second level: Left justified, Boldfaced in Title Case - starts on a new line

Third level: Left-justified, Bold, Italics, Title Case - starts on a new line

Title page:

• First page of the paper
• Page number in Header - starts with 1, upper right corner
• Running head and author note not required in APA 7
• Text consistently centred on the page and Boldfaced in Title Case
• Title of the paper - in the upper half of the page (3-4 lines, below the top margin), (e.g. Medical Tourism and Postoperative Infections)
• Name of the student – 2 lines below the title, do not mention title or degree, First name, middle initial(s), last name (e.g. Rose M. Taylor) - starts on a new line
• Departmental and institutional affiliation (e.g. School of Education, The University of Notre Dame Australia) - starts on a new line
• Course number and title (e.g. BUSN1200: Principles of Finance) - starts on a new line
• Name of professor - use tutor's preferred designation (Dr. John Smith) - starts on a new line
• Date, assignment due date (e.g. 12 December 2021) - starts on a new line

Reference list:

• Starts on a new page, label the page “References”- centred and boldfaced
• All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be hanging indented 1.27cm from the left margin (Word default settings are acceptable).
• Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) must include the https://doi.org/ prefix and be hyperlinked.

Anatomy of an APA Style 7^th edition student report includes:

• Title Page
• Abstract (optional section for student papers, maximum 250 words)
• Introduction
• Method
• Results
• Discussion
• References
• Table, figures, appendices, supplemental materials (optional. Tables and figures may be included individually at the relevant location in the text or grouped together after the references)

Downloadable template from the American Psychological Association available below.

For further information and examples refer to the links listed.