U N I V E R S I TY WR I TI N G C E N TE R

IRBY HALL ROOM 118 450-5123

APA 5th Edition Guidelines

This packet will give you a quick run-through of the basics of 5th Ed. APA format. For
more detailed information, refer to the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association (Fifth Edition).

This handout includes basic information regarding:

1) THE COVER PAGE

2) THE ABSTRACT
3) THE TEXT
4) THE REFERENCE PAGE

THE COVER PAGE

• The page header consists of either the first two or three words of your title
or two very important words in your title. These words and the page number
should appear in the upper right hand corner of every page within your
paper. Put five spaces between the header and the page number.

• The running head is an abbreviated title that does not exceed 50

characters, including all punctuation and spaces. It is in all uppercase letters,
flush left at the top of the title page just below the header. Typically, it is
only necessary for publication, although many instructors require it.

• The title should summarize the main idea of the paper. It should be very
simple and fully explanatory when standing alone. It should be typed in
upper and lower case letters and centered on the page (double-spaced if it is
more than two lines).

• The identification information should include the title, your name, and
institutional affiliation. Your name should be typed in upper and lower case
letters, centered, and double-spaced one line below the title. Your
institutional affiliation follows the same format just below your name.
THE ABSTRACT

• The page header should appear at the top right hand corner of the page
and should have previously been set up on the cover page.

• The title informs the reader that they are about to read your abstract, not
your paper. The word "Abstract" should be centered exactly one double-
spaced line above the abstract's body. The letter A should be capitalized,
while the rest of the word should be in lower case. It should not be bold,
enlarged in font size, or enclosed in quotation marks.

• The body is a brief, comprehensive summary of the content of your paper.

It should be typed as a single paragraph, not exceeding 960 characters, and
should be typed in block format (without indention).

§ The purpose of the abstract is to condense the paper into a few, succinct
lines. Thus, the reader must be able to understand the essence of the
paper from reading just the abstract, without actually reading the paper.

§ The easiest way to write an abstract is to work from an outline of the

paper. Condense the headings and subheadings into general ideas and
insert these into your abstract within understandable sentences.
THE TEXT

• The page header identifies the first page of the text as the third page of your paper. It
should have previously been set up on the cover page.

• The title that appears on the first page of your paper should be the same as the full title
that appears on your cover page. The title should be centered and double-spaced, and
should appear in upper and lower case letters (NOT in quotation marks).

• The body of the paper is where the content of your paper is displayed. The body should
be double-spaced in paragraph form (with indentations). Subheadings should be used
within the body to help organize the many different categories.

• The headings and subheadings are necessary to help organize the different sections of
your paper. Headings act similar to an outline (were it to be distributed throughout the
paper).

§ Articles in APA journals use from one to five levels of headings.

§ For many papers in APA style, two levels of headings meet the requirements (use levels
1 and 3). When three levels of headings are needed, use levels 1, 3, and 4. For any
further levels, please refer to the APA manual pages 113-116 because further
information is needed.

Level 5:
CENTERED UPPERCASE HEADING

Level 1:
Centered Upper- and Lowercase Heading

Level 2:
Centered, Italicized, Upper and Lowercase Heading

Level 3:
Flush Left, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase Side Heading

Level 4:
Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.
• The Citations that appear throughout the body of the text are necessary because they
give credit to the original author. Both direct quotes and paraphrasing require citation.
Citations include the author’s last name and the year of publication (for quoted material, a
page number is included). If an author is not available, use the title of the work. The
punctuation for the end of the sentence ALWAYS follows the last parentheses.

Citations for:

A direct quote… (Bradley, 1998, p.276).

Paraphrasing with one author… (Bradley, 1998).

…with two authors… (Bradley & Calhoun, 1998).

…with three to five authors

(1st time only)… (Bradley, Calhoun, Davis & Fitch, 1998).

…with three to five authors

(following the 1st time)… (Bradley et al., 1998).

…with six or more authors… (Bradley et al., 1998).

With no author, use the first

identifying words of the title… (“The Journey,” 1998).

*for more information, refer to the APA style manual.

THE REFERENCE PAGE
• The page header should appear at the top right hand corner of the page and should
have previously been set up on the cover page.

• The title informs people that this is the reference page. The word References should be
centered at the top of your page and typed in the normal font with no bold, underline, or
quotation marks.

• The references are sources from which you obtained information that you used within
the text. All of the information readers might need to further investigate your research
themselves should be present in the reference list.

The following page contains examples of how to format different types of sources.
However, because of the wide variety of documents available, it is probably essential that
you consult an APA style manual to determine the correct format for a particular source.
 EXAMPLE
Formatting Differences 1

Running Head: THE MAJOR FORMATTING DIFFERENCES IN APA STYLE

Presentation of Major Formatting Differences

Found Within the APA Style of Writing

John B. Doe

The University of Central Arkansas

 EXAMPLE

Formatting Differences 2

Abstract

This is where your abstract should begin. The body is a brief, comprehensive summary of the

content of your paper. It should be typed as a single paragraph, not exceeding 960

characters, and should be typed in block format (without indention). The purpose of the

abstract is to condense the paper into a few, succinct lines. Thus, the reader must be able to

understand the essence of the paper from reading just the abstract, without actually reading

the paper. The easiest way to write an abstract is to work from an outline of the paper.

Condense the headings and subheadings into general ideas and insert these into your abstract

within understandable sentences.

 EXAMPLE

Formatting Differences 3

Presentation of Major Formatting Differences

Found Within the APA Style of Writing

The body of the paper is where the content of your paper is displayed. The body

should be double-spaced in paragraph form (with indentations). Subheadings should be used

within the body to help organize the many different categories. The rest of the text should

follow in paragraphs here . . .

 EXAMPLE
Formatting Differences 4

References

An entry in an encyclopedia or dictionary

Sadie, S. (Ed.). (1980). The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians

(6th ed., Vols. 1-20). London: Macmillan.

Book

Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts

for journal publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

A web site

Shade, L. R. (1993). Bender issues in computer networking. Retrieved August 8,

2000, from http://www.mit.edu/sorokin/women/lrs.html

Journal article, more than one author, paginated by volume

Kernis, M. H., Cornell, D. P., Sun, C. R., Berry, A., & Harlow, T. (1993).

There's more to self-esteem than whether it is high or low: The importance of

stability of self-esteem. Journal of Social Psychology, 38, 1190-1204.

Journal article, one author, paginated by issue

Maienza, J. G. (1986). The superintendency: Characteristics of access for men

and women. Educational Administration Quarterly, 22 (4), 59-79.

A book or article with no author or editor named

Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (10th ed.). (1993). Springfield, MA:

Merriam-Webster.

[The entries in this list were taken from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5 h ed.)]