The body of your research paper begins on a new page. All numbers in your Abstract should be typed as digits rather than words, except those that begin a sentence. It usually consists of just 150-250 words, typed in block format. The Abstract of your paper contains a brief summary of the entirety of your research paper. The title page will serve as the of your paper.

The page number should appear one inch from the right corner of the paper on the first line of each page. Title Page > Abstract > Body > References > Appendices > Footnotes > Tables > Figures The order of pages should follow this format: An example of this would be, instead of writing “according to the study,” it should be “according to our study.” Now, it has changed and most disciplines require the active voice. That is, refraining from using pronouns such as ‘I' or ‘we' in your statements.

Active Voice.Traditionally, the APA writing format requires writing in a grammatically passive form.

Running Heads should not exceed 50 characters including punctuation and spacing. These are instead mostly required for documents that are being prepared for publication. Running Heads are not necessary for high school and collegiate papers unless required by the instructor. Running heads are typed flush left at the top of all pages while Short Titles are typed flush right. Running heads should not be confused with Short Titles. Short Titles on the other hand are two to three-word derivation of the title of your paper.

Running Head and Short Title. Running heads are short titles located at the top of each of the pages of your article.

Text Alignment and Indentation. Alignment should be flush left, or aligned to the left creating uneven right margin.

For spacing after punctuation, space once after commas, colons and semicolons within sentences and space twice after punctuation marks that end sentences. Double-spacing for the whole document, including appendices, footnotes, tables and figures.Font Size and Type. Font for text throughout the paper should be 12-pt., Times New Roman.

Now, margins on all sides (top, bottom, left and right) should each measure just 1 inch.

Formerly, the required measurement for margins was 1 ½ inch.

In general, your paper should follow these formatting guidelines: What follows are some useful pointers for those of you who have been asked to write a paper using the APA format. The APA writing style has evolved through time and several changes have been adapted in response to the electronic information age.

Apa format paper title page