All written assignments throughout your program at Everest are required to use the American Psychological Association (APA), 6th edition guidelines. This guide will take you through the entire process of using the tools in Microsoft Word to set up your document following APA formatting guidelines.
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I.
Setting up the Paper in APA Style Format A. Preparing Your Word document B. Creating Your Running Head C. Inserting Page Numbers D. Centering & Creating Your Title Page E. First Page Header F. Starting Your Paper
II. III. IV.
Adding In-Text Citations Creating & Updating Your Reference Page Using Word APA Templates
Steps to Format your Research Paper 1. Open a new document in Word 2007.
2. To set this document up properly for APA style: A. Select Page Layout B. Choose the Margin setting C. Click the Margins pull down menu and select Normal, which is the setting for one inch on all sides, top, bottom, right and left.
3. Format Font to set the default APA font. A. Click the Home tab B. Locate the Font box C. Click on the arrow to see a list of the Font names and select the correct APA style font, which is Times New Roman. D. Click on the arrow to see a list of the Font sizes and select 12.
4. Format Spacing to the required Double Space. A. Click the Home tab B. Locate the Paragraph box C. Click on the arrow to see a list of the Line Spacing options and select the correct APA style spacing which is 2.0.
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5. Create your Running Head A. Click on the Insert tab B. Click the Header options arrow
C. Select the first option in the drop down menu, which is "Blank"
D. In the options block, check the box for “Different First Page” E. Type the words "Running Head" (Title page only), followed by a colon, and hit the space bar. Type in a shortened version of your paper 's title (50 characters), in ALL CAPS
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6. Inserting Page Numbers A. Tap the tab key to
Citations: and Bibliography" D. You 'll need to re-enter the spaces between your citations and the hanging indentations E. Congratulations! You’ve completed the basics of using the tools in Microsoft Word to set up your paper using APA formatting. This is a skill you will use throughout your academic career here at Everest. Please be sure to save a copy of this guide and refer to it whenever writing a paper using APA formatting. Once you have completed writing the content of your paper, be sure to go back through it and run a thorough proof for APA, spelling, and grammar errors. Back to top *NOTE* This is an optional APA template to review and is not required to format your document. Word APA Templates A. The Microsoft template won 't necessarily be 100% up to date with the most current APA formatting B. Double check it with your own APA knowledge and make any adjustments C. Pull up a web browser (such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox) D. Search for "Office 2007 APA template" E. Once you find an APA style template by Microsoft, go ahead and download it F. Launch the download by double clicking it G. Some things will need to be changed such as placing the appropriate information in the header and on the title page