APA Format Guide 2025: Everything You Need to Know

APA format is the citation style published by the American Psychological Association and used in psychology, education, social sciences, nursing, and business. The current version is APA 7th Edition, published in 2020 and still the standard in 2025.

This guide covers everything — page setup, title page, headings, in-text citations, and the reference list — with examples for every common source type.

Page Setup

- Font: 12-point Times New Roman, or 11-point Calibri, or 11-point Arial - Margins: 1 inch on all sides - Spacing: Double-spaced throughout (including references) - Alignment: Left-aligned (not justified) - Indentation: First line of every paragraph indented 0.5 inches - Page numbers: Top right corner, starting from page 1

The Title Page

APA 7th edition has two title page formats: student and professional. For most coursework, use the student format.

Student title page includes: - Paper title (bold, centred, upper half of page) - Author name(s) (centred, below title) - Department and university name (centred) - Course number and name (centred) - Instructor name (centred) - Due date (centred) - Page number (top right)

Note: APA 7th edition removed the running head requirement for student papers. You only need it for papers submitted for publication.

Headings

APA uses five levels of headings:

Level 1 — Centred, Bold, Title Case Level 2 — Left-aligned, Bold, Title Case Level 3 — Left-aligned, Bold Italic, Title Case Level 4 — Indented, Bold, Title Case, ends with period. Level 5 — Indented, Bold Italic, Title Case, ends with period.

Most student papers only use Level 1 and Level 2.

In-Text Citations

Every time you use information from a source, you must cite it. APA in-text citations use author-date format.

One author

> (Smith, 2022) > Smith (2022) argued that...

Two authors

> (Smith & Jones, 2022)

Three or more authors

> (Smith et al., 2022)

No author — use title (shortened)

> ("Article Title," 2022)

Direct quote — add page number

> (Smith, 2022, p. 45) > (Smith, 2022, pp. 45–46)

No date

> (Smith, n.d.)

The Reference List

The reference list appears on a new page at the end of the paper, titled References (centred, bold). Entries are: - Alphabetised by author's last name - Double-spaced - Hanging indent (first line flush left, subsequent lines indented 0.5 inches)

Journal article

> Smith, J. A., & Jones, B. C. (2022). Title of article in sentence case. Journal Name in Title Case, Volume(Issue), page–page. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Book

> Smith, J. A. (2020). Book title in sentence case. Publisher Name.

Book chapter (edited book)

> Smith, J. A. (2020). Chapter title in sentence case. In B. C. Jones (Ed.), Book title (pp. 45–67). Publisher.

Website

> Smith, J. A. (2022, March 15). Title of webpage. Website Name. https://www.example.com/page

No author, website

> Title of webpage. (2022, March 15). Website Name. https://www.example.com/page

YouTube video

> Channel Name. (2022, March 15). Title of video [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxxxx

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Italicising the wrong thing In journal references, only the journal name and volume number are italicised — not the article title.

2. Capitalisation in titles Article and book titles use sentence case (only capitalise the first word, proper nouns, and the first word after a colon). Journal names use title case.

3. Including URLs for database articles If a journal article has a DOI, use the DOI. Only include a URL if there is no DOI and the article is only available on the web.

4. Missing the hanging indent This is the most common formatting mistake. Every reference entry needs a hanging indent.

5. Forgetting et al. rules For three or more authors, use et al. from the first citation. For two authors, always list both names every time.

Quick Reference Checklist

Before submitting, check: - [ ] Title page has all required elements - [ ] Double-spaced throughout - [ ] 1-inch margins on all sides - [ ] Every in-text citation has a matching reference entry - [ ] Reference list is alphabetised - [ ] Hanging indent applied to all references - [ ] DOIs included where available - [ ] Page numbers in top right corner

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