Formatting a paper in APA with Word

MORE HELP WITH APA FORMAT
If you are currently registered for a course in the College of Nursing, you can get more support for APA formatting issues at the CON's Writing in Nursing-Resources (WIN-R) website on WebCT. Or enter via the KSU Flashline portal using your KSU ID and password.

Spacing and Indentation

  1. The entire paper is double spaced.
  2. The first line of every paragraph is indented and the tab key should be set at 5-7 spaces or 1/2 inch.
  3. References are published using a hanging indent format (see the section on formatting a paper). The first line of each reference is flush left and subsequent lines are indented.
  4. Use only one space after a period or other punctuation marks before starting new sentence.

Order of Manuscript

  1. Title page if required is labeled page one.
  2. The abstract if required is labeled page two.
  3. The text begins on page three.
  4. The reference page is also numbered.
  5. Pages are numbered in the right upper hand corner using Arabic numerals, 1, 2, 3.and so on.
  6. Pages with figures on them are not numbered.
  7. Order of the end of the manuscript following the text includes:
    1. References
    2. Appendixes
    3. Author's Notes
    4. Footnotes
    5. Tables
    6. Figure Captions
    7. Figures

Title page

Required Information for Title Page

The Header
Page numbers inserted inside the header.
The Running head
The Title of your paper
Your name-first name, middle initial, last name
Your Affiliation

General Information for Title Page Development

Headers are set when you format the title page and appear on every page of the manuscript.

The running head is a two or three word abbreviation, maximum of 50 characters, of the title.

The running head only goes on the title page.

The running head and the capital letter title following it are deleted for all subsequent pages.

The portion of the title that is included in the running head is all in capital letters.

Formatting the paper

  • Click on format-on toolbar
  • Go to paragraph
  • From here you can change line spacing, indentations, and tabs
  • Go to line spacing and click on double
  • Click OK

fomatting a paper

Title page
Information needed to develop the title page includes the following:

  1. Header
  2. Page numbers- inserted by you when you make your header. After that they automatically appear on the rest of pages
  3. Title of your paper
  4. Your name-first name, middle initial, last name
  5. Affiliation

Headers appear on every page of the manuscript, you will set your header when you start your title page.

  • The running head is a two or three word abbreviation of title, with a maximum of 50 characters.
  • The running head only goes on the title page.
  • The running head and the capital letter title following it are eliminated for all further pages.
  • The part of the title you include in your running head is all in capital letters.

Computer set-up for formatting paper

 Setting Margins

  1. Open new document
  2. Click on file
  3. Go to page setup on dropdown menu
  4. On margins tab-set margins
  5. All margins should be at least one inch-top, bottom, right and left
  6. The gutter setting is the default and normally does not need changed (FYI: gutters are an extra amount of space on the left margins, used when you are binding, etc)
  7. Move mouse to apply to: click on-whole document

  8. Click OK

 Setting margins

HEADERS-TITLE PAGE

  1. Make sure the font is set at 12
  2. This can be done from the tool bar-go to
    1. format
    2. font
  3. Starting header
    1. Click on view
    2. On drop down menu- click header/footer
  4. The header footer box will open (Note the header/footer toolbar approximately in the middle of this screen) This is what you will be using to design header

 Headers

  1. Starting on left side of text box, type the title of your paper
  2. Press space bar five times
  3. Click the symbol that looks like a white page with a blue#-on header/footer toolbar
  4. This will put in your page number for you
  5. Press the home key. Your cursor should be at the beginning of the title you just typed- Press tab 2 times.This will move your header and page number to the right side of the paper
  6. Press end. Your cursor will be at the end of this line
  7. Press the enter key and type Running Head:
  8. Put on cap lock key and type the 2-3 words of your title that you are using for your running head-make sure these 2-3 words are capitalized.
  9. Remove cap locks 
  10. Push close button on header/footer tool bar.

 Headers and footers

Double spacing the paper

  1. Click on format
  2. on drop down menu
    1. click paragraph
    2. on indent/spacing tab
    3. highlight line spacing -click on double
    4. click OK

 Double space

Centering title on title page

  1. Click file
  2. On dropdown menu-click page setup
  3. Click layout tab
  4. Click vertical alignment
  5. Click center
  6. On apply to-click on whole document
  7. Click OK

To center title horizontally-use center justification on tool bar

  1. Type in title, name and affiliation
  2. Click insert
  3. Click on Break
  4. Under Section break -click on next page
  5. Click OK
  6. Then-click on file, page setup
  7. Click on layout tab
  8. Click vertical alignment
  9. Click top
  10. In apply to -click from this point forward
  11. Click OK

 To left justify paper

  1. Use tool bar

Eliminate the running head on all pages except page 1

Word version 98 and 2000

  1. Click view
  2. Click Header/footer
  3. Click on same as previous. (On header/footer toolbar)
  4. Delete: Running head: THIS IS MY PAPER
  5. CLOSE
  6. Start typing the rest of the paper. (You should be on page 2 of your text - the abstract. 

Word version 2003

  1. Set up your first page header as per the above instructions but do not insert the running head
  2. When you start page 2. Go to view, header and footer.
  3. Click the page set-up tab
  4. Select the header footer option -different first page. This will remove all content from the header on page one.
  5. Use the tab button to go to previous (page 1). It will now be blank. This is where you need to follow the directions to insert your header again but now also add the running head.
  6. The first page will display the running head but all the following pages will not.
  7. This feature is helpful if you do not want a header to appear on your first page.
  8. For more information on this topic do a Word help search on headers and footers.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is a running head and where is it used?
    A.     The running head is a capitalized, two to three word abbreviated form of the title. It appears only on the title page, is left justified and one row below the header.

  1. What is the order of the pages in my APA paper?
    A.     See page 287 of the APA (5th ed.) Publication Manual.

  1. Do I use headings in my paper?
    A.     Yes, see page 111 of the APA (5th ed.) Publication Manual.

  1. I get confused as to the usage of semi-colon versus a colon.
    A.     See page 80 of Publication Manual (5th ed.) for the answer to that question and for more information on punctuation.

  1. When I try to remove the running head from the next page, I end up removing it from page one also, what am I doing wrong?
    A.     The steps for running head using headers and footers must be followed exactly.

  1. Should I use colored ink in my paper to identify certain subjects?
    A.     No, these are professional papers, black is the acceptable color of type. Save your colors for non-professional papers

  1. I have always left two spaces after a period at the end of a sentence, has that changed?
    A.     Yes, due to the letter spacing of computers, one space is all that is required.

  1. Why do I need to make extra file copies of my papers?
    A.     With word processors and computers, you can easily make changes and corrections and files can sometimes be lost. Also, you may want to save your paper for future reference.

  1. How do I cite sources received from the Internet?
    A.     See APA edition 5 for more information. 

  1. Does each section of my paper start on a new page?
    A.     No, see the APA manual p. 288 to determine when a page break is needed.

  2. How do I cite electronic sources?
    A. See http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html

  3. "For information on APA formatting guidelines and examples" see the CON WIN-R website at
    http://class.kent.edu."

 

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This page was last modified on: December 21, 2009