For page formatting, set one inch margins at the top, bottom, left and right edges of each page. Use times new roman font for body text and a sanserif font, like arial, for captions. Use a flush left margin so that every line begins aligned at the left margin, with a jagged right edge. Do not indent the abstract, block quotations, headings, items in a list of references, table titles, notes and figure captions.

Number all the pages of your paper, including the title page and reference pages. Include the short title of your paper, a two to three word title, in upper and lowercase letters immediately to the left of the page number, on every page. On the title page, type the short title and page number 1 in the upper right hand corner of the first page, one inch below the edge of the page. Double space after the last line of the title and type your name centered below the title.

Double space and type the name of your school or college centered below your name. On the abstract page, type the short title and 2 for the page number flush with the right margin. In the body, type the short title and 3 for the page number flush with the right margin. Double space and start the first line of the body of the paper, indented under the title. Type second level headings flush left in boldface type, using upper and lowercase letters.

Type third level headings indented in boldface type, using lowercase letters ending with a period. On in text references, take notes during your research to keep track of resources that directly influenced your work, even if you paraphrased those sources in your paper. Follow the author date format: in 2003, chatham wrote of unexpected results or chatham's 2003 study found unexpected results. Double space and type the first reference, organized in alphabetical order by the authors' last names. Use hanging indentation so that the first line of each reference is flush left and subsequent lines are indented by 1/2 inch.

Type each reference in this order: author name or names, publication date, title of the work cited and publisher. If you did not use tables, start a new page for figures immediately after the last reference page. When it comes to academic writing, most professors and editors require students and writers to follow the apa style. The apa writing format is an official style first developed 80 years ago by the american psychological association thus the acronym.the apa style was designed by a group of social scientists who wished to establish sound standards of communication especially in the fields of education, and social and behavioral sciences. Since then, the apa style has been adopted in various fields and is continuously used today as a standard for proper academic writing. The goal of apa style writing is to deliver the message with the least possible distraction and maximum precision. To achieve this clarity in communication, the apa format provides guidelines in: punctuation and abbreviations construction of tables selection of headings citation of references and presentation of statistics.

When writing and submitting an academic paper, your title page is your first impression. A correctly done apa format title page helps establish the aptitude of the student or the writer, and gives the reader and reviewer either your editor or your professor a clear representation of the rest of your paper. An apa format title page has five essential elements: the article title, the author’s name, the author’s school affiliation, the running head and the page number.