{"id":3546,"date":"2016-04-04T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kibin.com\/blog\/?p=3546"},"modified":"2018-06-16T08:55:15","modified_gmt":"2018-06-16T15:55:15","slug":"apa-essay-format","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kibin.com\/essay-writing-blog\/apa-essay-format\/","title":{"rendered":"The Stress-Free Guide to APA Essay Format"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been my experience that there are two kinds of people in this world: those who can handle chaos and are happy to let the pieces fall where they may, and those of us who chase those people around trying to prevent disarray in the first place.<\/p>\n

We like neatness. Tidiness. Orderliness. <\/p>\n

And consistent formatting. Mmm<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So when your teacher asks you to use APA essay format for your paper and you have only the vaguest idea of what that means, you definitely<\/i> want one of us in your camp. <\/p>\n

I covered the importance of essay formatting and what it entails in a previous blog post<\/a>. So go check it out if you haven\u2019t already. I\u2019ll wait here.<\/p>\n

You good?<\/p>\n

Cool.<\/p>\n

In this<\/em> post, we\u2019re going to drill down into the specifics of APA formatting and how to ensure your essay looks just right<\/i>. <\/p>\n

What Is APA Essay Format?<\/h2>\n

\u201cAPA\u201d stands for \u201cAmerican Psychological Association,\u201d a professional organization for, well, psychologists. However, the organization\u2019s official style guide, which is called the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association<\/i>, is used by students and professionals in a number of disciplines.<\/p>\n

If your teachers ask you to use APA essay format, then they simply mean to use the formatting guidelines laid out in this manual. The manual tells you how to handle everything from the width of your essay\u2019s margins to the citations for your sources.<\/p>\n

Chances are, your library has a copy of the full Publication Manual<\/i> for your perusal, which can be really handy when you have a very specific question. <\/p>\n

But if you just want to quickly learn the basics and turn in a tidy, well-formatted essay, keep reading!<\/p>\n

What Are the Most Important Elements of APA Essay Format?<\/h2>\n

General page setup<\/h3>\n

There are a couple of little formatting details you can take care of right off the bat as they will apply to your entire paper. <\/p>\n

First, be sure you set your margins to 1 inch all the way around your document. <\/p>\n

Secondly, be sure to choose a font that is clear and readable. The APA recommends 12-pt Times New Roman, but you could also go wild and use Helvetica, Georgia, Arial, or Calibri. <\/p>\n

Last but not least, the entire document\u2014from the cover page to the reference list\u2014should be double-spaced with paragraphs indented 1\/2 an inch.<\/p>\n

Running head and page numbers<\/h3>\n

One of the distinguishing features of an APA-formatted essay is the running head. This is a short version of your title\u2014fewer than 50 characters\u2014that appears in the header of your document, justified with the left margin.<\/p>\n

On the first page of your essay, usually the cover page, the running head is preceded by the words \u201cRunning head\u201d followed by a colon. On subsequent pages, though, the running head is just <\/i>the title.<\/p>\n

If you need help making your header different on the first page, check out this helpful tutorial<\/a> from Northeast Lakeview College. <\/p>\n