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APA Writing Guide: Formatting for Undergraduates

This research guide provides a brief introduction to APA 7th edition.

Writing Center

The Liberty University Writing Center is available to provide writing coaching to students. Residential students should contact the On-Campus Writing Center for assistance. Online students should contact the Online Writing Center for assistance.

General Rules

Liberty University undergraduate students will use the APA 7 formatting guidelines for student papers. To assist you in formatting, Liberty University's Writing Center provides a template paper and a sample paper.

For undergraduate student papers, the following three sections are required:

  • Title Page
  • Body
  • Reference List

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you format your paper:

  • Fonts – LU recommends that APA papers be typed in 12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Calibri fonts.
     
  • Spacing
    • Use only one space at the end of each sentence in the body of your paper.
    • In general, APA papers should be double spaced throughout. A list of exceptions can be found here.
    • To make sure that your paper is double spaced throughout, select the text, right click, select 'Paragraph,' and look under the section 'Line Spacing' as shown below:

                        

 

  • Margins/Alignment - Your paper should use 1-inch margins on standard-sized paper (8.5' X 11'). Make sure that you use Align Left (CTRL + L) on the paper, except for the title page.
     
  • Indentation – The first sentence in each new paragraph in the body of the paper should be indented a half inch. References use hanging indentation.
     
  • Headings: Please note that all headings are in title case. Level 1 headings should be centered (and in bold), and Level 2 and 3 headings should be left-aligned (and in bold or bold italic, respectively). Level 4 and 5 headings are indented like regular paragraphs. An example of formatting headings in a paper is available here.

Title Page: Please note the following elements should be present on the page:

  • Title of paper (bolded and centered)
    • There is no limit to the number of words in the title.
    • Add an extra blank double-spaced line between the title and author’s name
  • Name of each author (centered)
  • Name of department and institution (centered)
  • Course number and name (centered)
  • Instructor name (centered)
  • Assignment due date (centered)
  • NO running head
  • Page number in top right corner of the header, starting with page 1 on the title page