Step-by-Step Instructions for Setting Up a Paper in APA Format These instructions will help you format all three parts of your paper: 1. the title or cover page 2. the paper 3. the reference page 1. TITLE OR COVER PAGE APA format requires a paper to have a title or cover page. To get started, open Microsoft Word. The library computers will have an icon on the desktop that looks like this: Once you have a new document open, you will need to put a running header on the page. This heading will appear on each page of your document. Click on the Insert tab on the main ribbon at the top of the page. Click on Header, Click on Blank.
Once you have a header box open, you will need to type the name of your paper as the running head for each page of your paper where you see [Type text], Hit the tab button on the keyboard twice to move to the spot where you will insert a page number.
To insert the page number: Go to the INSERT tab on the main ribbon Click on page number, Select current position - We want the page number to go where our cursor is in the heading Click on Plain Number. - You will then see the number 1 next to the cursor.
To close the header and get back to the title page: Click on Header & Footer Tools, Click on Close Header & Footer. You will see the title of your paper and the page number at the top of the page. It will be a different color than the page and can be edited by clicking on the title in the header. You may need to change the type font style and size to match the rest of your paper. When you are finished making changes, you will need to click on Close Header & Footer again.
Once your header is complete, you will want to hit the ENTER key on your keyboard several times (6 is a good number) to start typing your title page information. You will then need to: Click on the Center button in the main ribbon to center the text Click on the Line spacing button on the main ribbon to change to double spacing (2.0).
You can now type your title, hit the ENTER key on your keyboard and type your name, hit the ENTER key on your keyboard and type the name of your class, hit the ENTER key on your keyboard and type the name of your instructor and hit enter and hit the ENTER key on your keyboard and type the date the paper is due. Your title page should look like this: 2. YOUR PAPER To start your paper, you should then: Click on the Insert Tab Click on Page break button on the main ribbon to start a new page You should see your header and page number at the top of the page.
Once you have done this, you will need to change the text alignment back to the left by: Clicking on the HOME tab on the main ribbon, Then click on the button that says Align text left on the main ribbon. Now all you need to do is hit the TAB key on your keyboard once to indent the paragraph and you can begin typing your paper. At the end of each line, just continue to type (DO NOT HIT THE ENTER OR TAB KEY) and the text will wrap down to the next line. Continue typing until you want to begin your second paragraph; then you will hit the ENTER key on your keyboard and start a new line. You will need to hit the TAB key on your keyboard again to indent this paragraph as well. Continue to the end of your paper.
3. REFERENCE PAGE Once you have completed your paper, you should then: Click on the INSERT tab on the main ribbon and then Click on the Page break button on to start another new page. You should see your header and page number at the top of the page.
The next step is to: Click on the HOME button on the main ribbon. You will then need to Click on the CENTER button to change the text alignment to center Type the word References. Hit the ENTER key on the keyboard Click on the ALIGN TEXT LEFT button, to align text back to left alignment Most likely you will have your references done through InfoTrac and/or Bibme.org. You will find additional step-bystep handouts in the library to help you do this. They are: Step-by-step guide to using InfoTrac,including citing sources Step-by-step guide to citing sources using Bibme.org For details on how to format reference citations from these websites, please the next page.
How to format reference citations copied and pasted into your Microsoft Word document You will need to adjust the ruler by changing the First Line Indent and the Hanging Indent. If the ruler is not visible, click on this View ruler icon to make it appear. You will need to move the little indent markers so that the TOP one (First Line Indent) is on 0, which is the default, Click on the BOTTOM one (Hanging indent) and move it to the 0.5 spot. If both move, click on the TOP one and return it to the 0 spot. Once you copy and then paste a reference into this page, they should line up like those below. You most likely will have to change the font style and font size to match the rest of your document. You will click on the Font button arrow and change it to whatever one you used in the rest of your paper, Click on the Font size arrow and change it to whatever one you used in the rest of the paper. Make sure that the references are in alphabetical order by whatever the first word is, regardless of whether it is an author s name or a title. The references should be in alphabetical order and indented like this. 4/19/2011