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General Format
Note: This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style can be found here.
Please use the example at the bottom of this page to cite the Purdue OWL in APA.
To see a side-by-side comparison of the three most widely used citation styles, including a chart of all APA citation guidelines, see the Citation Style Chart.
You can also watch our APA vidcast series on the Purdue OWL YouTube Channel.
General APA Guidelines
Your essay should be typed and double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11"), with 1" margins on all sides. Include a page header (also known as the “running head”) at the top of every page. For a professional paper, this includes your paper title and the page number. For a student paper, this only includes the page number. To create a page header/running head, insert page numbers flush right. Then type "TITLE OF YOUR PAPER" in the header flush left using all capital letters. The running head is a shortened version of your paper's title and cannot exceed 50 characters including spacing and punctuation.
Font
The 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual requires that the chosen font be accessible (i.e., legible) to all readers and that it be used consistently throughout the paper. It acknowledges that many font choices are legitimate, and it advises writers to check with their publishers, instructors, or institutions for guidance in cases of uncertainty.
While the APA Manual does not specify a single font or set of fonts for professional writing, it does recommend a few fonts that are widely available. These include sans serif fonts such as 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, and 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode as well as serif fonts such as 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, 10-point Computer Modern.
Major Paper Sections
Your essay should include four major sections: the Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and References.
Title Page
Note: APA 7 provides slightly different directions for formatting the title pages of professional papers (e.g., those intended for scholarly publication) and student papers (e.g., those turned in for credit in a high school or college course).
The title page should contain the title of the paper, the author's name, and the institutional affiliation. A professional paper should also include the author note. A student paper should also include the course number and name, instructor name, and assignment due date.
Type your title in upper and lowercase letters centered in the upper half of the page. The title should be centered and written in boldface. APA recommends that your title be focused and succinct and that it should not contain abbreviations or words that serve no purpose. Your title may take up one or two lines. All text on the title page, and throughout your paper, should be double-spaced.
Beneath the title, type the author's name: first name, middle initial(s), and last name. Do not use titles (Dr.) or degrees (PhD).
Beneath the author's name, type the institutional affiliation, which should indicate the location where the author(s) conducted the research.
A professional paper should include the author note beneath the institutional affiliation, in the bottom half of the title page. This should be divided up into several paragraphs, with any paragraphs that are not relevant omitted. The first paragraph should include the author’s name, the symbol for the ORCID iD, and the URL for the ORCID iD. Any authors who do not have an ORCID iD should be omitted. The second paragraph should show any change in affiliation or any deaths of the authors. The third paragraph should include any disclosures or acknowledgements, such as study registration, open practices and data sharing, disclosure of related reports and conflicts of interest, and acknowledgement of financial support and other assistance. The fourth paragraph should include contact information for the corresponding author.
A student paper should not include an author note.
Note again that page headers/page numbers (described above for professional and student papers) also appear at the top of the title page. In other words, a professional paper's title page will include the title of the paper flush left in all capitals and the page number flush right, while a student paper will only contain the page number flush right.
Student APA title page

Title page for a student paper in APA 7 style.
Professional paper APA title page

Title page for a professional paper paper in APA 7 style.
Abstract
Begin a new page. Your abstract page should already include the page header (described above). On the first line of the abstract page, center and bold the word “Abstract” (no italics, underlining, or quotation marks).
Beginning with the next line, write a concise summary of the key points of your research. (Do not indent.) Your abstract should contain at least your research topic, research questions, participants, methods, results, data analysis, and conclusions. You may also include possible implications of your research and future work you see connected with your findings. Your abstract should be a single paragraph, double-spaced. Your abstract should typically be no more than 250 words.
You may also want to list keywords from your paper in your abstract. To do this, indent as you would if you were starting a new paragraph, type Keywords: (italicized), and then list your keywords. Listing your keywords will help researchers find your work in databases.
APA Abstract Page

Abstract page for a student paper in APA 7 style.
Please see our Sample APA Paper resource to see an example of an APA paper. You may also visit our Additional Resources page for more examples of APA papers.
How to Cite the Purdue OWL in APA
Individual Resources
The page template for the new OWL site does not include contributors' names or the page's last edited date. However, select pages, like the Citation Style Chart, still include this information.
In the absence of contributor/edit date information, treat the page as a source with a group author and use the abbreviation "n.d." for "no date":
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Title of resource. Purdue Online Writing Lab. http://Web address for OWL resource
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). General Writing FAQs. Purdue Online Writing Lab. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/general_writing_faqs.html
The generic APA citation for OWL pages, which includes author/edit date information, is this:
Contributors' names. (Last edited date). Title of resource. Site Name. http://Web address for OWL resource
Myers, M., Paiz, J., Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M.,…Keck, R. (2019, December 20). General format. Purdue Online Writing Lab. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html
- Navigation
- Purdue OWL
- General Writing
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- The Writing Process Introduction
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- Writing a Literature Review
- Using Research
- Using Research Introduction
- Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
- Paraphrase Exercises
- Writing with Statistics
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- Citation Style Chart
- Writing Scientific Abstracts Presentation
- Resources for Documenting Sources in the Disciplines
- APA Style (7th Edition)
- APA Style Introduction
- APA Overview and Workshop
- APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition)
- General Format
- In-Text Citations: The Basics
- In-Text Citations: Author/Authors
- Footnotes and Endnotes
- Reference List: Basic Rules
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- APA Legal References
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- Changes in the 7th Edition
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- MLA Style
- MLA Style Introduction
- MLA Overview and Workshop
- MLA Formatting and Style Guide
- General Format
- MLA Formatting and Style Guide
- MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics
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- Chicago Style
- CMOS Introduction
- CMOS Overview and Workshop
- CMOS Formatting and Style Guide
- Chicago Manual of Style 17th Edition
- General Format
- Books
- Periodicals
- Web Sources
- Audiovisual Recordings and Other Multimedia
- Interviews, Personal Communication
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- CMOS Author Date Sample Paper
- CMOS NB Sample Paper
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- IEEE Style
- AMA Style
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- APA Style (6th Edition)
- APA Style Introduction
- APA Overview and Workshop
- APA Formatting and Style Guide (6th Edition)
- General Format
- In-Text Citations: The Basics
- In-Text Citations: Author/Authors
- Footnotes and Endnotes
- Reference List: Basic Rules
- Reference List: Author/Authors
- Reference List: Articles in Periodicals
- Reference List: Books
- Reference List: Other Print Sources
- Reference List: Electronic Sources
- Reference List: Other Non-Print Sources
- Additional Resources
- Types of APA Papers
- APA Stylistics: Avoiding Bias
- APA Stylistics: Basics
- APA Headings and Seriation
- APA PowerPoint Slide Presentation
- APA Sample Paper
- APA Tables and Figures 1
- APA Tables and Figures 2
- APA Abbreviations
- Numbers in APA
- Statistics in APA
- APA Classroom Poster
- APA Changes 6th Edition
- General APA FAQs
- Using Citation Generators Responsibly
- Using Paper Checkers Responsibly
- Style Manual Glossary
- Avoiding Plagiarism
- Teacher and Tutor Resources
- Writing Instructors
- Writing Instructors Introduction
- Parents
- Grades 7-12 Instructors and Students
- Non-Purdue Users
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- Adult Basic Education
- Writing Across the Curriculum: An Introduction
- Creative Nonfiction in Writing Courses
- Poetry in Writing Courses
- Teaching Detailed Writing and Procedural Transitions
- Teaching OSDDP: A Guide for Professional Writing Instructors
- Email Etiquette for Professors
- Writing Letters of Recommendation for Students
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- Nonfiction Analysis Framework
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- Conducting an Interview Presentation
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- Organizing Your Argument Presentation
- Peer Review Presentation
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- Teaching and Assessing Grammar
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- OWL Video Offerings for Instructors
- Conducting an Interview Presentation
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- Invention Presentation
- Preventing Plagiarism
- Preventing Plagiarism Introduction
- Contextualizing Plagiarism
- Contextualizing Plagiarism
- Truth or Consequences
- Handout: Truth or Consequences
- The Big Picture
- Authorship and Popular Plagiarism
- Copyright and Plagiarism
- Handout: Copyright and Plagiarism
- Collaborative Authorship
- Handout: Collaborative Authorship
- Defining Our Terms
- Class Plagiarism Policy
- Comparing Policies
- Handout: Comparing Policies
- Avoiding Plagiarism
- Avoiding Plagiarism
- Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting
- Peer Summarizing
- Anonymous Paraphrasing
- Paraphrasing from Media
- Handout: Paraphrasing from Media
- Using In-text Citations
- Handout: Using In-text Citations
- Quoting Others
- Handout: Quoting Others
- Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation in Context
- Handout: Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation in Context
- Translingual Writing
- Writing in the Engineering Classroom
- Why Include Writing in Engineering Courses?
- Using Bloom’s Taxonomy
- Types of Writing Assignments for Engineering Courses
- Conceptual Writing Prompts
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- Research Team
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- Announcement
- Introduction to Graduate Writing
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- Professional, Technical Writing Introduction
- Workplace Writers
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- Parallel Structure
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- HATS: A Design Procedure for Routine Business Documents
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- White Papers
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- Business Writing for Administrative and Clerical Staff
- Writing in Literature
- Writing in Literature Introduction
- Writing About Film
- Literary Terms
- Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism
- Introduction to Literary Theory
- Moral Criticism, Dramatic Construction
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- Writing About Fiction
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- Writing in Literature (Detailed Discussion)
- Professional, Technical Writing