Always begin with Level 1 headings and apply the appropriate heading and subheading levels from there.Short papers (usually five pages or less in the body of the paper) may not have any headings unless required, but longer papers benefit from the organizational aspects of headings. APA papers use headings to separate paper sections and establish a hierarchy of information.APA-7 recommends only one space after closing punctuation in the body of the paper (whereas APA-6 recommended two).If your introduction section includes subheadings, those would be formatted as Level 2 headings. Professors always trump APA, so if your professor requires a heading labeled Introduction, then include it. Your introductory paragraph/section, if you have one, will begin on the next line. Note that APA-7 expressly forbids using the term introduction as a heading just type that paragraph under the paper’s title without any heading.The title is now considered a Level 1 heading. Before beginning to write the body of your paper, center the paper’s title on the first line in title case in bold font, exactly as it appears on the title page.See the respective sample paper and template for your level of study (i.e., undergraduate or graduate/professional). APA-7 allows a wide array of fonts and sizes but Liberty University prefers all course assignments to be completed in 12-point Times New Romans or 11-point Calibri font.Use quotation marks around the titles of shorter works (i.e., articles or poems) and italics for the names of larger words (i.e., books or plays) mentioned in the body of your paper.Sentence case is used for all resource titles in the reference list (i.e., book or article titles, webpages, etc.). Sentence case = only the first letter of the first word, proper nouns, and the word following a colon, if any, should begin with capital letters.All five heading levels also use title case. Title case is used for titles of works mentioned in the body of your paper, and for the names of journals in your reference list. Title case = all significant words, usually those with 4+ letters, must be capitalized.Use past or present perfect tense (e.g., researchers have shown) for a literature review and description, and past tense when referring to results and experiments previously conducted.Avoid poetic or figurative language scientific writing is the most appropriate for APA.Use active voice, rather than passive voice (PDF).Plagiarism series – Video #4 of 4: Proactive and foolproof steps to avoid plagiarism.Plagiarism series – Video #3 of 4: The three kinds of plagiarism.Plagiarism series – Video #2 of 4: How and when to cite your sources.Plagiarism series – Video #1 of 4: Introduction: How often can students quote other sources? – Liberty University.Choosing Appropriate Resources for Academic Papers (PDF).Sample Annotated Bibliography for Graduate/Doctoral Students.Sample Annotated Bibliography for Undergraduate Students (PDF).References Comparisons Between APA-6 and APA-7 (PDF).Comparison Chart of APA-6 and APA-7 (PDF).Broad Overview of the Changes Between APA-6 and APA-7 (PDF).APA-7 References to Legal Materials – Bluebook (PDF).Comprehensive APA-7 Reference List (PDF).Abstract required (unless otherwise specified in instructions)ĭetailed sample APA-7 paper with visual aids and indexed by topic for Graduate & Doctoral Students (PDF)ĪPA-7 template for Graduate & Doctoral Students (DOTM).
Running head required (same on all pages).Will follow APA-7’s “Professional Version”.