APA Paper Format: A Step-by-Step Guide for Coursework
Getting your paper’s formatting right is often worth real points on your rubric — and it’s one of the fastest things to fix once you know the rules. This guide walks through exactly how to format a paper in APA style for your American National University coursework, using the student paper format, which is what you’ll use for virtually every class assignment.
Student Paper vs. Professional Paper: Which One Do You Need?
APA style actually has two different formats, and using the wrong one is a common mix-up. Student papers — the format you’ll use for class assignments — skip the running head and usually skip the abstract. Professional papers, used for published research and graduate-level manuscript submissions, require both. Unless your instructor specifically tells you otherwise, you’ll use the student format covered in this guide.
Need citation help too? See our APA citation guide
Title Page Format
Your student title page needs, centered and in this order, starting about a third of the way down the page:
- Paper title (bolded, title case, no more than two lines)
- Your name
- Your program and course number (e.g., “Business Management 210, American National University”)
- Instructor’s name
- Assignment due date
No running head, no page header text beyond the page number, and no abstract — all of that is reserved for professional papers.
Margins, Font, and Spacing
- Margins: 1 inch on all sides
- Font: 12-point Times New Roman, or another accessible sans-serif/serif font your instructor approves (11-point Calibri and Arial are also acceptable under APA 7)
- Line spacing: Double-spaced throughout, including the title page and reference list — no extra space between paragraphs
- Paragraph indentation: First line of every paragraph indented 0.5 inches
- Page numbers: Top right corner of every page, starting with the title page
Headings: How to Structure Your Sections
APA uses five heading levels, though most class papers only need the first two or three:
- Level 1: Centered, bold, Title Case
- Level 2: Left-aligned, bold, Title Case
- Level 3: Left-aligned, bold italic, Title Case
A typical business or health sciences paper might use Level 1 for major sections (“Literature Review,” “Recommendations”) and Level 2 for subsections within them.
Formatting Your Reference List
Your References page starts on a new page after the body of your paper, centered with the word “References” at the top (bold, not underlined or italicized). Entries are alphabetized by author last name, and every entry after the first line uses a hanging indent — the first line sits at the margin, and every line after it indents 0.5 inches.
See full reference list examples by source type
Common Formatting Mistakes to Avoid
- Adding a running head to a student paper. It’s not required — leave it off unless your instructor asks for it.
- Single-spacing the reference list. Every part of an APA paper is double-spaced, references included.
- Forgetting the hanging indent on reference entries — this trips up more students than almost anything else in formatting.
- Centering body paragraphs or headings incorrectly — only Level 1 headings and title page content are centered; body text is left-aligned.
- Using decorative fonts or font sizes inconsistently across the paper — pick one approved font and size and stick with it start to finish.
FAQ
Do I need a running head on my class papers?
No — student papers don’t require one under APA 7th edition. That’s reserved for professional/published manuscripts.
What font should I use?
12-point Times New Roman is the most common choice, though 11-point Calibri, Arial, or Georgia are also acceptable if your instructor doesn’t specify otherwise.
Does my title page need an abstract?
Not for a student paper, unless your assignment instructions specifically ask for one.
See APA Style’s official sample student paper, apastyle.apa.org, for a full visual template.
