Write the section label “Contents” at the top (bold and centered), press “Enter” once, and list the important headings with corresponding page numbers.

Place the table of contents on a separate page between the abstract and introduction. If your instructor wants you to include a table of contents, it’s best to follow the general guidelines.

It’s also not a required paper element in either professional or student papers.

On a new line, write the label “Keywords:” (italicized and indented), followed by the keywords in lowercase letters, separated by commas.ĪPA Style does not provide guidelines for formatting the table of contents. Abstracts are usually written as a single paragraph without headings or blank lines.ĭirectly below the abstract, you may list three to five relevant keywords. Unlike regular paragraphs, the first line is not indented. The contents of the abstract appear directly under the label. At the top of the page, write the section label “Abstract” (bold and centered). The abstract is placed on a separate page after the title page. An abstract is usually required in professional papers, but it’s rare to include one in student papers (except for longer texts like theses and dissertations). The abstract is a 150–250 word summary of your paper. The professional version includes an author note and running head.įor more information on writing a striking title, crediting multiple authors (with different affiliations), and writing the author note, check out our in-depth article on the APA title page. The student version includes the course number and name, instructor name, and due date of the assignment. There are different guidelines for student and professional papers.īoth versions include the paper title and author’s name and affiliation. The title page is the first page of an APA Style paper. Want to know how many heading levels you should use, when to use which heading level, and how to set up heading styles in Word or Google Docs? Then check out our in-depth article on APA headings. Each heading level is formatted differently. Heading levels 2 to 5 are used for subheadings. Heading level 1 is used for main sections such as “ Methods” or “ Results”. Longer titles are abbreviated.ĪPA headings have five possible levels. It is left-aligned and can be up to 50 characters in length. For professional papers intended for publication, it also includes a running head.Ī running head is simply the paper’s title in all capital letters.

For student papers, the page header usually consists of just a page number in the page’s top-right corner. In an APA Style paper, every page has a page header. Our template is available in Word and Google Docs format for both versions. Student papers and professional papers have slightly different guidelines regarding the title page, abstract, and running head. Why set up APA format from scratch if you can download Scribbr’s template for free?

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