APA formatting follows the guidelines of the American Psychological Association and is commonly used in the social sciences (e.g., psychology, education, sociology). Here’s a brief overview:

• Font & Spacing: Use a readable font like Times New Roman, 12 pt. Double-space the entire document.

• Margins: 1-inch margins on all sides.

• Header: Includes a page number in the top right of every page. For student papers, no running head is required (unless instructed).

• Title Page: Includes the paper title (bolded), author name, affiliation (school), course, instructor, and due date, all centered and double-spaced.

• Title: Bold and centered near the top of the title page.

• In-text citations: Use the author-date format (e.g., Smith, 2020 or Smith (2020)).

• References page: Starts on a new page titled References, listing all sources alphabetically by author’s last name, using hanging indents.