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Citation and Writing Guide: APA Paper Format

This Guide is intended to help students with various aspects of the general writing process from citation and formatting in both APA and MLA , Grammar, Plagiarism.

Setting Up Your APA Paper

Writing a paper can be challenging enough for new students, however, seeing the words Your Paper Must Follow APA Format Guidelines for the first time in the assignment instructions can be terrifying. 

Have no worries though, think of formatting your paper as a simple organizational task. Once you have used the APA format a few times you'll begin to notice patterns, techniques and short-cuts for setting up future papers. In the end, the APA paper format will help you write organized papers that allow your readers to focus on your content rather than on your presentation style. 

Below are some resources and paper samples to help you format according to APA Format Guidelines


Sometimes seeing a sample paper can help you understand how all the pieces fit together. Take a look at these sample papers. 

Quick Links to APA Paper Format Elements

APA Formatting Tutorial For Word