APA 7 Style: Formatting Professional Papers

Guidelines Specific to Professional Papers Being Submitted for Publication

APA 7 (2020) has introduced new guidelines for student papers that differ from the guidelines for professional papers being submitted for publication. Make sure to check with your professor or instructor on whether they prefer that you use the student or professional format for your work.

1. Title Page
2. Headers with Running Head and Page Numbers
3. Text

Common Guidelines for all APA-Format Papers

Guidelines for Student APA-Format Papers

Title Page for Professional Papers Being Submitted for Publication

The title page for a professional paper must include headers with a running head and page numbers, a title, authors’ names and affiliations, and an author note. See below for details on formatting each aspect of the professional title page:

1. Headers with Running Head and Page Numbers (see below for details)
   1. The title page should have a header that is identical to all of the pages in the paper (except for the actual page number). It should include a running head (a short version of the title of the paper) in the left corner of the header and the page number 1 in the right corner. In APA 7 (2020), one does not write the words “Running head” in the title page header.
2. Title: The title should,
   1. be clearly and succinctly specify the main variables and/or topic of the paper.
   2. be written in the top-half of the page.
   3. be bolded and centred.
   4. use title case capitalization:
      1. Capitalize the letter of the first word, a word following a colon, and any significant words.
      2. Do not capitalize the following: articles [a, an, the], prepositions [of, for, with, etc.], or conjunctions [and, but, or, etc.].
3. Two double-spaced lines after the end of the title
4. The Author(s) name(s).
   1. If the paper has more than one author, list authors in the order by which they contributed to the work.
5. Affiliation:
   1. On the line following the author’s name, write the name of the department or program the paper is being written for and the name of the University. Separate the two elements with a comma. Include this information for each author. Refer to the APA 7 Publication Manual (2020) for detailed information about how to list multiple affiliations for a single author or affiliations for multiple authors (p. 34, Table 2.2).
6. Author Note:
   1. Professional papers being submitted for publication should include an author note on the title page. The note should be formatted into separate paragraphs and include the following information. Refer to the APA 7 Publication Manual (2020) for detailed information about what to include in each section (pp. 35-36).
      1. In the first paragraph, provide each authors’ ORCID ID
      2. In the second paragraph, provide information about any authors’ changes in affiliation since the study began.
      3. In the third paragraph, provide acknowledgements and disclosures.

Sample Professional Title Page

Headers with Running Head and Page Numbers

Headers should be identical throughout the entire paper (except for the specific page number). Headers for professional papers include a running head and a page number:

Running head

A running head is an abbreviated version of the title that appears on the top of every page of a manuscript being submitted for publication.

1.  Keep the running head to a maximum of 50 characters including spacing and punctuation.
2. The running head is written in ALL CAPS.
3.  In APA 7 (2020), the words “running head” no longer appear on the title page.

Page numbers

Numerals should be written in the top right corner of the header. The title page should be page 1 and all pages of the paper, including the references and appendices should be numbered.

Text of the Paper

The body of the paper should begin on a separate page that follows the title page. The header for the text of the paper are identical to the the title page header (except for the specific page number). On the first line of the first page of the text of the paper, write the title of the paper. The title should be bold and centred. On the following line, begin the text of the paper.

Sample Professional Paper First Page