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SWK 452: Research & Program Evaluation (Gresham): Paper Formatting

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Formatting Your APA Paper in Microsoft Word

Table of Contents for Screenshot Instructions

Line Spacing, Font, and Font Size

*Your entire document needs to be double-spaced in Times New Roman with a 12 pt font size!

Remove Microsoft Word's default Line Spacing by clicking on the No Spacing Styles option.

Select 2.0 from the Line and Paragraph Spacing drop-down menu.

Select Times New Roman from the Font drop-down menu.

Select 12 from the Font Size drop-down menu.

Make sure that you repeat the above steps to change your Page Numbers and Header to Times New Roman with a 12 pt font size!

Page Numbers and Header

Insert your Page Numbers before inserting your Header!

Insert your Page Numbers by

  • Clicking on the Insert thread;
  • Clicking on the Page Number drop-down menu;
  • Hovering the mouse over the Top of Page option; and
  • Clicking on the Plain Number 3 option.

Click on the Different First Page option.

Your Page Number will disappear, so you'll have to reinsert it using the above steps.

Insert your Running head: TITLE by clicking to the left of the Page Number.
Use the Tab key on your keyboard until your Running head: TITLE is aligned to the left side of the page.

And make sure that your Page Numbers and Header are in Times New Roman with a 12 pt font size!

Click on the Close Header and Footer button.

Title Page

Centrally-align your Title Page by clicking on the Center paragraph option.

Use the Enter or Return key on your keyboard 5 times; then insert the following information:

  • Title
  • Your Name
  • Your Institution

First Page

When you have finished typing your Title Page, scroll to the next blank page of your document (using the Enter or Return key on your keyboard if necessary).
Insert the Title of your paper.

Make sure that your Title is centrally-aligned and that the Page Number appears in the top right-hand corner of your paper.

On the next line after your Title, use the Tab key on your keyboard to indent your first paragraph, and start typing your introduction.

Make sure that you click on the Align Left paragraph option so that the body of your paper is aligned to the left of the page and not centered.

And don't forget to edit the header for the rest of your paper!

Insert your Header by

  • Clicking on the Header drop-down menu; and
  • Clicking on the Edit Header option.

Insert your TITLE by clicking to the left of the Page Number.
Use the Tab key on your keyboard until your TITLE is aligned to the left side of the page.

And make sure that your Page Numbers and Header are in Times New Roman with a 12 pt font size!

References Page

When you have finished typing your paper, scroll to the next blank page of your document (using the Enter or Return key on your keyboard if necessary).
Insert the title of your References page, and click on the Center paragraph option to centrally-align the References page title.

On the next line after your References page title, insert your first citation (alphabetical by either the author's last name or the title if there's no known author).
Click on the Paragraph Settings icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the Paragraph section.
In the Paragraph pop-up window that appears, click on the drop-down menu underneath Special in the Indentation section.
In the drop-down menu that appears, click on Hanging.
Click on the OK button in the bottom right-hand corner of the Paragraph pop-up window.

Make sure that you click on the Align Left paragraph option so that your citations are aligned to the left of the page and not centered.

Whenever you add a new citation to your References page, make sure that you keep them in alphabetical order.