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Instructions for Formatting APA Style Papers in Microsoft
Word for Apple Products
Over time, different citation styles have been created to establish a standardized way of
citing and documenting sources in accordance with various academic disciplines. APA style
refers to one of these citation formats that designates the rules and guidelines for referencing
sources in research papers. This citation style was created by the American Psychological
Association (APA) and is mainly used for disciplines within the sciences and the social
sciences.
Although the Microsoft Word programs on Windows computers and Apple computers
serve the same function and utilize the same tools, the locations of the various tools in Word
are different in the Apple version when compared with the Windows version. This handout
covers the procedures for formatting an APA Citation Style paper in Microsoft Word for
Apple Products.
If Microsoft Word appears on the desktop:
The program may already appear on the dock (the bottom bar of the desktop where frequently used programs appear). Double-click the blue letter “W” icon to open Word.
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If Microsoft Word is not on the desktop:
- Open the “Finder” program, which shows all the files and applications an Apple computer has.
- In the Finder window, make sure the “Search” criteria is set for “This Mac,” and type “Microsoft Word” in the search bar to look for the application.
- Double-click the application icon for “Microsoft Word” to open it.
The following steps detail how to correctly format the document.
APA Formatting Guide: Step 1: Times New Roman font Step 2: 12 point font Step 3: One-inch margins Step 4: Double spaced Step 5: Remove extra space after paragraph Step 6: Running head, headers, and page number Step 7: Title Page Step 8: Abstract Step 9: Title Step 10: Indent Paragraphs Step 11: Create a Hanging Indent
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On the “Home” ribbon in the “Paragraph” group, select the “Line Spacing” icon with the blue arrow pointing up and down next to four horizontal lines. On the drop- down menu select “2.0” for double spacing.
On the “Home” ribbon under the “Paragraph” group, select the “Line Spacing” icon again. At the bottom of the drop-down menu, select “Line Spacing Options…” When the Paragraph dialog box appears, check the box for “Don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style” in the “Spacing” area, if it is not already checked. Then, click the “OK” button.
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- To insert a header and page number, click on the tab labeled “Document Elements.” In the “Header and Footer” group, click on the “Header” option. Select “Basic (All Pages)” from the drop-down menu.
By selecting this option, three bracketed insertion points that state “[Type text]” will appear at the top of the page. Click on the left insertion point and type the header (which will be a shortened version of the essay title) in all uppercase letters.
Next, delete the middle insertion point by selecting the bracketed insertion point and hitting the “Delete” key on the keyboard.
Then, click on the right insertion point, and select the “Header and Footer” tab to open the “Header and Footer” ribbon. Under “Insert” group, select “Page #.” The correct page number should automatically appear at the right insertion point.
Next, locate the “Options” group under the “Header and Footer” ribbon, and select the option that indicates “Different First Page.” The blue tag below the blue line will now say “First Page Header” instead of “Header.”
Now, in the left insertion point, type “Running head:” before the shortened paper title (in all uppercase letters). Finally, be sure to change the font of the running head
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To return to the normal position, click the “Format” tab at the top of the screen, and select the “Document…” option, and uncheck the “Different first page” check box to prevent a “Running head:” from appearing on further pages as well. Click the “OK” button, and the insertion point should now be at the top center of page two.
Make sure to adjust the second page’s header so that it also has the standard “Times New Roman” font with a font size of “12,” just like the title page’s header.
Because the insertion point should already be in the center, simply type the word “Abstract.” To type the content of the abstract, press the return key, and click on the “Align Text Left” button in the “Paragraph” group on the “Home” ribbon.
After finishing the abstract, go to the “Format” tab located at the top of the screen. Select the “Break” side menu, and select “Page Break.” The insertion point should now be left-aligned on page three. Click on the “Home” tab, and select the “Center Text” button from the “Paragraph” group. Type the full title of the essay. When finished, hit the return key, and then select “Align Text Left” to move the insertion point back to the left.
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- The beginning of each new paragraph should be indented. If the ruler is not already showing on the document, click the “View” tab at the top of the screen. Then select the “Ruler” option to have the ruler appear on the document.
Once the ruler is open, click on the uppermost portion of the hourglass figure (the top triangle called the “First Line Indent” marker), and drag it halfway between 0 and one-inch. This allows the first line indent of each paragraph to occur automatically.
- To create a Reference page, a page break needs to be inserted (see fourth section of Step 7 for entering a page break). Once on a new page, adjust the ruler so that the “First Line Indent” marker is back to its original starting position at the 0 inch mark.
Click on the “Home” tab, go to the “Paragraph” group, and click the “Center Text” button. Type the page title “References,” and hit the return key. Go to the “Paragraph” group once again, and click the “Align Text Left” button.
Next, use the mouse pointer to drag the bottom triangle on the ruler slider, called the “Hanging Indent” marker, to the half-inch mark on the ruler. Finally, enter the
