APA 7 Presentation Requirements

The following presentation guidelines are adapted from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th Edition (APA 7).

All written assignments must be submitted in Microsoft Word format. See below for links to templates.  PDF format is not accepted. The key presentation requirements are as follows:

  • Size  A4 paper
  • Save Document with full name and student ID in the title
  • Times New Roman font in size 12 point throughout
  • Margins of 2.54 cm on all sides ('Normal')
  • Insert page numbers in the top, right-hand corner of the header
  • Double spacing used throughout with no extra spacing between paragraphs
  • Text is left aligned and not justified
  • Indentation for first line of every paragraph at 1.27cm
  • Hanging indent of 1.27cm required for reference list entries

Using headings

Most reports and case studies include headings but not all papers should so check with your educator to make sure that headings are appropriate for the specific paper you are writing. 

The APA Publication Manual gives guidelines for up to five levels of heading in a paper, although most research report assignments will need only two or three levels. The first level heading should be centred and in bold. Each main word should start with a capital letter. For more details on heading levels visit the APA website.

Assignment word count

All assignments specify a word count. An assignment that is within 10% of the specified word count (either more or less) will usually not be penalised, however, check your unit guide as this rule does not apply in all units including for Psychology. If you submit an assignment that does not follow the specified word count, your grade will be penalised.

The word limit for direct quotes depends on the school and field of study. In the School of Psychological Sciences 5% would be considered excessive.

 

WHAT IS INCLUDED IN YOUR ASSESSMENT WORD COUNT ?

Main body of text

Title page

Section headings

Table of contents

Quotes

Reference list

Verbatim examples

Appendices

In-text citations (e.g. author, date, page number)