• Page format
• Headings
• Text details
• Citations in the text

• Figures, tables, and footnotes
• Tables
• Abbreviations
• Capitalization
• Commas
• Hyphenation
• Italics (underlining)
• Miscellaneous
  

• Short quotations
• Long quotations (block quotes)

• Sources in print
• Electronic (Internet) sources
• Alphabetizing within a reference list
• Abbreviations used in a reference list

• In final manuscripts, double-spacing is required throughout. When single-spacing would improve readability, however, it is usually encouraged. Single spacing can be used for table titles and headings, figure captions, references (but double-spacing is required between references), footnotes, and long quotations.
• In most theses and dissertations, figures, tables, and footnotes are incorporated at the appropriate point in the text as a convenience to readers; in manuscripts submitted for publication, such material is placed at the end of the manuscript.
  
• Italics, bold, or other special fonts or styles may be used in keeping with the style guidelines specified in the Publication Manual. Always be consistent!
• APA publishes references in a hanging indent format.

Essays should be on 8.5 x 11-inch paper with margins of 1 inch on all sides. The size of the type should be a standard size (12 pt) and the typeface should be Courier or Times New Roman. Your final essay should include as many of the following sections as are applicable:

• title page
• a running head for publication
• title
• byline and affiliation
• abstract
• text
• references
• appendixes
• author note
• footnotes/endnotes
• tables
• figure captions
• figures

The pages of your manuscript should be numbered consecutively, beginning with the title page, as part of the manuscript header in the upper right corner of each page. Your references should begin on a separate page from the text of the essay under the label References, centered at the top of the page.

• APA headings follow a hierarchy.
  
• Do not begin a paper with the heading 'Introduction.'

• Abstracts are limited to 120 words.
• Footnotes are rarely used in APA papers.
• Indent paragraphs and hanging indents one-half inch.
• Justification should be "off" (the right margin should be uneven).
• The page header summarizes the title in a few words. The header and page number go inside the margin space, next to the right margin.

• In general, avoid anything that causes offense.
• Correct use of the terms "gender" and "sex"
  
  • The term "gender" refers to culture and should be used when referring to men and women as social groups.
  • The term "sex" refers to biology and should be used when biological distinctions are emphasized, for example, "sex differences in hormone production."
• Avoid gender stereotypes.

• A person in a clinical study should be called a "patient," not a "case." Avoid equating people with their conditions, for example, do not say "schizophrenics," say "people diagnosed with schizophrenia." Use the term "sexual orientation," not "sexual preference." The phrase "gay men and lesbians" is currently preferred to the term "homosexuals."
• In racial references, respect current usage. Currently both the terms "Black" and "African American" are widely accepted, while "Negro" and "Afro-American" are not.
• Capitalize Black and White when the words are used as proper nouns to refer to social groups. Do not use color words for other ethnic groups. The manual specifies that hyphens should not be used in multiword names such as Asian American or African American.
• In general, call people what they want to be called, and do not contrast one group of people with another group called "normal" people. Write "we compared people with autism to people without autism" not "we contrasted autistics to normals." Do not use pejorative terms like "stroke victim" or "stroke sufferers." Use a more neutral terminology such as "people who have had a stroke." Avoid the terms "challenged" and "special" unless the population referred to prefers this terminology (for example, Special Olympics). As a rule, use the phrase "people with _______"
• In referring to age, be specific about age ranges; avoid open-ended definitions like "under 16" or "over 65." Avoid the term elderly. Older person is preferred. Boy and Girl are acceptable referring to high school and younger. For persons 18 and older use men and women.