Formatting
This is the correct line spacing for all APA style papers
What is double?
These are words you should not use in the header of your reference page
What are "Works Cited," "Bibliography," or "Resources"?
These two pieces of information should always be included in in-text citations
What are the first (and second for a 2-author paper) author's last names and the year of publication?
This is the proper format for level one headings (4 things)
What is centered, boldface, title case, text starts a new paragraph following an indent?
Find the mistake in the following reference:
Mistry, J., & Kiyama, F. (2021). Navigating marginalization and invisibility as Asian Americans in the U.S. The American Psychologist, 76(4), 582–595. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000782
The American Psychologist, 76 (the journal's title and issue number) should be italicized
This is the correct size for page margins
What is 1 inch on all sides?
These pieces of information should be italicized in your reference list
What are journal titles and book titles
This term is used to indicate more than three authors and follows the first author's name
What is et al.?
This is the proper format for level two headings
What is flush left, boldface, title case, text starts a new paragraph following an indent?
Find the mistake in the following reference:
De Lise, F., Klimstra, T. A., Johnson, S. K., & Crocetti, E. (2026). Going Out of the Comfort Zone: A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Analysis of Adolescents’ Identity Development Around Study Abroad Experiences. Identity, 26(1), 18–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/15283488.2025.2479817
Going out of the comfort zone: A longitudinal mixed-methods analysis of adolescents’ identity development around study abroad experiences (the article's title) should be in sentence case.
This is when page numbering starts in student papers
What is on page 1 (title page)?
Capitalizing all major words of a title is called ____, and should only be used for ___
What are title case and journal titles?
This is included in the in-text citation only when citing a direct quote
What is a page number?
This is the proper format for level three headings
What is flush left, boldface italic, title case, text starts a new paragraph?
Find the mistake in the following reference:
Dufresne, S. R. & Crehan, E. T. (2025). Context and coping skills: A (new) theoretical approach to program development. In C. Rogers-Shaw, K. Sheward, K. D. Mohney, & T. W. Park (Eds.), Collaborative Approaches for Embracing Neurodiversity in College Communities. IGI Global.
Collaborative approaches for embracing neurodiversity in college communities (the book's title) should be in sentence case.
This is included in the header of professional papers (including theses!) but not student papers
What is the running head?
This is the name of the type of indentation used for the reference page
What is a hanging indent (1" indentation for all lines after the first of each citation)?
Say you wanted to cite an email I sent you on September 15th, 2026. This is the correct way to cite this exchange.
What is (S. Dufresne, personal communication, September 15, 2026)?
This is the proper format for level four headings
What is indented, boldface, title case, ending with a period, paragraph text continues on the same line?
Find the mistake in the following reference:
Hill, D. (2026). A qualitative exploration of black children’s emotional literacy: Scope and sources of emotion knowledge. Social and Emotional Learning: Research, Practice, and Policy, 7, Article 100185. https://tufts.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01T UN_INST/16429uk/cdi_elsevier_sciencedirect_doi_10_1016_j_sel_2026_100185
Any article or other source that has a DOI should include the DOI instead of the journal/database link - so https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sel.2026.100185 instead of https://tufts.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01T UN_INST/16429uk/cdi_elsevier_sciencedirect_doi_10_1016_j_sel_2026_100185
The title page of a student paper contains these six pieces of information
What are the paper title, student name, affiliation/department name, course title, instructor's name, and date?
Capitalizing only the first word, proper nouns, and words following a : or - in a title is called ____, and should be used for these three things
What is sentence case and article / chapter / book titles?
Typically, this is how you would format a later citation if the first in-text citation was (Department of Education [DOE], 2026)
What is (DOE, 2026)?
This is the proper format for level five headings
What is indented, boldface italic, title case, ending with a period, paragraph text continues on the same line?
Find the mistake in the following reference:
Dobrow, J. (2016, March 10). Oscars may be so white, but so are kids’ cartoons. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oscars-may-be-so-white-bu_b_9375072
For webpages (including news websites), the article title should be italicized instead of the website title: so, Oscars may be so white, but so are kids’ cartoons. HuffPost.
However, online newspapers and magazine articles follow this format - the same as journal articles!