APA Formatting Common Errors

Running head

Includes lower case letters (X) -> All capital letters (O) 

Title

Title Case, bold, centered, and no period. 

• Some related options: 

• Include one blank double-spaced line after the title and before the byline. 

• Note that the title of the manuscript also appears at the top of the first page of text (i.e., page 3). 

Affiliation 

• Department of Psychological Science at Kennesaw State University (X)
• -> Department of Psychological Science, Kennesaw State University (O): Use a comma instead of at 

• Just Kennesaw State University (X)
• -> Department of Psychological Science, Kennesaw State University (O): Include the departmental information 

Author Note

There should be no empty blank line below the heading Author Note (it is followed by the contents immediately in the next line). 

(The first paragraph: Unless you have your own ORCID information, you don’t need the first paragraph. The second paragraph is typically for the affiliation change between the submission and publication of the paper: you typically don’t need to have the second paragraph, either.) 

• The third paragraph: Indicates whether any author has a possible or perceived conflict of interest. If not, state that no conflict of interest exists. For example, “We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.” 
• The fourth paragraph: Just copy and paste the following and incorporate your own information.  

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to [corresponding author’s name as in the byline], [complete mailing address]. Email: author@institution.edu 

• Each piece of information under the author note is a paragraph: Therefore, you need to have one indentation. Do not center the contents. 

Abstract 

[Format of the label “Abstract”] 

1. Bold 

2. Title case 

3. Centered at the top of the page (i.e., page 2) 

4. (Contents are placed immediately below the label: without an empty line between the label and contents) 

[Format of the Contents] 

5. (Typically) No more than 250 words. 

6. A brief, comprehensive summary of the contents of the paper. 

Abstract may appear in paragraph or structured format. 

Paragraph format 

1. Written as a single paragraph. 

2. No indentation of the first line. 

3. (Do not center the paragraph) 

Structured format 

4. Written as a single paragraph. 

5. No indentation of the first line. 

6. Labels are inserted to identify various sections (e.g., Objective, Method, Results, Conclusions) 

[Format of the label, “Keywords:”] 

8. Immediately below the abstract contents 

9. Italic 

10. Indented 0.5 in. (Treat it like a regular paragraph – do not center the keywords). 

[Format of the keyword contents] 

11. Keywords are words, phrases, or acronyms that describe the most important aspects of the paper. 

12. Provide three to five keywords. 

13. Lowercase 

3. But capitalize proper nouns 

14. Separated by commas 

15. Order does not matter (the first keywords does not have to be the most representative keyword) 

16. No punctuation after the last keyword (no period at the end). 

17. If the keywords run onto a second line, the second line is not indented. 

How to Format the First Page of the Text (on page 3)? 

Format 

• The text starts on a new page after the title page (or abstract if there is an abstract). 

• On the first line of the first page of the text, write the title of the paper in the following format: 

• Title case / Bold / Centered 

• Note, you can simply copy the title from the title page (page 1) and paste it at the top of page 3 assuming that the title on the title page was formatted appropriately (title case / bold / centered). 

• The text should be 

• Left-aligned (ctrl + L) 

• Double-Spaced paragraphs (click the expander button, which is the red-marked button below, then choose Double under the Line spacing) 

To do double-spacing click the above expander button, then (see below) 

Choose the Double under the Line spacing option. 

• The first line of each paragraph should be indented by 0.5 inch. 

• Hit the tab key once at the beginning of the first sentence if it was not indented automatically. 

In case you use headings in the introduction including the top of page 3 (but after the title): 

• Do not start a new page 

• Do not add extra line breaks around the heading 

• Each Section of the text should follow the next without a break. 

In short, on Page 3, 

Start by copying and pasting the title from the title page at the top of page 3. 

Then, it is followed by a placeholder sentence in the next line with one indentation (i.e., one tab) 

Additional Tip

Use (Insert) Page Break 

If you insert a page break in between the first page and the second page, as well as in between the second page and the third page, then, it would help you with keeping the things that should be at the top of the page. How to insert a page break? Simply type Ctrl+Enter at the end of the previous page. Then, the previous page won’t affect the formatting of the contents in the following pages. 

=== Student Version 

APA Formatting Common Errors  

Note that in this class, we use the professional version instead of the student version. That is, instead of including the class information in the title page, we include the author note.  

Overall, you did a great job. Please resubmit your work within a week for up to 100% credit. NOTE: make sure to include my comments in the comments section of the assignment folder and briefly address how you addressed them (this will help you remember what you had missed by explicitly discussing the fixes that you made).  

Running head  

Includes lower case letters (X) -> All capital letters (O)  

Running Head Generation Instruction  

• As an outcome of the running head generation, you will have the running head that is left flushed and the page number that is right flushed.  

• Click Insert (from the main menu ribbon at the top) – Page Number (under the Header & Footer tab) – Top of page – Plain number 3  

• Place your cursor right in front of the page number you just created.  

• If you double-click the Header area, then, it would probably selects page number. Then, hit the left-arrow key once.  

• Or, manually locate your cursor right in front of the page number.  

• Type the running head in ALL-CAPITAL LETTERS (in front of page number 1) and then hit the Tab key once (or twice, in case your running head is relatively short). Then the running head will be left flushed.  

• *For Mac users:  

• Insert – Page Numbers – Position: Top of page (Header) – Alignment: Right  

• Double-click the upper left corner (the top empty margin) and type the running head at the upper left corner directly (without using the Tab key). Use all uppercase letters for the running head.  

Author Note  

There should be no empty blank line below the heading Author Note (it is followed by the contents immediately in the next line).  

Author Note – The first paragraph: Unless you have your own ORCID information, you don’t need to have the first paragraph. (Second paragraph is typically for the affiliation change between the submission and publication of the paper: you typically don’t need to have the second paragraph, either.)  

Author Note – The third paragraph: Indicates whether any author has a possible or perceived conflict of interest. If not, state that no conflict of interest exists. For example,  

“We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.”  

In many cases, this could be the only acknowledgment.  

 Author Note – The fourth paragraph: Just copy and paste the following and incorporate your own information.   

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to [corresponding author’s name as in the byline], [complete mailing address]. Email: author@institution.edu  

Author Note – Each piece of information under the author note (e.g., your ORCID information or the possible conflict of interests, or the correspondence-related information) is a paragraph: Therefore, you need to have one indentation. Do not center the contents.