What is APA Format?
APA (American Psychological Association) format is the most widely used citation and formatting style in the social sciences, education, psychology, and business. The APA 7th Edition (2020) is the current standard, with updated guidelines for digital sources, inclusive language, and simplified formatting.
Font & Size
12pt Times New Roman, Calibri, or Arial
Margins
1 inch on all sides
Line Spacing
Double-spaced throughout
Page Numbers
Top right, starting from title page
Headings
5 levels with specific formatting
References
Hanging indent, alphabetical order
Why Use Our APA Paper Checker?
APA 7th Edition Accurate
Built on the latest Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed., 2020).
APA 7th Edition Checklist
Some of the APA 7th edition rules professors look for
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What APA 7th Edition Actually Requires
If you have ever submitted a research paper and gotten it back with more formatting comments than content feedback, you are not alone. APA 7th edition has rules for nearly every visual element of your document, and most graduate students spend years mastering their research only to get tripped up by margin widths and comma placement in the final stretch.
The rules fall into four categories. Document setup covers margins (exactly 1 inch on all sides), line spacing (double throughout, with no extra before/after paragraph spacing), font, and page numbers. These apply to every APA paper, whatever its length. Headings govern how you organize your document. APA requires five heading levels used in sequence, and you can never skip a level. In-text citations have their own rules around parenthetical ordering, number formatting, and when to spell out "and" versus using an ampersand. References follow strict formatting for italics, punctuation, and URL presentation that differs from every other style guide.
None of this reflects the quality of your research. But catching every violation across a document you have been writing for weeks or months is genuinely hard.
The Mistakes Your Committee and Professors Will Catch
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Common APA Formatting Questions
What's the difference between APA 6th and 7th edition?
APA 7th Edition (2020) includes simplified formatting, new guidelines for inclusive language, updated in-text citation rules, and modern DOI formatting. Running heads are now optional for student papers.
Does this work with Microsoft Word documents?
Yes! Upload any .docx file.