APA Formatting Made Simple

If you’re writing essays, reports, or research papers in the social sciences, business, or health sciences, chances are you’ll need to use APA Style. Developed by the American Psychological Association, this style guide is one of the most commonly used in colleges and universities. Below, you’ll find a beginner-friendly overview of APA formatting, including when and how to cite sources, how to format your paper, and how to avoid plagiarism.

Why Do We Use APA Style?

APA Style helps writers:

• Give credit to original authors
• Show the depth of their research
• Avoid plagiarism
• Maintain consistency in academic writing

It’s especially common in disciplines such as psychology, sociology, business, nursing, and other social sciences.

When Should You Cite a Source?

You must provide a citation when:

• You use someone else’s idea or information
• You include statistics, research findings, or data
• You quote directly from books, articles, videos, or interviews
• You paraphrase or summarize someone else’s ideas

What Should You NOT Cite?

You don’t need a citation for:

• Your own ideas, conclusions, and lived experiences
• Common knowledge, like “Ottawa is the capital of Canada” or “There are 60 minutes in an hour”
• Widely accepted facts, such as “Pollution is harmful to the environment”

Common knowledge refers to facts known by many people and confirmed in multiple sources (typically 5 or more).

Examples:

• Bill Gates is the founder of Microsoft
• There are 60 minutes in an hour
• The Toronto Raptors are Canada’s only NBA team

Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

Understanding how to use source material is key to good writing:

• Quoting: Use the author’s exact words inside quotation marks. Add a citation with page number.
  Example: Smith (2020) states that “climate change is accelerating faster than predicted” (p. 12).
• Paraphrasing: Restate the idea in your own words and sentence structure. No quotation marks.
  Example: Climate change may be happening more rapidly than earlier research suggested (Smith, 2020).
• Summarizing: Briefly explain the main ideas of a longer passage in your own words, while maintaining the author’s intent.
  Example: Smith (2020) outlines the latest research suggesting an urgent need for new climate policies.

In-Text Citations APA Style

When Paraphrasing:
Use this format: (AuthorLastName, Year)
Example: (Smith, 2020)

Paraphrasing with two authors: (AuthorLastName1 & AuthorLastName2, Year)
Example: (Johnson & Smith, 2024)

Paraphrasing with three or more authors: (AuthorLastName1 et al., Year)
Example: (Johnson et al., 2024) (NOTE: et al. means “and others” in Latin)

When Quoting Directly:
Use this format: (AuthorLastName, Year, p. #)
Example: (Smith, 2020, p. 45)

✅ Make sure you’ve fully rewritten the idea in your own words when paraphrasing.

Narrative vs. Parenthetical Citations

APA Style allows for two types of in-text citations: narrative and parenthetical.

• A narrative citation includes the author’s name as part of the sentence, with the year in parentheses.
  Example: Smith (2020) explains that communication is key in team settings.
• A parenthetical citation includes both the author’s name and year at the end of the sentence.
  Example: Effective communication is key in team settings (Smith, 2020).

Use narrative citations when the author is important to your point, and parenthetical citations when the focus is on the information rather than the source.

Additional APA Rules to Remember

Corporate Authors

Sometimes your source is written by an organization rather than a person. In this case, use the organization’s name as the author.
Example: (Canadian Mental Health Association, 2022)

What If There’s No Date?

If a source does not list a publication date, use “n.d.” (no date) in your citation:
Example: (Smith, n.d.)

⚠️ Important: Do not use the current year as the publication date just because that’s when you accessed the site. The date should reflect when the content was published, not when you read it.

Formatting Your APA Paper

Set up your document using these formatting rules:

• Page Size: Letter (8.5 x 11 inches)
• Margins: 1 inch (2.5 cm) on all sides
• Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt
• Spacing: Double-spaced
• Paragraph Indent: 0.5 inches (1.25 cm) on the first line of each paragraph
• Page Layout: Portrait

Creating a References Page

At the end of your paper, include your references on a separate page that lists all sources cited:

• Use a hanging indent (learn how to use a hanging indent in MS Office here and for Google Docs here)
• Alphabetize entries by the author’s last name
• Use initials for first and middle names (e.g., Smith, J. R.)
• Capitalize only the first word of book/article titles and subtitles
• For online sources, include the URL
• You can use Microsoft Word or citation tools such as Mybib.com to help format entries correctly

Example references list:

Final Thoughts

Learning to use APA Style can seem intimidating at first, but once you understand the basic rules for citing, paraphrasing, and formatting, it becomes second nature. Remember: citing your sources isn’t just about avoiding plagiarism — it’s about showing respect for the ideas of others and strengthening your own work.