Answered By: Jonathan Faerber (he/him/his)
Last Updated: Feb 19, 2022     Views: 188703

APA Style (7th ed.)

Begin every line of text from the left margin, except for the first line of each paragraph. Indent each line of a new paragraph one tab space, which should be set at 1.27 cm or 0.5 in (American Psychological Association, 2020, p. 45).

To set up an automatic first line indent, use the appropriate path for your version of Microsoft Word to access the Paragraph formatting options, and under "Indentation", choose “First line” under "Special" and set the indent under "By" to 0.5 in or 1.27 cm. 

First line indent

Unless directed otherwise by an instructor or a program handbook, double-space “the entire paper, including the title page, abstract, text, headings, block quotations, reference list, table and figure notes, and appendices” (American Psychological Association, 2020, p. 45). To see an example of the correcting formatting for paragraphs, please see the paragraphs in the Sample Annotated Student Paper on the American Psychological Association's Sample Papers web page. 

Reference

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000