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In APA style, your documents should follow specific guidelines for margins, page numbers, font, and spacing.

All margins in your document (top, bottom, left, and right) should be set to 1 inch.

This can be done by using settings in Microsoft Word.

  1. Click on Layout
  2. Click on Margins
  3. Select Normal

Microsoft provides additional resources on how to change margins.

Learn How to Change Margins

Course papers should have page numbers in the top right corner of each page.

  • Page numbers should begin on the title page with 1.
  • Insert page numbers using settings in Microsoft Word.

Microsoft provides additional resources on how to insert page numbers

Learn How to Insert Page Numbers

APA recommends a consistent font throughout your paper. Some recommended fonts include: 

  • 11-point Calibri
  • 11-point Arial
  • 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode
  • 12-point Times New Roman
  • 11-point Georgia

Note that 12-point Times New Roman is the required font for Walden doctoral capstone documents and is the font used in all OASIS paper templates.

Spacing in a Sentence

Use one space after a period or other punctuation at the end of a sentence.

Spacing in a Paper

Double spacing should be used throughout the paper (including the reference list).

  • Do not add additional space above or below the lines of text.
  • The default paragraph spacing in Word is set to “Open” (or with a space after each paragraph). You can change this in Word.
    • Click the Line and Paragraph Spacing icon.
    • Select Remove Space After Paragraph.
  • Use settings in Microsoft Word for double-spacing rather than manually creating line spacing.

Microsoft provides additional resources on how to change the spacing in your document.

Learn How to Change Line Spacing

Writing Templates

A writing template can help you format your document in APA style. Explore OASIS Writing Templates designed to assist you with your courses and program-specific templates to support your doctoral dissertations and capstone projects.

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