Edmonds CC Writing Center | MUK 113 APA Formatting: Google Docs
425.640.1750 | www.edcc.edu/lsc
APA FORMATTING: GOOGLE DOCS
Many instructors want you to format your papers according to APA guidelines, and it can be
hard to remember how to do all of these things until you’ve done them multiple times. You can
use this guide and the list below as a checklist to follow as you format your essays in Google
Docs.
Your paper is in APA format if it:
□ has 1 inch margins on all sides
□ is typed in Times New Roman font, size 12
□ is double-spaced throughout the entire document
□ begins every paragraph with an indentation
□ has a title page with information about you and your paper
□ includes a running header with the paper title and page numbers
□ has an abstract with a brief summary of your paper’s argument/findings
□ has a title centered at the beginning of the essay
□ includes a References page at the end of the essay with alphabetized APA citations
You have two options available to you when it comes to writing an APA formatted paper in
Google Docs. One is to format your paper yourself in a blank Google Doc, using the steps you
will find on this handout. The other is to use a template provided by Google Docs which has all
the correct APA formatting already set up for you. The template makes things very easy! But it’s
also good to learn how to do some of the formatting yourself.
To access the template from your Edmonds CC gmail account (@edmail.edcc.edu), you need
to be logged in to your Edmail account. Go to Google Docs and instead of clicking to start a
Blank document, look above to where it says Template Gallery. Click on Template Gallery,
make sure that General is selected, and in the Education section, find the APA Report
template. Click on that and a new Google Doc will open; the new Doc will have information
already typed that you will then replace with your own text, keeping the same formatting.
When reading through the template, it is clear where you need to add your own information.
As a student and not a professional researcher, you can skip the “Author Note” section on the
title page unless your instructor has told you to include it. You may also want to ask your
instructor if you need to include the Abstract page.
The template document has a lot of Latin text to show different formatting options for papers
with sections and subsections. If your paper is meant to have sections, these will be useful. If
not, ignore all of the formatting the template shows in the “body” of the paper after the first
introductory paragraph. Skip down to the References and use that as a guide for your citations.
You will probably still want to refer to the Hanging Indents section of this handout to format
your citations properly.
Edmonds CC Writing Center | MUK 113 APA Formatting: Google Docs
425.640.1750 | www.edcc.edu/lsc
Margins
Google Docs defaults to setting 1 inch margins on all sides of a document. Unless you’ve
changed your default settings before, every Google Doc you begin should have the correct
margins. But, you can check this by clicking on File in the menu bar, and then clicking on Page
setup from the menu that pops up (it’s near the bottom). This will open a dialog box with
information about the file’s margins. If you see anything other than 1 in any of the boxes under
Margins, change them all to 1.
Font and Size
Google Docs sets the default font to Arial, but APA strongly encourages all papers be written in
Times New Roman font, size 12. Always submit your papers in a font that is size 12, no larger
and no smaller. Teachers can tell if you’ve enlarged your font size to meet page requirements!
Change the font and size of your text from the formatting bar above the document itself.
Line Spacing
APA formatting requires the text of your paper (including title page, abstract, and references)
to be double-spaced. The default when you begin typing is usually single-spacing. You can
change the spacing before you begin typing, or you can change it after you have typed
everything up by highlighting all of the text and then completing the steps listed here.
To change line spacing in Google Docs, you have two options:
1. In the bar above the document, find the Line spacing button:
Click the button and choose Double as your spacing.
2. Click Format on the menu bar, select Line spacing, and choose Double.
Indented Paragraphs
The first line of every paragraph of your essay should be indented. You should do this by hitting
the Tab key on the keyboard (located on the left side) once at the beginning of the paragraph.
Do not indent by hitting the space bar multiple times—that’s what the Tab key is for!
Title Page
The first page of your APA formatted paper will not begin with the essay itself, but will instead
be a title page which has information about you and the class you’re writing the paper for, as
well as the title of the paper.
To properly format the title page, you should first hit Enter about 7 times so that you will begin
around a quarter of the way down the page. All of the text on the title page should be centered
by clicking the Center button above the document:
The first line of text should be the full title of your paper. After you’ve typed this, hit Enter and
move to the next line. On this line, type your full name and then hit Enter. On the next line,
you’ll type the name of your school—in this case, Edmonds Community College.
Edmonds CC Writing Center | MUK 113 APA Formatting: Google Docs
425.640.1750 | www.edcc.edu/lsc
The next section on the title page is the Author Note section. This is not usually included unless
you are a professor, are working on a longer, funded research project, or are looking to publish
your essay in an academic journal. Skip the Author Note unless your instructor has told you to
include it.
Header and Page Numbers
In an APA formatted paper, the header is different on the first page of the document than it is
on the following pages. In general, though, it contains only the title of your paper and the page
number.
Begin on the first page of the document—the title page. To quickly open the header, simply
click at the very top of the document and the header should open up. You can also open the
header by clicking on Insert in the menu bar, choosing Header & page number, and then
clicking on Header.
Now that the header box is open, before you type anything, click the checkbox on the right side
that says Different first page.
Next, type the following: Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER IN ALL-CAPS. This should be
aligned to the left, which is the default alignment for Google Docs.
Next, you will insert the page number. Hit the Tab key until your cursor is now on the right side
of the screen. Click on Insert on the menu bar, then select Header & page number, then Page
number, and then choose the first option of the four presented, which shows sequential page
numbers in the right corner of the paper. The page number will now appear and every new
page added to the document will automatically update with the correct page number. (If you
tabbed over too far to the right and the page number moves down to the next line, just place
your cursor in front of the number and hit backspace until it is back up on the correct line.) Click
outside of the header and your changes will be saved.
Because you clicked the “Different first page” checkbox earlier, what you have done up to
this point is set the header for the first page of the document; you will need to adjust the
following pages. In APA formatting, the first page has “Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER IN
ALL-CAPS.” But all of the pages that follow the first page remove the “Running head:” so that in
the left corner of the header, it is just TITLE OF YOUR PAPER IN ALL-CAPS. Go to the second
page of the document, open up the header as you did before, and simply delete the “Running
head:” text. Make sure the page number stays on the same line as the paper title.
Abstract
It’s a good idea to double-check with your instructor about whether or not they want you to
include the abstract: some instructors will, while others will not. The abstract follows the title
page of your document, and it is a brief paragraph where you summarize the key
ideas/arguments/findings in your paper. The abstract should be around 150-250 words. A
Edmonds CC Writing Center | MUK 113 APA Formatting: Google Docs
425.640.1750 | www.edcc.edu/lsc
reader should be able to read your abstract and get a clear sense of the overall argument and
key points of your paper.
On the first line of the new page after the title page, type and center the word Abstract. Hit
Enter, and on the following line, begin your abstract paragraph with the text aligned to the left.
The Abstract is the only paragraph in your paper that should not be indented using the Tab
key—it should be totally aligned to the left. Change the text justification to the left by clicking
the Align Text Left button above the document:
Paper Title
Even though the title of your paper is found on the title page and in the header, you will also
begin the essay with the title, centered above your opening paragraph.
Title your paper creatively and specifically! Your title should represent the topic(s) discussed in
your essay. You should not just call your paper something like “Essay 1.”
References
Your References page includes all of the sources you have summarized, paraphrased, and
quoted from in your essay, listed in alphabetical order. This page needs to go at the end of the
essay and begin a new page. When you have reached the end of your essay, hit Enter until you
arrive on a new page. Then, type References and center the text. Your actual References entries
should be left-aligned and double-spaced.
Hanging Indents
Your References entries need to have what is called a Hanging Indent, where the text starts out
left-justified but the second line of the citation is indented. You can highlight and format each
citation individually, or type them all up, highlight them all, and then change the indentation.
Once the citation you wish to indent is highlighted, click on Format in the menu bar, then put
your cursor on Align & indent. When the list of choices pops up to the right of your cursor,
choose Indentation options at the bottom of the list.
The Indentation options dialog box will now be open on your screen. Toward the bottom,
notice where it says Special indent. There is a drop-down box that will say None—click on the
box and select Hanging. Once Hanging has been selected, click the blue box that says Apply.
Now you should see that your citation has a hanging indent. Here’s an example of what your
citation should look like:
Author’s Lastname, First Initial. (Year/Date of Publication). Title of article. Title of Journal in
Italics, volume number in italics(issue number not in italics), pages. Retrieved from
http://www.URLofArticle.com.
Running head: TITLE OF MY PAPER 1
The Full Title of My Paper:
The Running Head is the Shortened Version
Student Name
Edmonds Community College
TITLE OF MY PAPER 2
