APA style rules. prioritizes continuity, fluidity, conciseness and clarity in the interest of easy-to-understand writing. A formal, direct tone is preferred. do not use contractions or colloquial expressions. Please feel free to refer to yourself in the first person if you did the research. Writing inclusively and without bias is the new norm, and the new APA Publication Manual has a separate chapter on this topic. The guidelines provided by the APA help authors reduce bias on topics such as gender, age, disability, racial and ethnic identity, and sexual orientation, while being sensitive to labels and descriptions. Generate APA citations in seconds. Start citing books, websites, journals and more with Citation Machine, APA Citation Generator. Plagiarism and Grammar If you are writing an APA-style paper for a course, your professor may be more lenient about the requirements. Also, if you are submitting your article for a specific journal, check. There are several steps you need to follow to prepare a new APA style document before you start writing your paper: Make sure of the paper size. 5, , known as Letter in most word processors. Set the margin size on all sides to 2.54 cm. Change the line spacing to double spaced. Add page numbers to the upper right corner of each page. If the essay is in a chapter of a book, edited collection, or anthology, APA format indicates that you must cite the first name, last name, essay title, collection title , publisher, year and page range. For example: Smith, John, The Light House, A Book of Poems, edited by Peter Roberts, Allworth Press, 2005, pp. 20-25.