APA 6th Edition Formatting for Amity BBA Project Reports — Step-by-Step

Amity Online's BBA project guidelines specify APA Style, 6th edition for all figures, graphs, tables, appendices, and references. Many students default to APA 7th because it is newer—but using the wrong edition is a formatting error evaluators notice immediately. This step-by-step guide walks you through every APA 6 requirement Amity enforces for BBA project reports.

Document setup: page layout

• Font: Times New Roman, 12 point throughout the document
• Line spacing: double-spaced for all body text
• Margins: 1 inch (2.5 cm) on all sides—top, bottom, left, and right
• Running head: page header at the top of every page
• American spellings: program (not programme), center (not centre), recognize (not recognise), organize (not organise), summarize (not summarise)

Step 1: Create the running head

APA 6th edition requires a running head—a shortened version of your title—at the top of every page. In Microsoft Word, open the header on page 1, type 'Running head: YOUR SHORT TITLE' in uppercase for the first page, then on subsequent pages type only the short title in uppercase. The running head should not exceed 50 characters including spaces.

1. 1Double-click the top margin to open the header
2. 2On page 1: Running head: IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON BRAND LOYALTY
3. 3On pages 2 onward: IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON BRAND LOYALTY
4. 4Align left; use the same 12 pt Times New Roman font

Step 2: Format the title page

Center your full project title (maximum 12 words per Amity rules), your name, Amity Online affiliation, course details, guide name, and submission date. APA 6 title pages do not include author notes or ORCID IDs required in APA 7.

Step 3: Structure headings

APA 6 uses five heading levels. For BBA project reports, you typically need Levels 1–3:

• Level 1: Centered, Boldface, Title Case—used for chapter titles
• Level 2: Flush Left, Boldface, Title Case—used for major sections
• Level 3: Indented, boldface, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.

Step 4: In-text citations (APA 6)

APA 6 uses the author-date system. For one or two authors, cite both names every time: (Smith & Jones, 2019). For three to five authors, cite all names the first time, then et al. on subsequent citations: (Smith, Jones, & Lee, 2018) then (Smith et al., 2018). For six or more authors, use et al. from the first citation.

• Direct quotes: include page number—(Smith, 2019, p. 42)
• Paraphrases: author and year only—(Smith, 2019)
• Multiple sources in one parenthesis: alphabetical order, separated by semicolons
• No author: use shortened title in quotes for articles or italics for books

Step 5: Reference list

Start the reference list on a new page titled 'References' (centered, not bold). Entries are alphabetized by first author's surname. Use a hanging indent of 0.5 inches. APA 6 reference formats differ from APA 7 in several ways—most notably, up to seven authors are listed before using et al., and DOI format uses 'doi:' prefix without a URL.

• Journal article: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), pages. doi:xxxxx
• Book: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work. Publisher.
• Website: Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Retrieved from http://...

Step 6: Tables

Number tables sequentially (Table 1, Table 2). Place the table number and title above the table. Notes go below. APA 6 tables use horizontal lines only—no vertical borders. Cite the source if data is adapted from another work: Note. Adapted from 'Title,' by A. Author, Year, Journal, volume, page. Copyright Year by Publisher.

Step 7: Figures and graphs

Number figures sequentially (Figure 1, Figure 2). Place the figure number and caption below the figure. Amity explicitly requires you to mention sources of any images, tables, or figures cited or presented. If you create the figure from your own data, note 'Source: Author's own work based on survey data, 2026.'

Step 8: Appendices

Label appendices as Appendix A, Appendix B, and so on. Each appendix starts on a new page. Common BBA appendices include the questionnaire, interview guide, raw data tables, and guide/student certificates. Format appendix content in the same APA 6 style as the main body.

APA 6 vs APA 7: key differences to avoid

• APA 6: 'Running head:' on first page only; APA 7: student papers omit running head
• APA 6: up to seven authors listed; APA 7: list up to 20
• APA 6: 'Retrieved from' for URLs; APA 7: plain URL without 'Retrieved from'
• APA 6: publisher location in book references; APA 7: publisher location omitted
• APA 6: 'doi:' prefix; APA 7: https://doi.org/ format

File format and size

• Accepted formats: PDF (.pdf), Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx)
• Maximum file size: 2 MB
• Compress images before inserting to stay under the limit
• Export a clean PDF after final formatting review

Pre-submission APA 6 checklist

1. 1Times New Roman 12 pt, double-spaced, 1-inch margins throughout
2. 2Running head on every page
3. 3American spellings checked
4. 4All in-text citations match reference list entries
5. 5Tables and figures numbered, titled, and sourced
6. 6Reference list in APA 6 format with hanging indents
7. 7Appendices labeled and formatted consistently
8. 8File under 2 MB in PDF or Word format

Professional APA formatting help

Formatting a 20,000-word BBA report to APA 6th edition—with correct running heads, reference lists, table notes, and figure captions—is tedious and error-prone. ReportLift's academic formatting service applies your university's exact guidelines, including APA 6, and returns a submission-ready Word file and PDF.