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

Amity Online's BCom 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 BCom evaluators notice immediately. This step-by-step guide walks you through every APA 6 requirement Amity enforces for BCom 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
• Running head: page header at the top of every page
• American spellings: program, center, recognize, organize, summarize, behavior

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. On page 1: 'Running head: YOUR SHORT TITLE' in uppercase. On pages 2 onward: only the short title in uppercase. Maximum 50 characters including spaces.

Step 2: Format the title page

Center your full project title (maximum 12 words per Amity rules), your name, Amity Online affiliation, BCom specialization, guide name, and submission date.

Step 3: Structure headings for BCom chapters

• Level 1: Centered, Boldface, Title Case—chapter titles (e.g. Literature Review)
• Level 2: Flush Left, Boldface, Title Case—major sections (e.g. Financial Analysis Framework)
• Level 3: Indented, boldface, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period

Step 4: In-text citations (APA 6)

• One or two authors: cite both every time—(Horngren & Harrison, 2017)
• Three to five authors: all names first time, then et al.—(Smith, Jones, & Lee, 2018) then (Smith et al., 2018)
• Six or more authors: et al. from first citation
• Direct quotes: include page number—(Porter, 1985, p. 42)
• Company reports: cite organization as author—(Reserve Bank of India, 2024)

Step 5: Reference list

Start on a new page titled 'References' (centered, not bold). Alphabetize by first author's surname. Use hanging indent of 0.5 inches. APA 6 uses 'doi:' prefix and 'Retrieved from' for URLs—not the APA 7 https://doi.org/ format.

Step 6: Tables for BCom financial data

Number tables sequentially (Table 1, Table 2). Place the table number and title above the table. BCom projects commonly include ratio analysis tables, demographic profiles, correlation matrices, and survey response summaries. Cite sources for adapted data.

Step 7: Figures and graphs

Number figures sequentially (Figure 1, Figure 2). Place the caption below the figure. Amity requires you to mention sources of any images, tables, or figures cited or presented.

APA 6 vs APA 7: key differences to avoid

• APA 6: 'Running head:' on first page; APA 7 student papers often 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
• APA 6: publisher location in book references; APA 7: location omitted

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. 7File under 2 MB in PDF or Word format