Key takeaways
- APA 7th simplified several rules from the 6th edition; do not mix the two.
- Consistent headings and citations matter more than memorising every rule.
- The reference list and in-text citations must always match each other.
APA 7th edition is the required style for many social science, business, and education theses. It governs everything from the title page to the spacing of your reference list. This guide covers the elements thesis writers use most, with the changes that the 7th edition introduced.
Title page and general layout
Use a clean title page with the title, your name, institution, course, instructor, and date, each on its own line and centred. Use one-inch margins, double spacing throughout, and a readable font such as 12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Calibri. Check your institution's thesis guidelines, because universities often add their own cover page rules on top of APA.
Abstract and keywords
The abstract is a single paragraph, usually under 250 words, summarising the problem, method, results, and conclusion. Follow it with a line of keywords, indented and italicised, that help others find your work.
Use the five heading levels correctly
APA 7th has five heading levels, each with its own formatting. The most common mistake is skipping levels or formatting them inconsistently across chapters.
- Level 1: centred, bold, title case.
- Level 2: left-aligned, bold, title case.
- Level 3: left-aligned, bold italic, title case.
- Levels 4 and 5: indented, bold or bold italic, ending with a period.
In-text citations
APA uses author-date citations, for example (Sharma, 2024). For two authors, name both every time; for three or more, use the first author followed by et al. from the first citation. A major 7th edition change: works with three or more authors use et al. immediately, with no need to list all authors the first time.
Reference list
Start references on a new page, centre the bold word References, and use a hanging indent. Entries are alphabetical by author surname. The 7th edition no longer requires the publisher location for books and includes the full DOI as a link where available.
Tables and figures
Tables and figures each carry a bold number, an italic title, and a note beneath where needed. Refer to every table and figure in the text by its number. Keep formatting identical across all of them so the document reads as one consistent piece of work.
Bring it all together
A long thesis has hundreds of small formatting decisions, and consistency across two hundred pages is genuinely hard to maintain by hand. Our academic formatting service applies APA 7th to your entire document, from cover page to references, so the formatting never distracts from your research.