Студенческая работа в формате APA

What is this APA student paper template?

This is a free LaTeX template for a complete student paper in APA format, following the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. It is a working APA paper example rather than a blank skeleton: a student title page with title, author, affiliation, course, instructor and due date; the page number in the top right corner of every page; the title repeated as the first line of the body; Level 1, 2 and 3 headings; double-spaced 12-point text with one-inch margins and half-inch paragraph indents; narrative and parenthetical author-date citations; and a References page on its own sheet with hanging indents. The sample body is a short report (an introduction, then Method, Results and Discussion) so you can compare every rule against the preview above.

The document class is apa7, the maintained APA class in TeX Live and Overleaf, in its student mode (stu). The class owns the formatting, so the preamble is short: babel and csquotes for American English punctuation, newtxtext for a Times New Roman look, and biblatex with the apa style and biber for citations. The three sample sources live in a small .bib file written out by a filecontents block, so the whole template is one file that compiles with latexmk anywhere.

APA 7 student paper format rules

Use this checklist against your own paper. The left column is the rule from the manual; the right column is what in the template produces it.

APA title page (student version)

The student title page is the part of APA 7 that differs most from the professional format, and the apa7 class builds it for you from six commands in the preamble:

\title{Sleep Regularity and Working Memory in First-Year Undergraduates}
\authorsnames{Jordan A. Rivera}
\authorsaffiliations{{Department of Psychology, Example University}}
\course{PSY 240: Cognitive Psychology}
\professor{Dr. Maria Lopez}
\duedate{October 19, 2026}

\begin{document}
\maketitle

\maketitle lays the page out as the manual specifies: the title in bold, title case, centred three or four lines below the top margin, then a blank double-spaced line, then the author's name, the department and university, the course number and name, the instructor's name and the due date, each on its own centred line. The page number 1 sits in the top right corner; there is no running head, no author note and no abstract. For a group assignment list the authors on one line with \authorsnames{Ana Kim, Lee Park}; the double braces in \authorsaffiliations wrap each affiliation, so a second institution is a second {...} group.

Write the date in the form your instructor uses; the manual's examples use the Month Day, Year form, as in October 19, 2026. If you only need the cover sheet, the APA title page template is this same block on its own.

APA headings (Levels 1–5)

APA 7 defines five heading levels and the apa7 class maps the five standard LaTeX sectioning commands onto them, with no numbering:

The template uses Levels 1 to 3 (Method, Participants, Sleep Diary). The introduction has no heading of its own: APA treats the repeated title on the first text page as its Level 1 heading, which is why the class prints it there and the first paragraph follows directly. Use levels in order (a Level 3 only under a Level 2) and give a section at least two subsections or none. Headings are double spaced like the body with no extra space above or below; the class takes care of that, so never add \vspace around them. Do not use \section* to drop the number: apa7 already prints headings unnumbered.

In-text citations and references

APA uses author-date citations. A narrative citation names the author as part of the sentence with the year in parentheses: Halvorsen and Reyes (2023) found that.... A parenthetical citation puts both inside the parentheses at the end of the clause: ...which stages a night contains (Okafor, 2021). Two authors are joined with "and" in a narrative citation and an ampersand in a parenthetical one; three or more authors become the first surname plus et al. from the first citation; a group author is written out in full. The template loads biblatex with the apa style so these rules are applied for you:

\usepackage[american]{babel}
\usepackage{csquotes}
\usepackage[style=apa,backend=biber]{biblatex}
\addbibresource{sample-refs.bib}

\textcite{halvorsen2023} found that students ...       % Halvorsen and Reyes (2023) found that students ...
... which stages a night contains \parencite{okafor2021}.   % ... (Okafor, 2021).
... as one review put it \parencite[p.~41]{okafor2021}.    % ... (Okafor, 2021, p. 41).

babel with the american option and csquotes are required by biblatex-apa; they supply the English connectives and the quotation-mark style the APA style expects. Sources are ordinary BibTeX entries. The template writes three samples (a journal article with a DOI, a book and a web page by a group author) into sample-refs.bib through a filecontents* block so that nothing else has to be uploaded:

\begin{filecontents*}[overwrite]{sample-refs.bib}
@article{halvorsen2023,
  author  = {Halvorsen, Ingrid and Reyes, Tom{\'a}s},
  title   = {Sleep timing and working memory in first-year undergraduates},
  journal = {Journal of Student Learning Research},
  year    = {2023},
  volume  = {14},
  number  = {2},
  pages   = {115--132},
  doi     = {10.0000/jslr.2023.0142},
}
@online{src2024,
  author  = {{Sleep Research Collective}},
  title   = {Study habits and sleep: A guide for first-year students},
  date    = {2024-03-08},
  url     = {https://www.example.org/sleep-guide},
}
\end{filecontents*}

Note the two details that trip people up: a group author goes in double braces so biber does not split it into a first and last name, and a web page uses a full date field so the reference prints (2024, March 8). Titles are entered in sentence case; biblatex-apa keeps them as written. At the end of the paper \printbibliography starts the References page, centres its bold heading, sorts the entries by surname and sets each with a half-inch hanging indent. If you prefer BibTeX, the apa7 class also supports apacite through its apacite and natbib class options, but biblatex-apa is the maintained option and the class default.

APA paper example: page by page

Here is what the compiled template looks like. Page 1 is the title page: the number 1 in the top right corner, the bold title centred in the upper half, and below it Jordan A. Rivera, Department of Psychology, Example University, PSY 240: Cognitive Psychology, Dr. Maria Lopez and October 19, 2026, each on its own double-spaced line. Page 2 opens with the title again in bold, then the introduction, which contains a narrative citation, Halvorsen and Reyes (2023), and two parenthetical ones. The Level 1 heading Method is centred in bold; under it Participants and Materials are Level 2, flush left in bold, and Sleep Diary and Working Memory Task are Level 3, flush left in bold italic.

Page 3 carries the Results and Discussion sections, with statistical symbols in italics (b, SE, p) as the manual requires. Page 4 is the References page: the heading centred in bold, three entries in alphabetical order, double spaced, each with a hanging indent, the DOI and URL printed as plain links. Every page has the number in the same place and nothing else in the header.

Student vs professional paper

APA 7 introduced two versions of the paper. The student paper is for coursework: a title page with course and instructor details, a page number but no running head, and no abstract, author note or keywords unless the instructor asks. The professional paper is for manuscripts sent to a journal: a running head on every page, an author note, an abstract with keywords, and affiliations given per author. The body, headings, citations and References page are identical in both.

The template ships in student mode and has the professional alternative in a commented block at the end of the preamble. To switch, change the class option and replace the student fields:

\documentclass[man,12pt,floatsintext]{apa7}

\shorttitle{SLEEP REGULARITY AND WORKING MEMORY}   % running head, caps, max 50 characters
\authorsnames[1,2]{Jordan A. Rivera, Maria Lopez}
\authorsaffiliations{{Department of Psychology, Example University},
                     {School of Education, Second University}}
\authornote{Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to ...}
\abstract{One paragraph of up to 250 words.}
\keywords{sleep, working memory, undergraduates}
% delete \course, \professor and \duedate

The numbers in \authorsnames[1,2] attach each author to the matching affiliation. A third mode, jou, typesets the paper two-column as it would appear in a printed journal, and doc gives a plain single-spaced document; neither is used for submissions.

Section-by-section walkthrough

Preamble: class, language, font and bibliography

\documentclass[stu,12pt,floatsintext]{apa7}

\usepackage[american]{babel}
\usepackage{csquotes}
\usepackage{newtxtext}      % Times-like 12 pt text (APA 7 also accepts Computer Modern: delete this line)
\usepackage[style=apa,backend=biber]{biblatex}

stu selects the student paper; 12pt is the size for Times New Roman; floatsintext places tables and figures where they are referenced instead of collecting them after the References page, which is what instructors expect from a student paper. Nothing else about the page is set by hand: margins, spacing, indents and the header all come from the class. newtxtext only changes the typeface.

Title page fields and the body

After the bibliography block come the six title page commands, the commented professional alternative, and \begin{document} followed by \maketitle. The introduction starts straight after it, with no heading. Each later section is a \section, and subsections nest below it. Paragraphs are separated by a blank line in the source and get their half-inch indent automatically. Italicise statistical symbols with \emph and use a real minus sign, $-$, for negative values.

The References page

\section{Discussion}
...

\printbibliography

\end{document}

One command. The class starts a new page, prints References centred in bold, and biblatex-apa formats every cited entry with its hanging indent. Only sources you actually cite appear; to list a source you read but did not cite, add \nocite{key} anywhere in the body.

How to customize the template

• Your details. Edit the six title page commands in the preamble. Nothing else needs to change for a new paper.
• Your sources. Replace the entries inside the filecontents* block, or delete the block, upload your own .bib file and point \addbibresource at it. The overwrite option means the block rewrites sample-refs.bib on every run, so do not keep a real file under that name.
• Abstract. If required, add \abstract{...} and optionally \keywords{...} before \begin{document}; the class prints them on page 2.
• Tables and figures. Use the standard table and figure environments with \caption; the class formats the number in bold and the title in italics above the float, as APA 7 requires. Remove floatsintext to move all floats to the end of the paper, as a journal manuscript would.
• Font. Delete newtxtext for Computer Modern, or delete it and add the class options helv and 11pt for a Helvetica (Arial-style) paper.
• Block quotations. Quotations of 40 words or more go in the quote environment with no quotation marks and the citation after the final period. The class keeps the double spacing; the standard environment indents the block about 0.4 in on both sides, close to the 0.5-inch left indent the manual specifies.
• Paper size. Add a4paper to the class options outside North America. The margins stay one inch.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

• Citations print as [halvorsen2023] or the References page is empty. biber has not run. Compile with latexmk -pdf, or run pdflatex, then biber main, then pdflatex twice. In Overleaf and Octree this happens automatically.
• Warning that csquotes is missing, or wrong quotation marks and punctuation. biblatex-apa needs csquotes and expects American babel. Keep \usepackage[american]{babel} and \usepackage{csquotes} in the preamble.
• Running head appears on a student paper. The class option is man or a \shorttitle was added. Use stu and leave \shorttitle out.
• Title missing from the top of page 2. The donotrepeattitle option is set. Remove it: APA 7 wants the title repeated above the introduction.
• Numbered headings. Something redefined the sectioning commands, usually a copied preamble with titlesec. Delete it; the class already prints unnumbered headings in the five APA styles.
• Single-spaced text or odd margins. setspace or geometry was loaded on top of the class. Remove them; both are already handled.
• Group author split into initials. Collective, S. R. in the reference list means the group name needs double braces in the .bib entry: author = {{Sleep Research Collective}}.

How to compile the APA paper

1. In Octree: click Open as template above. The paper opens with a live preview and biber runs on every compile; fill in the title page fields, paste your text, or ask the AI assistant to turn a source into a BibTeX entry.
2. In Overleaf: create a blank project, paste the source into main.tex and recompile. Overleaf detects biblatex and runs biber for you; the apa7 class and biblatex-apa are preinstalled.
3. Locally: save as paper.tex and run:

   latexmk -pdf paper.tex
   # or by hand:
   pdflatex paper.tex && biber paper && pdflatex paper.tex && pdflatex paper.tex

   apa7, biblatex-apa and newtxtext are all part of a full TeX Live or MiKTeX install.

Related templates

Frequently asked questions

What margins does an APA 7 paper use?

One inch (2.54 cm) on all four sides of every page, including the title page and the References page. The apa7 class sets this for you; do not load geometry on top of it. The page number sits in the header, inside the top margin, flush right.

What font does APA 7 require?

APA 7 accepts several fonts as long as you use one consistently: 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, 11-point Georgia, or 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode, and the manual explicitly lists 10-point Computer Modern, LaTeX's default, as acceptable too. The template loads newtxtext for the Times New Roman look most instructors expect; delete that line to use Computer Modern instead.

Is an APA paper double spaced everywhere?

Yes. The whole paper is double spaced: title page, body text, headings, block quotations and the References page. There is no extra blank line before or after headings or between paragraphs, and every paragraph starts with a 0.5-inch first-line indent. The only exceptions are the body of tables and figures (single, 1.5 or double spacing), footnotes (single spaced) and displayed equations, which may be set with extra space. The apa7 class applies double spacing automatically in stu and man modes; do not add setspace.

Does a student APA paper need a running head?

No. APA 7 removed the running head from student papers; only a page number, flush right in the header of every page, is required. The title page counts as page 1. Professional (manuscript) papers still carry a running head of up to 50 characters in capital letters, which you give the apa7 class with \shorttitle after switching the class option from stu to man.

Does a student APA paper need an abstract?

Usually not. The APA 7 student paper format does not include an abstract unless the instructor or institution asks for one. If yours does, add \abstract{...} before \begin{document}; the apa7 class then prints it on its own page after the title page, with the heading Abstract centred in bold, the paragraph not indented, and optional keywords on an indented line below it.

How do I cite in APA format in LaTeX?

Load biblatex with style=apa and backend=biber, keep your sources in a .bib file and cite with \textcite{key} for a narrative citation (Halvorsen and Reyes (2023) found...) or \parencite{key} for a parenthetical one (...was the same (Okafor, 2021)). Add a page with \parencite[p.~12]{key}. \printbibliography at the end produces the References page, formatted and alphabetised by the biblatex-apa style. Compile with latexmk so biber runs.

Where does the References page go and how is it formatted?

On its own page immediately after the last page of text, continuing the page numbering, with the heading References centred in bold at the top. Entries are double spaced, listed alphabetically by the first author's surname, and each has a 0.5-inch hanging indent: the first line flush left and every following line indented. biblatex-apa and the apa7 class produce all of this from \printbibliography; nothing in the reference list is typed by hand.