Edmonds CC Writing Center | MUK 113 APA Formatting: Google Docs
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The next section on the title page is the Author Note section. This is not usually included unless
you are a professor, are working on a longer, funded research project, or are looking to publish
your essay in an academic journal. Skip the Author Note unless your instructor has told you to
include it.
Header and Page Numbers
In an APA formatted paper, the header is different on the first page of the document than it is
on the following pages. In general, though, it contains only the title of your paper and the page
number.
Begin on the first page of the document—the title page. To quickly open the header, simply
click at the very top of the document and the header should open up. You can also open the
header by clicking on Insert in the menu bar, choosing Header & page number, and then
clicking on Header.
Now that the header box is open, before you type anything, click the checkbox on the right side
that says Different first page.
Next, type the following: Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER IN ALL-CAPS. This should be
aligned to the left, which is the default alignment for Google Docs.
Next, you will insert the page number. Hit the Tab key until your cursor is now on the right side
of the screen. Click on Insert on the menu bar, then select Header & page number, then Page
number, and then choose the first option of the four presented, which shows sequential page
numbers in the right corner of the paper. The page number will now appear and every new
page added to the document will automatically update with the correct page number. (If you
tabbed over too far to the right and the page number moves down to the next line, just place
your cursor in front of the number and hit backspace until it is back up on the correct line.) Click
outside of the header and your changes will be saved.
Because you clicked the “Different first page” checkbox earlier, what you have done up to
this point is set the header for the first page of the document; you will need to adjust the
following pages. In APA formatting, the first page has “Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER IN
ALL-CAPS.” But all of the pages that follow the first page remove the “Running head:” so that in
the left corner of the header, it is just TITLE OF YOUR PAPER IN ALL-CAPS. Go to the second
page of the document, open up the header as you did before, and simply delete the “Running
head:” text. Make sure the page number stays on the same line as the paper title.
Abstract
It’s a good idea to double-check with your instructor about whether or not they want you to
include the abstract: some instructors will, while others will not. The abstract follows the title
page of your document, and it is a brief paragraph where you summarize the key
ideas/arguments/findings in your paper. The abstract should be around 150-250 words. A