Department Of Communication
Requirements For Typed Papers

The Communication Department has adopted the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (current ed.) as its style manual for written work. This summary is not a substitute for the book, which should be consulted for information about documentation (references and the reference list). Copies are available in the bookstore and in the Library in the Ready Reference section (behind the Reference Desk). The numbers refer to section numbers in the manual.

Fosr a sample paper layout see www.ccc.commnet.edu/apa/format.htm.

Paper. Type the manuscript on one side of standard sized (8.5 x 11 in) . . . paper. All pages of one manuscript must be the same size. . . .

Type Element.. . . The type must be dark, clear, and readable. [Pages printed on a dot-matrix printer are not acceptable. All computer labs have laser printers available.] . . .

[Font = Courier  12 point]

Double space between all lines of the manuscript. Double space after every line in the title, headings, footnotes, quotations, references, figure captions, and all parts of tables.. . . never use single spacing or one-and-a-half spacing.

Margins. Leave uniform margins of 1 in. . . . at the top, bottom, right, and left of every page. . . .
. . . Do not justify lines: that is, do not adjust spacing between words to make all lines the same length. Instead, leave the right margin uneven. Do not divide words at the end of a line. Let a line run short or long rather than break a word at the end of a line. [Most word processing programs do this automatically]

4.01
4.02
4.03
4.04
4.05 Order of the Manuscript Pages. Number all pages except the figures consecutively. Arrange the pages of the manuscript as follows:
  • title page with title, author's name and affiliation, and running head (separate page, numbered . . . 1)
  • abstract [if required] (separate page, numbered . . . 2)
  • text (start on a new page, numbered . . . 3 [unless an abstract is not required]
  • references (start on a new page)
  • appendixes (start each on a new page) . . . .
4.06 Page Numbers. After the manuscript pages are arranged in the correct order, number them consecutively, beginning with the title page. . . . Type the numbers in the upper right hand corner using arabic numerals.

Short title. . . .Identify each manuscript page . . . by typing the first two or three words from the title in the upper right-hand corner above the page number. . . .

4.08 Paragraphs and Indentations. Indent the first line of every paragraph and the first line of every footnote five spaces. Type the remaining lines of the manuscript to a uniform left-hand margin. [See APA section 4.08 for exceptions.] . . .

4.11 Spacing and Punctuation. . . . . Hyphens, dashes, and minus signs:
  • Hyphen: no space before or after (e.g. trial-by-error . . .)
  • Dash: type as two hyphens with no space before or after (e.g. studies--published or unpublished--are . . .)
  • Minus sign: type as a hyphen with space on both sides (e.g. a - b).
Course Page