How do I format APA headers in a Word document?
Answer
The APA Style Blog has a post on Running Heads and another post with sample papers, if you would like to take a look before following the instructions below.
Creating headers in APA style:
The running head is an abbreviated version of your title (if your title is more than 50 characters), typed in all-caps, left-aligned in the page header, across from the right-aligned page number.
From the APA blog's sample paper, you can see an example below.
PC (Windows)
While in Microsoft Word:
- Click the “Insert” menu.
- In the “Header & Footer” group, click the first option, "Blank Header."
- Still in the “Header & Footer” group, click “Page Number,” select “Top of Page” then “Plain Number 1.”
- Put the cursor to the left of the page number. Type the paper title in all caps. If it is over 50 characters, use a shortened version of the title.
- After typing the title, type tab until the page number is on the right of the page.
Mac
While in Microsoft Word:
- Click "Insert" and then "Header & Footer" and choose "Blank. "
- Brackets with "[Type here]" will appear, left-aligned.
- Still in the "Header & Footer" group, click Page Number, then under Alignment, choose Right.
- Number 1 will appear, right-aligned.
- Type your paper title, all-caps, up to 50 characters to replace "[Type here]".