APA Title Page / Cover Page — Complete Guide on Formatting

What Is a Title Page APA? 

APA format title page is the first thing you should keep in mind while working on an assignment in this formatting style. It is obligatory to have one for all APA format in paper. 

Here, your main task is to get your reader acquainted with what your writing will be about. Undoubtedly, readers' first glance always falls on your chosen title. Therefore it should not be tedious. It should provide information about your course, professor, institutional affiliation, etc.

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APA Title Page Format

Now let's talk about ways of APA title page formatting. Even though writing style stays without changes, guidelines for professional and student papers are somewhat different. Here we will review discrepancies between these two types.

Student Version

Assignments written by students during their studies all fall under category of student version papers. Their title pages include these components:

• Paper heading
• Author (student) name
• University name
• Course name and number
• Instructor name
• Paper's due date.

APA Title Page Example

You can see an example for student papers below:

Professional Version

Professional papers are assignments that professional researchers or professors work on.

The elements included in a professional version slightly differ from ones of the student version. They are:

• Running head
• Paper title
• Author name or names
• Author affiliations
• Author note.

Note that professional version has the running head APA located flush left on top. In general, student version has only the page number flush right on top. Still, a running head can also be included if your instructor requests it. 

APA Title Page Template

Here is an example of a professional version:

Six Elements of APA Title Page 

It's time to describe general elements of a standard APA style title page. There are 6 of them.

1. Paper Title

First of all, your heading should be catchy and informative. It should also sum up your chosen topic. So use only relevant words to compose an excellent header. Here is how one should locate it:

1. 3-4 lines from the top
2. Center-aligned
3. Written in bold font
4. Written in title case

See? That's easy, so let's move to the next element. 

2. Author

Make an indent after the title and center author's name. Mention their full name – first, middle and last names at once. If an author is a Doctor, a Professor, or has a degree (Ph.D.), don't include this information.

Multiple Authors APA Title Page

If there are two authors, you should list them in order of their input. Separate their names with the word "and." For example:

If three or more authors contributed to a paper, split their names with the comma, and add "and" before last author name. For instance:

3. Institutional Affiliation

Put institutional affiliation under author's name on the next line. If it's a student's paper, they should specify an institution and unit they are studying at. If it's a professional version, the analyst should identify a particular organization where they made their research activities.

If there are multiple authors from particular affiliations, superscript numbers will come in handy. However, keep in mind that if all authors come from the same institution, there is no need to assign them superscript numbers. Here is an example:

4. Course Information

Information about the course is the requirement for student versions only. Specify it under institutional affiliation and make it centered. Include course number and its name, separated by a colon.

5. Author Note

Professional versions usually include author notes (identification of author’s department and institutional affiliation) on the bottom half of the page. Locate them under "Author note" label, which should be centered and bolded. The beginning of each note is left-aligned with an indent between new paragraphs. 

6. Header

A header is the text that appears on top of a page and is separated from the body text. A student version includes only page number in the top right corner. Therefore, one doesn't need to have a running head here like it was required in the 6th APA edition. 

However, if it's a professional version, a running head is obligatory. It is your paper title, all capitalized, aligned left on top.

Conclusion

There are many details one should pay attention to while creating an APA title page. However, we believe that memorizing all of them won't be a trouble for you with our explanation and examples. Even if you are looking for an APA abstract example, you will get it with us.