APA Title Page: A Complete Guide for Students and Professionals

Updated May 2026.

The first page of your paper is the first thing a reader sees. Getting it right is simple. You need to know two things. First, which format applies to you (student or professional). Second, what goes in each field. This guide walks through every element. Examples are included for both formats. The rules below follow APA 7th edition.

Required Elements: Student vs. Professional Side-by-Side

Use this table to check which elements your format needs.

Which Format Do You Need?

APA 7th edition has two formats for the cover page. Your choice depends on why you're writing the paper.

• Student format.
  Use this for class assignments and any paper for an instructor.
• Professional format.
  Use this for papers going to academic journals.

The two formats share some elements. They differ on others. The shared elements come first below. The format-specific elements come after that.

Elements That Appear on Both Formats

Start here. These four elements show up in both formats.

1. Page Number

Place the number 1 in the upper right corner. Every page in your paper gets a number. The title page is page 1.

2. Title of the Paper

The title goes in the upper half of the page. Not in the middle. Follow these rules.

• Center the title.
• Bold it.
• Double space it.
• Use title case. Capitalize the first letter of each major word.
• Keep it short. One or two lines is ideal.
• Skip abbreviations and filler words.

3. Author Name

Write your full name below the title. Follow these rules.

• Use first name, middle initial, and last name.
• Don't add titles or degrees. No PhD, MD, Dr., or Prof.
• If there's more than one author, list them by who contributed most.
• If everyone contributed equally, list names in alphabetical order by last name.
• If only some contributed equally, mark them with an asterisk. Add a note below the author list to explain.
• For two authors, join the names with "and." For three or more, use commas and "and" before the last name.

4. School or Workplace

Write the department and the school or workplace where you did the research. Place it right below the author name.

• If all authors share the same school or workplace, list it once.
• If authors are at different schools, use small superscript numbers next to each name. Then match each number to the right school below.

Student Format: Additional Elements

For a class assignment, add these three elements below the school name. Center them. Double space them.

• Course name and number.
  For example: PSY 301: Research Methods in Psychology.
• Instructor name.
  Use the name your instructor prefers. Include any title they use.
• Due date.
  Write the date the paper is due. Not the date you turned it in.

Student papers don't need a running head or an author note. The APA 6th edition required these. The 7th edition does not.

Professional Format: Additional Elements

For a journal paper, add these two elements. Student papers don't include them.

Running Head

A running head is a short version of the title. It appears at the top of every page.

• Place it flush left in the header of the title page.
• Write it in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.
• Keep it to 50 characters or fewer. Count spaces and punctuation.
• Put the page number in the upper right corner of the same line.

Here's an example. Say your paper is titled "The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Academic Performance in Undergraduate Students." The running head would be: SLEEP DEPRIVATION AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE.

Author Note

The author note goes in the lower half of the page, below the school name. Left-align it. Don't center it. Include the items below. Use a separate paragraph for each, in this order.

• ORCID iD.
  Each author's name with their ORCID URL (https://orcid.org/xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx).
• Affiliation changes.
  Note any author whose school or workplace changed since the research.
• Disclosures.
  List any conflicts of interest, grant funding, financial support, study registrations, or data sharing statements.
• Acknowledgements.
  Brief thanks to anyone who helped but is not listed as an author.
• Contact information.
  The lead author's full mailing address and email.

The label "Author Note" is centered and bold. Each paragraph in the note is left-aligned. Indent the first line of each one. See the APA's author note guidelines for more.

Six Common Formatting Mistakes

These errors come up most often in student and professional papers.

1. Adding your degree after your name.
   Leave it out. No PhD, MD, MS, Dr., or Prof. in either format.
2. Centering everything in the middle of the page.
   The title goes in the upper half, not the middle. Starting the content too far down the page is a common layout mistake.
3. Using single spacing.
   Every element should be double spaced. That means the title, name, school, course details, and author note.
4. Forgetting the running head on a professional paper.
   Journal papers need a running head. Place it in the header flush left, in all caps, 50 characters or fewer.
5. Adding course details to a professional paper.
   Course and instructor details belong only on student papers. Remove them from journal papers.
6. Using old APA 6th edition rules.
   Two key things changed in the 7th edition. Student papers no longer need a running head. Sources with three or more authors now use "et al." from the first citation. The 6th edition asked for all author names the first time.

Can You Put an Image on the Cover Page?

APA doesn't give rules for images on the cover page. Most editors see it as unprofessional. The page is for information, not decoration. You may need to add a logo if your school requires it. If so, add a short note below it to explain the source. Don't label it as a figure.

Helpful Resources

For student papers, the Purdue OWL APA formatting guide is one of the best free references. For professional papers, check the journal you're submitting to first. Many journals have rules that differ from the standard APA rules. The APA also has official sample papers in professional format. They're useful for journal prep.

Frequently Asked Questions

When to Get Help with APA Formatting

Good formatting is just the first step. The cover page sets the tone. But reviewers and instructors also judge the writing itself. You may have spent weeks getting the format right. The writing deserves the same care. A skilled editor can help. They review grammar, clarity, citations, and APA style across the whole paper.

Editor World offers professional academic editing for students, graduate researchers, and faculty. We work in APA, MLA, Chicago, and other major styles. Every editor is a native English speaker with an advanced degree. Every paper is reviewed by a real person, never by AI. To see who would be working on your paper, choose your own editor from the Editor World roster. You can also ask for a free sample edit of up to 300 words before you book a full edit.

This article was reviewed by the Editor World academic team. Editor World, founded in 2010 by Patti Fisher, PhD, provides professional editing and proofreading services for students, academics, and researchers worldwide. BBB A+ accredited since 2010 with 5.0/5 Google Reviews and 5.0/5 Facebook Reviews.