PERRLA/APA 101
APA 101: the APA format in eighteen short lessons.
A plain-English course on the APA format, in eighteen short lessons. Start at the top if the format is new to you, or jump to the lesson you need tonight. Every lesson is free, whether or not you ever use PERRLA.
Short on time? Start with the five lessons marked Core lesson. Together they cover the parts of the APA format every student paper uses.
Section 1: APA Foundations
Lessons 1 and 2
- 1
Welcome to APA 101
How the course is laid out, and what a clean APA 7 student paper needs before you type the first word.
- 2
What is APA?
Where the format comes from, why your professor asks for it, and when APA 7 applies to a student paper.
Section 2: Formatting Basics
Lessons 3 to 6
- 3
Basic page setup
Letter-size paper, one-inch margins, an approved font, double spacing, the half-inch indent, and the page number in the top right.
Core lesson - 4
The title page
Title, your name, school, course, instructor, and due date, each on the line the format expects, and the instructor preferences that sometimes change them.
Core lesson - 5
Body pages
The title repeated on the first body page, why the introduction gets no heading, and paragraph formatting that stays consistent to the end.
- 6
The references page
The References label, alphabetical order, hanging indents, and double spacing, so every entry is easy to find.
Core lesson
Section 3: Elements of the Body
Lessons 7 and 8
- 7
Headings: the five levels
All five levels, formatted and shown on a real page, with the rules for using them in order.
Most-read lesson - 8
Why and what to cite
Which ideas, numbers, and images need credit, and a quick rule of thumb for the borderline cases.
Section 4: References and Citations
Lessons 9 to 14
- 9
Adding references to your paper
A reliable way to collect source details, choose the reference type, and keep the list accurate as the draft grows.
- 10
Formatting a book reference
Author, year, italic title in sentence case, and publisher, plus suffixes, matching names, and books with no date.
- 11
Formatting a journal article reference
Volume, issue, page range, and the DOI, in the order and punctuation that make the reference resolvable.
- 12
Formatting a webpage reference
When something is a webpage and when it is not, how to handle the author and date, and when a retrieval date belongs.
- 13
In-text citations
Author and year in the sentence or in parentheses, page numbers for quotes, "et al.", and citing two sources at once.
Core lesson - 14
Block quotes
Forty words or more moves the quote to its own indented block, with the citation after the final period.
Section 5: The Writing Process
Lessons 15 to 18
- 15
Academic tone and voice
How to sound calm, objective, and credible without sounding stiff.
- 16
Structuring an APA 7 paper
Outline the main points, arrange the supporting sources, and build transitions that keep the argument in view.
- 17
Writing with sources and avoiding plagiarism
Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing, and the attribution that keeps your use of sources clear and your argument stronger.
- 18
Final checks and common mistakes
The last pass before you submit: the mistakes that cost the most points, and a short list to run through.
Core lesson
Prefer one sheet of paper? Download PERRLA's APA 7 checklist, the basic rules condensed to a single page.
Prefer to see it live?
PERRLA 101 is a free walkthrough of PERRLA with our support team, 30 to 45 minutes, then questions for as long as you have them. No signup. Join from the link on the home page.
It covers the same ground as this course from the other direction: instead of learning the rules, you see a paper get set up, cited, and finished with the rules handled for you. PERRLA 101 is live on Zoom every week, and it is free. Join the next session, or get a reminder before the next one.
Everything in these eighteen lessons is set for you when you write the paper in PERRLA.
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