Body Pages

Now that your Title Page is ready, it’s time to start the Body of your paper – the section where all the real writing happens.

This is the largest and most substantial part of your paper. It’s where you’ll present your ideas and use research to support them. Later, we’ll cover exactly how to cite your sources – but for now, let’s focus on formatting the body correctly.

Page Number

At the top of the page, you’ll see the page number, continuing from the Title Page. So, the first page of the body should start with 2 in the top-right corner of the header.

If you're using PERRLA, we handle this for you automatically. Each page gets the correct number in the right spot, no setup required.

Paper Title

Before you dive into writing, APA requires that you repeat the full title of your paper at the top of the first body page.

Place it on the first line of the page, bolded, center-aligned, and use Title Case – just like on the Title Page. It should look exactly the same. As a side-note, in APA, the paper’s title here serves as the default introduction section. So unless you have a very long paper, there’s no need to add a new heading for the “Introduction.”

Main Text

After the title, press Enter once and begin typing your paper.

Here’s what to remember:

• Every paragraph should be indented ½ inch on the first line.
  
  
• Use double-spacing throughout.
  
  
• Make sure there’s no extra space before or after paragraphs.
  
  
• The text should be left-aligned, not justified.
  
  

If you followed the setup we covered earlier, you shouldn’t need to change any of these settings now.

Quick checklist

▢ Page number appears top-right in the header (page 2 and onward)

▢ Paper title repeated on line 1, bold and centered

▢ Double spacing throughout

▢ First-line indent of 0.5″

▢ Left alignment; no full justification

▢ No extra space before or after paragraphs

▢ Headings used only when they help organize ideas

‍

‍

‍

Let PERRLA Handle your Formatting

PERRLA sets up the body pages automatically. The page number continues, the title repeats in the correct style, and paragraph settings remain consistent as the paper grows.

We also support all of the APA text & heading styles – like block quotes. Learn how to use block quotes in PERRLA here.