APA 7 Title Page: Example, Template, Generator Guide

If you’ve just been assigned your first APA 7 paper, the title page might feel like a trick question—too many rules to sort through, and one small mistake can mean a revision request. The APA 7th edition (2019) introduced specific requirements for student papers that differ from professional formats, including course numbers and instructor names that don’t appear in published research. This guide walks through exactly what goes on the page, where each element sits, and how to build one in Word or Google Docs.

Required Elements: Paper title, author names, affiliation, course number and name · Title Formatting: Centered, boldface, upper and lowercase letters · Official Source: apastyle.apa.org · Student Page Includes: Instructor, due date · Purdue OWL Guidance: Upper half of page, centered

The table below summarizes the four elements that govern the APA 7 student title page and how each should be formatted.

Apa 7 title page example

APA 7 separates student papers from professional papers with distinct title page requirements. The student version adds three elements that never appear in published research: the course number and name, the instructor’s name, and the due date. Purdue OWL provides downloadable sample papers demonstrating both versions, which you can use as a formatting reference.

Student version

For student papers submitted for a course, the title page includes six elements arranged vertically and centered on the page. According to the APA Style official guidelines, the affiliation should include the department and institution name separated by a comma. The course number and name follow a format such as PSY 201: Introduction to Psychology. All text uses 12-point Times New Roman with double spacing throughout.

• Paper title: centered, boldface, upper and lowercase, 3-4 lines from top margin
• Author name: first name, middle initial, last name on next double-spaced line
• Institutional affiliation: department and institution on its own line
• Course number and name: e.g., PSY 201: Introduction to Psychology
• Instructor name: instructor’s full name
• Due date: written in full format (e.g., November 15, 2024)

The implication: once you have these six elements in the correct order and spacing, the student title page follows a predictable pattern that repeats across every assignment.

Purdue OWL (Academic Writing Lab) states that APA 7 “provides slightly different directions for formatting the title pages of professional papers and student papers.”

Professional version

Professional papers submitted for publication omit course details and instead include an author note and a running head. The running head carries an abbreviated version of the paper title in all capitals, limited to 50 characters per the APA guidelines. According to the APA Style official guidelines, there is no maximum length for titles, but they should remain focused with key terms included.

Apa 7 title page generator

Online generators can automate much of the title page setup, especially for students who submit multiple APA papers across different courses. These tools typically ask for the paper title, author name, institution, course details, and due date—then output a formatted page ready to copy into Word.

Online tools

Several academic writing platforms offer free APA 7 title page generators that produce correctly formatted output. These tools ensure compliance with current APA 7 standards by automatically centering the title, applying boldface formatting, and inserting the correct spacing between elements. Scribbr and similar services maintain updated formatting logic aligned with the official APA guidelines.

The catch: most free generators focus on basic fields and may not handle edge cases such as multiple authors, co-authored papers with complex byline arrangements, or papers requiring dual institutional affiliations.

Free options

Some university libraries host their own APA generators. The UTA Libraries guide includes a formatting checklist that doubles as a manual verification tool if you prefer not to trust automated output. For students at institutions without a dedicated generator, the Purdue Global sample title page PDF provides a completed example you can reverse-engineer line by line.

The pattern: free tools vary in quality. A generator built on outdated APA 6 rules will produce a non-compliant title page. Always verify the tool’s version reference against the current APA 7 standard before relying on its output.

Apa 7 title page pdf

Downloadable PDFs serve two purposes: they provide a visual reference for what the finished page looks like, and they sometimes include downloadable templates you can open and modify directly.

Official PDF guide

The APA Style website (apastyle.apa.org) hosts the official student paper setup guide as a PDF resource. According to the official guidelines, the title page should be page 1 of your paper with the page number positioned in the header area. The official PDF covers both student and professional formats with annotated examples showing each required element.

The Purdue OWL sample paper page provides direct links to their annotated student and professional paper examples, which you can open side-by-side to compare how the two formats differ.

Example PDFs

The IRSC Libraries guide includes a sample title page demonstrating the student paper format. The Scribbr APA title page guide offers a visual example with callouts labeling each element. For a step-by-step Word template, the Purdue Global sample title page PDF shows the exact line spacing and positioning of every element.

The pattern across three credible library guides: all confirm the title sits 3-4 lines down from the top margin, the affiliation includes a department and institution on one line, and the course field follows the format course number colon course name.

APA 7 title page purdue owl

Purdue OWL serves as the primary authority for APA 7 formatting questions among students and instructors alike. Their general format guide and sample paper pages are updated regularly to reflect current APA standards and are hosted on a .edu domain, signaling high authority.

Formatting rules

According to Purdue OWL, the student title page requires the following formatting specifications: all text double-spaced, 1-inch margins on all sides, and the page number positioned in the header flush right. The title is centered in boldface using upper and lowercase letters—meaning you capitalize major words but not articles, short prepositions, or conjunctions unless they appear first or last in the title.

• Font: 12-point Times New Roman (preferred), Arial, or Calibri
• Margins: 1 inch on all sides
• Spacing: Double-space throughout
• Page number: Header, flush right, starting at page 1
• Running head: Not required for student papers

APA Style (Official Guidelines) instructs to “place the title three to four lines down from the top of the title page” and to center it in boldface.

Bold title instructions

One key change from APA 6 to APA 7: the title is now bold on the title page. Purdue OWL explicitly states that the title “should be centered and written in boldface,” confirming this is a requirement under the current 7th edition standards.

The implication: if you downloaded a title page template before 2019, check whether the title is bold. If it is not bold, the template is based on APA 6 and should be updated.

APA 7 title page template Word

A Word template removes the guesswork from element placement and spacing. Several university libraries and academic writing services offer free downloadable templates you can customize for each assignment.

Download and setup

The UTA Libraries APA guide and the Utrecht University APA 7 format guide both include step-by-step setup instructions you can follow manually in Word while building a reusable template. For a faster start, the Scribbr APA title page guide offers a downloadable example demonstrating the exact positioning of each required element.

To set up your own template in Microsoft Word: open a new document, set margins to 1 inch via Layout > Margins, change the font to 12-point Times New Roman, enable double-spacing via Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing, and insert a page number in the header via Insert > Header > Blank, then select the page number option and align it to the right.

Editable elements

The UTA Libraries guide lists the seven elements that appear on the student title page: page number, title, author name, affiliation, course number and name, instructor name, and due date. Each of these can be edited directly in your Word template. The affiliation field follows the format department name, institution name, separated by a comma.

For multiple authors, list names in the order they appear in your paper, separated by commas on the same line. According to the Purdue Global sample template, the author name format is first name, middle initial, last name.

The Purdue OWL sample paper page offers a direct reference showing how multiple-author bylines appear on the title page. Review their example before finalizing a co-authored submission.

Steps: Build Your APA 7 Title Page

Follow these steps to create a compliant student title page in Microsoft Word. Each step corresponds to a verified APA 7 requirement from Purdue OWL and the official APA Style guidelines.

The steps below walk through the complete construction of a student title page, starting with document setup and ending with a final layout check.

1. Set your margins. Go to Layout > Margins and select Normal (1 inch on all sides). This applies to the entire document including the title page.
2. Choose your font. Set the font to 12-point Times New Roman. This is the preferred font per APA guidelines and verified across multiple university libraries.
3. Enable double-spacing. Select all text, then go to Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing and choose 2.0. All text on the title page must be double-spaced.
4. Insert the page number. Click Insert > Header > Blank. Position your cursor in the header area, go to Insert > Page Number, and choose a flush-right format. This becomes page 1.
5. Type the title. Press Enter three to four times from the top of the page. Type your title in upper and lowercase letters using title case (capitalize major words). Center the text and apply bold formatting. Do not use all capitals.
6. Add the byline. Press Enter once after the title. Type your name as first name, middle initial, last name. Center this line and do not bold it.
7. Add the affiliation. Press Enter once. Type your department name, a comma, then your institution name. Center this line. Example: Department of Psychology, University of Northern Arizona.
8. Add the course and instructor. Press Enter once. Type the course number and name in full (e.g., PSY 301: Research Methods in Psychology). Press Enter once. Type your instructor’s name. Press Enter once.
9. Add the due date. Type the due date in full format (e.g., December 5, 2024). Center this final line.
10. Verify the layout. Confirm that the title sits in the upper half of the page, all lines are centered, everything is double-spaced, and the page number appears flush right in the header.

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