General Formatting Exercise
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Test your understanding of some basic APA Style formatting rules by working through this short exercise. Each question provides the correct answer, and you'll also be able to see all the correct answers at the end of the exercise. For more information on formatting, please see the pages noted in the explanation for each question, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2010) (hereafter referred to as the APA manual), the APA Help Guide, or search WriteAnswers.
- 1.Page margins should be:
- A.
At least 1 inch (2.54 cm) on all sides
- B.
At least 0.5 inch (1.27 cm) top and bottom and at least 0.75 right and left.
- C.
At least 1 inch (2.54) on all sides, unless more space is needed for a table or figure, in which case the margins may be reduced
- 2.How wide should the header and footer be?
- A.
1 inch (2.5 cm)
- B.
1.5 inches (3.81 cm)
- C.
Authors may use Microsoft Word's default settings, which are usually 0.49 inches (1.24 cm)
- 3.Where is the running head located?
- A.
In the bottom left footer
- B.
In the top left header
- C.
In the bottom right footer
- D.
In the top right header
- 4.Where are page numbers located?
- A.
In the bottom left footer
- B.
In the bottom right footer
- C.
In the top left header
- D.
In the top right header
- 5.The typeface and font size should be a:
- A.
Serif typeface (e.g., Times New Roman) in a legible size (e.g., 12 pt)
- B.
Small, compressed serif typeface (e.g., Rockwell Condensed, 8 pt)
- C.
Large sans serif typeface (e.g., Arial, 14 pt)
- D.
Small sans serif font (e.g., Arial, 8 pt)
- 6.True or false: The introduction should be labelled with a level 1 heading (e.g., "Introduction" centred, boldface, and capitalized).
- A.
True
- B.
False
- 7.Choose the correct formatting for a level 2 section heading:
- A.
Centred, boldface, uppercase and lowercase text
- B.
Centred, uppercase and lowercase text
- C.
Flush left, boldface, uppercase and lowercase text
- D.
Flush left, uppercase and lowercase text
- 8.What is the correct line-spacing?
- A.
Single-spaced throughout, including block quotations and references
- B.
Single spaced throughout, but double-spaced between paragraphs
- C.
Double-spaced throughout, but block quotations and references can be single-spaced
- D.
Double-spaced throughout, including block quotations and references
- 9.The alignment of text should be:
- A.
Whatever the author prefers
- B.
Justified (the words are spread equally across the line so that every line of text ends at the right margin)
- C.
Left-aligned with a ragged right edge (the text begins at the left margin and the spacing at the right margin is uneven)
- D.
Right-aligned (the text begins at the right margin and the spacing at the left margin is uneven)
- 10.The first line of every new paragraph should be:
- A.
Left-aligned and indented one tab space (usually 0.5 inch or 1.27 cm)
- B.
Left-aligned without any indentation
- C.
Right-aligned
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