Manuscript format
The formatting guidelines provided in this section are based on the APA Publication Manual 7th ed. For further information, please see the APA style guide itself.
Font and spacing
Headings
Quotations
Lists and numbering
Tables and figures
Numbers
Statistics
References
Manuscript page size should be A4, with 2.5 cm margins on all sides. Lines should be double spaced, except in the case of tables, which should be single spaced. The same font should be used throughout the manuscript, in accordance with the template for articles/reviews. The text in tables should be set in the same font as the rest of the manuscript but font size should be a point or two smaller. By contrast, the text in figures should be set in a sans serif font (Arial, Calibri, Helvética).
The text should distinguish between different levels of headings. Headings in the first three levels should be inserted as a separate paragraph. All subsequent headings should be placed at the beginning of the paragraph. A maximum of five levels is advised.
Heading 1
Level 1 headings should be centered and formatted in bold, and only the first letter should be capitalized. Headings should not contain a full stop. The most common first-level headings are Methodology, Results, Discussion and References. Introductions should begin without a heading or use a heading other than the word “Introduction”.
Heading 2
Level 2 headings should be left-justified, unindented and formatted in bold. Only the first letter should be capitalized and the heading should not contain a full stop. A common example of second-level headings would be the subsections of the main Methodology section: Participants, Materials, Procedure.
Heading 3
Level 3 headings should be left-justified, unindented and formatted in bold italics.
Heading 4. Level 4 headings should be placed at the beginning of the paragraph, indented, formatted in bold and followed by a full stop. The rest of the paragraph should continue on the same line after the full stop.
Heading 5. Level 5 headings should also be placed at the beginning of the paragraph, indented, formatted in bold italics and followed by a full stop. The rest of the paragraph should continue on the same line after the full stop.
Authors should take care not to skip any heading levels. For example, a level 3 heading may only be used in a section containing a level 2 heading.
Quoted text should be included as follows:
- for short quotations of fewer than 40 words, add quotation marks around the words and incorporate the quotation into the main text.
- for quotations comprising 40 words or more, format the text as a free-standing block with a 2.5 cm indent and omit quotation marks.
All quotations should be double-spaced. Cite the source (author, year) and page number of the quotation in brackets after the quotation. Quotations from sources in other languages should be translated into the language of the manuscript. For translated quotations, the source information and page number should be preceded by the phrase “translated from:”.
Numbered lists
1. Lists should be numbered using Arabic numerals (not Roman numerals), followed by a full stop and a space.
2. Letters, such as a), b), c), etc., should be followed by a round bracket and should only be used within the paragraph, not on a separate line.
3. Numbered lists must contain at least two elements.
Bullet points
● Elements may also be listed using bullet points: basic black symbols or characters (e.g. dots, dashes, etc.)
● Bullet-pointed lists must contain at least two elements
Tables and figures may be used to summarize results and present large groups of data in a more readable format. They should be inserted in the main text close to their first citation. All of the information contained in tables and figures must be legible, and any additional information required to understand their contents (e.g. explanation of abbreviations) should be included in a note underneath. All tables and figures must be mentioned in the text.
Tables and table headings should be placed flush with the left margin. Table headings should be placed above the table on two lines: the first in bold and the second in italics (see examples below).
Tables should be simple and use a slightly smaller font size than the main text. Tables should contain three horizontal lines and no vertical lines: two external lines and one internal line underneath the column headings. The table heading should appear above the table, as illustrated in the example below: table number in bold on top and table heading in italics below. All columns and rows should have their own heading. In all manuscripts submitted for publication, tables should be provided in an EDITABLE format and should not be split over two pages.
Table 1
Table heading
| Column heading | Column heading | Column heading | Column heading | CV (r) |
| Row heading | 0.12 | 0.12 | 0.12 | .36 |
| Row heading | 4.56 | 4.56 | 4.56 | .14 |
| Row heading | 78.90 | 78.90 | 78.90 | .93** |
| Row heading | 0.12 | 0.12 | 0.12 | .72* |
| Row heading | 4.56 | 4.56 | 4.56 | .45 |
| Row heading | 78.90 | 78.90 | 78.90 | .89** |
Note: VC = Verbal comprehension
*p < .05, **p < .01
All other illustrations should be referred to as “Figures”, including graphics, charts, maps, diagrams and photographs. Graphs should be provided in color and ensure that each series of data is clearly distinguishable in the graph (bar or line). Figures should be set in a simple sans serif font (e.g. Arial, Helvetica, Calibri), and use a smaller but legible font size. Graph headings should appear above the graph, as before, but legends may be inserted or listed wherever they fit best and impinge least upon the space occupied by the figure. In all manuscripts submitted for publication, figures should be provided in an EDITABLE format (Word, PowerPoint, Excel).
Figure 1
Figure heading
Note: As required.
Numbers (examples provided in brackets)
- Use numerals for: a) numbers with two figures or more (25 questions); b) numbers less than 10 involved in comparisons with larger numbers (4 out of 10 tests carried out); c) numbers preceding units of measurement (5 cm); d) numbers representing statistical or mathematical functions, quantities, percentages, ratios, percentiles and quartiles (multiplied by 4, only 3%, 5th percentile, 2nd quartile); e) numbers that denote time, dates, ages, scores, exact quantities of money, and numerals as numerals (1 hour 30 minutes, 12:30, almost 2 years, 5 participants, obtained a score of 4 out of 7); f) numbers that denote a specific place in a numbered series, parts of books, tables and figures, and each number in a list of four or more numbers (Trial 5, Table 2, Row 7, Chapter 4); g) all numbers in the Abstract.
- Use words for: a) any number that begins a sentence, title or heading, though the use of numbers at the beginning of a sentence is discouraged (Twelve patients improved and 12 did not); b) common fractions (a fifth of the group, two thirds); c) numbers less than 10 that are not involved in comparisons with larger numbers (the three groups answered 25 questions); d) approximations of numbers of days, months and years (about three months).
- Use words and numerals for: whole numbers in combination with million, billion, etc. (12,000 million) or rounded large numbers of one million and above (nearly 3 million).
- Ordinal numbers: Ordinal numbers follow the same rules as cardinals (fourth year, the third stimulus of the 20th trial).
- Decimal fractions: Numbers less than 1 should include a zero before the decimal point if the number can be greater than 1 (0.23 cm). If the number cannot be greater than 1, as in the case of correlations, proportions, probabilities and levels of significance, the decimal point should not be preceded by a zero: r(24) = .43, p = .028.
- Authors should limit numbers to two decimal places and change the unit of measurement if necessary. For example, if four decimal places are required to show a difference in distance in meters, a more effective unit of measurement to express that difference would be millimeters.
- Correlations, proportions and inferential statistics (such as t, F y X2) should be reported to two decimal places. In contrast, p values should be reported exactly (except in tables), to two or three decimal places, unless p is less than .001 (e.g.: .000), in which case write as: p < .001. - Plurals: In Spanish, numbers are not marked for plural (los cuatro y los seis; los 10 y los 20, los años 30), and decades are written in the singular in words (la década de los treinta).
Statistics (examples provided in brackets)
When reporting the results of statistical tests (t, F, X2, …), effect sizes and confidence intervals, manuscripts should include sufficient information to assess the analysis carried out, such as degrees of freedom and sample size:: F(2,177) = 6.30, p = .002; r(24) = -.43, p = .028). Manuscripts should also contain all necessary descriptive statistics of central tendency and dispersion. All of this information should be included in the Results section. The description of the sample or participants, which relates to research method rather than results, should be included in the Method section.
- Statistical symbols: As a general rule, statistical symbols should be written in Latin letters and italicized (N, M, gl, p, EE, t, F, b, etc.) Non-italicized Greek letters should only be used for parameters (population statistics, theoretical data), and some statistical tests (e.g. chi-square, phi). Symbols are always written the same, regardless of where they appear (main text, tables, figures).
- Mathematical symbols: Leave a blank space before and after signs for equals, greater than, less than, greater than or equal to, etc. (r = –.87).
- Number of participants: Use italicized uppercase N to indicate the total sample (N = 135) and italicized lowercase n to denote parts of the sample (n = 30).
- Percent sign (%): The percent sign should only be used when preceded by a number (18% of rats / the percentage of rats in the first group), except in the case of table headings and figure legends, where the symbol should be used for reasons of space. The symbol should also only be used in table headings and figure legends, not in each cell of a table or next to each number in a graphic. Graph axes should feature the word, not the symbol (percentage of correct answers).
Reference to statistical terms in the text should be made using words, not symbols (e.g. “the averages were…”). Abbreviations that are not variables are not italicized (log, sen, ANOVA).
Citations and references that appear in the manuscript must be "linked" or "marked". It is recommended to use the tool for creating a bibliography, citations, and references available in Word (also see HERE), but it can also be done through a reference manager with which the authors are already working (e.g., free: Mendeley and Zotero; by subscription and/or available in many universities: EndNote and RefWorks).
All works cited in the manuscript, and only works cited in the manuscript, should be listed in the References section in alphabetical order by author and date of publication. The standards of this journal require that the references section should be accurate, complete and consistent. Authors should read the APA guidelines (see here). for details about how to reference the different types of sources. Examples of the most common types of sources are listed below. All articles should also include a DOI or permalink, where available. For more information about these and other aspects of formatting, please consult the APA Publication Manual, 7th Ed. Particular attention should be paid to the chapter on reporting research results.
See APA Style 7th Edition Reference Examples
See APA Style 7th Edition Reference Quick Guide (pdf)
DOIs must be included if available. The DOI of a source may be found on the website of the journal/publisher where the source is published or at : http://www.crossref.org/guestquery/. DOIs should be inserted in the form of a URL, with the DOI code preceded by the text:: "https://doi.org/" without inverted commas). Some sources may have a permalink (instead of a DOI), which should be copied and included from the website where the source is published. URLs should link to the website where PDF documents can be accessed, not to the PDF document itself. The working condition of all links should be checked before submission.
As of 2021, references must also include authors’ first name and not just their initials. Surnames should be written in uppercase and authors should be separated by a semicolon.
References containing 20 authors or less should include the surnames and names of all authors, with a semicolon between each and an ampersand (&) before the final author. References containing 21 authors or more should include the surnames and names of the first 19, with a semicolon between each, and the surname and name of the last author, preceded by an ellipsis and an ampersand.
In the names of magazines, all words, except particles (conjunctions, articles and prepositions) are capitalized. In titles of articles or book chapters, only the first word of the title and proper names should be capitalized. If there is more than one sentence, they will all begin with a capital letter.
When a translated work is included in the references, the original version should be cited and the translation placed in square brackets as follows: [Translation into ..., title, publisher, year].
In the text, the year next to the surname of the author(s) shall be that of the original version.
EXAMPLES:
EACH SOURCE SHOULD BE FORMATTED AS A HANGING PARAGRAPH
- Artícle:
SURNAME, Name (Year). Article title. Full Title of Journal in Italics, volumeinitalics(number), firstpageofarticle-lastpageofarticle. https://doi.org/##### (or other fixed URL))
- Book:
SURNAME, Name (year). Book Title in Italics. Publisher. https://doi.org/##### or other fixed URL (if either is available)
- Book chapter:
SURNAME, Name (Year). Chapter title. In Authorname Authorsurname (Ed.), Book Title in Italics (pp. firstpageofchapter-lastpageofchapter). Publisher. https://doi.org/##### or other fixed URL (if either is available)
- Thesis or academic paper:
SURNAME, Name (Year). Title of thesis or academic paper in italics. [Type of work, Name of university]. Name of repository where work is published. https://doi.org/##### (or permalink, e.g. handle)
- Legislation:
Name of law Number/Year, date os adoptionustituir puntos por fecha de aprobación), título de la normativa. Name of publication in italics (e.g.: Boletín Oficial del Estado], number in italics, date of publication. ELI permalink (European Legislation Identifier)
Example:
Ley Orgánica 8/2013, de 9 de diciembre, para la mejora de la calidad educativa. Boletín Oficial del Estado, 295, de 10 de diciembre de 2013. https://www.boe.es/eli/es/lo/2013/12/09/8/con
Note:
Law should be listed in the References under “L”; regulations should be listed under “R”, etc. In-text citations should be made as follows: Type/Name of law, regulation, etc. number/year (e.g. Ley Orgánica 8/2013)
Up to 20 authors - SURNAMES in upper case; authors separated by a semicolon:
SURNAME1, Name1; SURNAME2, Name2; SURNAME3, Name3; all remaining names up to; & SURNAME20, Name20 (Year).
[Name all authors up to and including a maximum of 20. The final author’s name should be preceded by an ampersand.]
More than 20 authors - SURNAMES in upper case; authors separated by a semicolon:
SURNAME1, Name1; SURNAME2, Name2; SURNAME3, Name3; all names up to SURNAME19, Name19; ellipsis & SURNAME final author, Name final author (Year).
(SURNAME, Name author 1 up to SURNAME, Name author 19; ... & SURNAME, Name final author (Year).
[Name the first 19 authors, insert an ellipsis in place of the remaining authors’ names, and end with the final author’s name preceded by an ampersand.]
IN-TEXT CITATION:
For works by two authors, name both authors (using “and”, not ampersand). For works by three or more authors, list only the first author’s name followed by “et al.” (full stop after “al”; no italics or inverted commas): FirstAuthor et al.
For more information about these and other aspects of formatting, please consult the APA Style, 7th edition. Particular attention should be paid to the chapter on reporting research results.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition (2020).
Material creado por Alicia. Risso
