How should I format my manuscript? (APA7 + references)
Updated 26 May 2026 · for-authors · formatting · apa7 · submission
All manuscripts submitted to advances.in/psychology must follow APA7 style.
Document basics
- Style: APA7 throughout (in-text citations, reference list, headings, tables).
- Spacing: double-spaced body text.
- Font: 11–12 pt.
- Abstract: maximum 200 words.
- Anonymisation: remove author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, funding statements, and any other identifying details from the manuscript and supplementary files. Anonymise links to preregistrations or data repositories.
Word limits by article type
| Type | Limit |
|---|---|
| Research article (Single study) | 5,000 |
| Research article (Multiple studies) | Above + 2,500 per additional study |
| Research report / dataset report | 2,000 |
| Review / Perspective / Meta-Analysis | 10,000 |
| Commentary | 2,000 |
| Methods / statistical library | No limit |
These word limits include the abstract but exclude references / tables / figures.
References
- APA7 reference format.
- Include DOIs (or other persistent identifiers) for all citations where available — including for data, code, and materials.
- For datasets, cite the author, title, repository, and DOI.
Verify your references with apa.advances.in
We provide a free reference-verification tool at https://apa.advances.in. It checks reference list entries against the published record and flags errors. Use it before you submit to catch typos and broken citations.
Figures and tables
- Number sequentially by order of mention.
- High resolution — 600 dpi minimum for figures. Upon publication, these need to be provided as lossless SVG files.
- All text inside figures must be in English.
- Include exact statistics wherever possible.
Supplementary materials
Deposit additional analyses and important materials in a supplementary file.
Provide datasets and analyses scripts in a trusted repository (e.g. https://osf.io) and link from the Methods section.