apa style research essay

• The Complete Guide to APA Format in 2020
• Headings and Subheadings
• Discussion Section
• Websites and Online Sources
• Journals and Periodicals
• Other Print Sources
• Other Non-Print Sources
• In-text Citations
• Footnotes and Endnotes
• Using MyBib Responsibly
• Miscellaneous Questions

APA Format is the official writing style of the American Psychological Association, and is primarily used in subjects such as psychology, education, and the social sciences.

It specifies how to format academic papers and citations for publication in journals, periodicals, and bulletins.

This guide will show you how to prepare and format a document to be fully compliant with APA Format in 2020.

Before You Start Writing...

There are several steps you must take to prepare a new document for APA style before you start writing your paper:

• Make sure the paper size is 8.5" x 11" (known as 'Letter' in most word processors).
• Set the margin size to 1" on all sides (2.54cm).
• Change the line spacing to double-spaced .
• Add page numbers to the top-right corner of every page.
• Add a running head to the top-left corner of every page.

We have a pre-made APA style template document you can download to be sure you are ready to start writing. You can download it below:

When your document is ready, proceed to writing the title page .

APA Style (7th ed.)

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Format Your Paper

Download and use the editable templates for student papers below: .

• APA 7th ed. Template Document This is an APA format template document in Google Docs. Click on the link -- it will ask for you to make a new copy of the document, which you can save in your own Google Drive with your preferred privacy settings.
• APA 7th ed. Template Document A Microsoft Word document formatted correctly according to APA 7th edition.
• APA 7th ed. Annotated Bibliography template A Microsoft Word document formatted correctly for an annotated bibliography.

Or, view the directions for specific sections below:

Order of sections (section 2.17).

• Title page including Title, Author, University and Department, Class, Instructor, and Date
• Body (including introduction, literature review or background, discussion, and conclusion)
• Appendices (including tables & figures)

Margins & Page Numbers (sections 2.22-2.24)

• 1 inch at top, bottom, and both sides
• Left aligned paragraphs and leave the right edge ragged (not "right justified")
• Indent first line of each paragraph 1/2 inch from left margin
• Use page numbers, including on the title page, 1/2 inch from top and flush with right margin

Text Format (section 2.19)

• Times New Roman, 12 point
• Calibri, 11 point
• Arial, 11 point
• Lucinda Sans Unicode, 10 point
• Georgia, 11 point
• Double-space and align text to the left
• Use active voice
• Don't overuse technical jargon
• No periods after a web address or DOI in the References list.

Tables and Figures In-Text (chapter 7)

• Label tables and figures numerically (ex. Table 1)
• Give each table column a heading and use separating lines only when necessary
• Design the table and figure so that it can be understood on its own, i.e. it does not require reference to the surrounding text to understand it
• Notes go below tables and figures

Title Page (section 2.3)

• Include the title, your name,  the class name , and  the college's name
• Title should be 12 words or less and summarize the paper's main idea
• No periods or abbreviations
• Do not italicize or underline
• No quotation marks, all capital letters, or bold
• Center horizontally in upper half of the page

Body (section 2.11)

• Align the text to the left with a 1/2-inch left indent on the first line
• Double-space
• As long as there is no Abstract, at the top of the first page, type the title of the paper, centered, in bold , and in Sentence Case Capitalization
• Usually, include sections like these:  introduction, literature review or background,  discussion, and conclusion -- but the specific organization will depend on the paper type
• Spell out long organization names and add the abbreviation in parenthesis, then just use the abbreviation
• Spell out numbers one through nine and use a number for 10 or more
• Use a number for units of measurement, in tables, to represent statistical or math functions, and dates or times

Headings (section 2.26-2.27)

• Level 1: Center, bold , Title Case 
• Level 2: Align left, bold , Title Case
• Level 3: Alight left, bold italics , Title Case
• Level 4: Indented 1/2", bold , Title Case, end with a period. Follow with text. 
• Level 5: Indented 1/2", bold italics , Title Case, end with a period. Follow with text. 

Quotations (sections 8.26-8.33)

• Include short quotations (40 words or less) in-text with quotation marks
• For quotes more than 40 words, indent the entire quote a half inch from the left margin and double-space it with no quotation marks
• When quoting two or more paragraphs from an original source, indent the first line of each paragraph a half inch from the left margin
• Use ellipsis (...) when omitting sections from a quote and use four periods (....) if omitting the end section of a quote

References (section 2.12)

Begins on a new page following the text of your paper and includes complete citations for the resources you've used in your writing.

• References should be centered and bolded at the top of a new page
• Double-space and use hanging indents (where the first line is on the left margin and the following lines are indented a half inch from the left)
• List authors' last name first followed by the first and middle initials (ex. Skinner, B. F.)
• Alphabetize the list by the first author's last name of of each citation (see sections 9.44-9.49)
• Capitalize only the first word, the first after a colon or em dash, and proper nouns
• Don't capitalize the second word of a hyphenated compound
• No quotation marks around titles of articles

Appendices with Tables, Figures, & Illustrations (section 2.14, and chapter 7)

• Include appendices only to help the reader understand, evaluate, or replicate the study or argument
• Put each appendix on a separate page and align left
• For text, do not indent the first paragraph, but do indent the rest
• If you have only one appendix, label it "Appendix"
• If you have two or more appendices, label them "Appendix A", "Appendix B" and so forth as they appear in the body of your paper
• Label tables and figures numerically (ex. Table 1, or Table B1 and Table B2 if Appendix B has two tables) and describe them within the text of the appendix
• Notes go below tables and figures (see samples on p. 210-226)

Annotated Bibliography

Double-space the entire bibliography. give each entry a hanging indent. in the following annotation, indent the entire paragraph a half inch from the left margin and give the first line of each paragraph a half inch indent. see the template document at the top of this page..

• Check with your professor for the length of the annotation and which elements you should evaluate.

These elements are optional, if your professor or field requires them, but they are  not required for student papers: 

Abstract (section 2.9).

• Abstract gets its own page
• Center "Abstract" heading and do not indent the first line of the text
• Summarize the main points and purpose of the paper in 150-250 words maximum
• Define abbreviations and acronyms used in the paper

Running Head (section 2.8 )

• Shorten title to 50 characters or less (counting spaces and punctuation) for the running head
• In the top margin, the running head is aligned left, with the page number aligned on the right
• On every page, put (without the brackets): [SHORTENED TITLE OF YOUR PAPER IN ALL CAPS] [page number] 

More questions? Check out the authoritative source: APA style blog

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16.1: Formatting a Research Paper

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Learning Objectives

• Identify the major components of a research paper written using American Psychological Association (APA) style.
• Apply general APA style and formatting conventions in a research paper.

In this chapter, you will learn how to use APA style, the documentation and formatting style followed by the American Psychological Association, as well as MLA style, from the Modern Language Association. There are a few major formatting styles used in academic texts, including AMA, Chicago, and Turabian:

• AMA (American Medical Association) for medicine, health, and biological sciences
• APA (American Psychological Association) for education, psychology, and the social sciences
• Chicago—a common style used in everyday publications like magazines, newspapers, and books
• MLA (Modern Language Association) for English, literature, arts, and humanities
• Turabian—another common style designed for its universal application across all subjects and disciplines

While all the formatting and citation styles have their own use and applications, in this chapter we focus our attention on the two styles you are most likely to use in your academic studies: APA and MLA.

If you find that the rules of proper source documentation are difficult to keep straight, you are not alone. Writing a good research paper is, in and of itself, a major intellectual challenge. Having to follow detailed citation and formatting guidelines as well may seem like just one more task to add to an already-too-long list of requirements.

Following these guidelines, however, serves several important purposes. First, it signals to your readers that your paper should be taken seriously as a student’s contribution to a given academic or professional field; it is the literary equivalent of wearing a tailored suit to a job interview. Second, it shows that you respect other people’s work enough to give them proper credit for it. Finally, it helps your reader find additional materials if he or she wishes to learn more about your topic.

Furthermore, producing a letter-perfect APA-style paper need not be burdensome. Yes, it requires careful attention to detail. However, you can simplify the process if you keep these broad guidelines in mind:

• Work ahead whenever you can. Chapter 11 includes tips for keeping track of your sources early in the research process, which will save time later on.
• Get it right the first time. Apply APA guidelines as you write, so you will not have much to correct during the editing stage. Again, putting in a little extra time early on can save time later.
• Use the resources available to you. In addition to the guidelines provided in this chapter, you may wish to consult the APA website at http://www.apa.org or the Purdue University Online Writing lab at http://owl.english.purdue.edu , which regularly updates its online style guidelines.

General Formatting Guidelines

This chapter provides detailed guidelines for using the citation and formatting conventions developed by the American Psychological Association, or APA. Writers in disciplines as diverse as astrophysics, biology, psychology, and education follow APA style. The major components of a paper written in APA style are listed in the following box.

These are the major components of an APA-style paper:

• Headings and, if necessary, subheadings to organize the content
• In-text citations of research sources
• References page

All these components must be saved in one document, not as separate documents.

The title page of your paper includes the following information:

• Title of the paper
• Author’s name
• Name of the institution with which the author is affiliated
• Header at the top of the page with the paper title (in capital letters) and the page number (If the title is lengthy, you may use a shortened form of it in the header.)

List the first three elements in the order given in the previous list, centered about one third of the way down from the top of the page. Use the headers and footers tool of your word-processing program to add the header, with the title text at the left and the page number in the upper-right corner. Your title page should look like the following example.

The next page of your paper provides an abstract, or brief summary of your findings. An abstract does not need to be provided in every paper, but an abstract should be used in papers that include a hypothesis. A good abstract is concise—about one hundred to one hundred fifty words—and is written in an objective, impersonal style. Your writing voice will not be as apparent here as in the body of your paper. When writing the abstract, take a just-the-facts approach, and summarize your research question and your findings in a few sentences.

In Chapter 12, you read a paper written by a student named Jorge, who researched the effectiveness of low-carbohydrate diets. Read Jorge’s abstract. Note how it sums up the major ideas in his paper without going into excessive detail.

Exercise \(\PageIndex{1}\)

Write an abstract summarizing your paper. Briefly introduce the topic, state your findings, and sum up what conclusions you can draw from your research. Use the word count feature of your word-processing program to make sure your abstract does not exceed one hundred fifty words.

Depending on your field of study, you may sometimes write research papers that present extensive primary research, such as your own experiment or survey. In your abstract, summarize your research question and your findings, and briefly indicate how your study relates to prior research in the field.

Margins, Pagination, and Headings

APA style requirements also address specific formatting concerns, such as margins, pagination, and heading styles, within the body of the paper. Review the following APA guidelines.

Use these general guidelines to format the paper:

• Set the top, bottom, and side margins of your paper at 1 inch.
• Use double-spaced text throughout your paper.
• Use a standard font, such as Times New Roman or Arial, in a legible size (10- to 12-point).
• Use continuous pagination throughout the paper, including the title page and the references section. Page numbers appear flush right within your header.
• Section headings and subsection headings within the body of your paper use different types of formatting depending on the level of information you are presenting. Additional details from Jorge’s paper are provided.

Exercise \(\PageIndex{2}\)

Begin formatting the final draft of your paper according to APA guidelines. You may work with an existing document or set up a new document if you choose. Include the following:

• Your title page
• The abstract you created in Exercise 1
• Correct headers and page numbers for your title page and abstract

APA style uses section headings to organize information, making it easy for the reader to follow the writer’s train of thought and to know immediately what major topics are covered. Depending on the length and complexity of the paper, its major sections may also be divided into subsections, sub-subsections, and so on. These smaller sections, in turn, use different heading styles to indicate different levels of information. In essence, you are using headings to create a hierarchy of information.

The following heading styles used in APA formatting are listed in order of greatest to least importance:

• Section headings use centered, boldface type. Headings use title case, with important words in the heading capitalized.
• Subsection headings use left-aligned, boldface type. Headings use title case.
• The third level uses left-aligned, indented, boldface type. Headings use a capital letter only for the first word, and they end in a period.
• The fourth level follows the same style used for the previous level, but the headings are boldfaced and italicized.
• The fifth level follows the same style used for the previous level, but the headings are italicized and not boldfaced.

Visually, the hierarchy of information is organized as indicated in Table 13.1 “Section Headings”.

A college research paper may not use all the heading levels shown in Table 13.1 “Section Headings”, but you are likely to encounter them in academic journal articles that use APA style. For a brief paper, you may find that level 1 headings suffice. Longer or more complex papers may need level 2 headings or other lower-level headings to organize information clearly. Use your outline to craft your major section headings and determine whether any subtopics are substantial enough to require additional levels of headings.

Exercise \(\PageIndex{3}\)

Working with the document you developed in Note 13.11 “Exercise 2”, begin setting up the heading structure of the final draft of your research paper according to APA guidelines. Include your title and at least two to three major section headings, and follow the formatting guidelines provided above. If your major sections should be broken into subsections, add those headings as well. Use your outline to help you.

Because Jorge used only level 1 headings, his Exercise 3 would look like the following:

Citation Guidelines

In-text citations.

Throughout the body of your paper, include a citation whenever you quote or paraphrase material from your research sources. As you learned in Chapter 11, the purpose of citations is twofold: to give credit to others for their ideas and to allow your reader to follow up and learn more about the topic if desired. Your in-text citations provide basic information about your source; each source you cite will have a longer entry in the references section that provides more detailed information.

In-text citations must provide the name of the author or authors and the year the source was published. (When a given source does not list an individual author, you may provide the source title or the name of the organization that published the material instead.) When directly quoting a source, it is also required that you include the page number where the quote appears in your citation.

This information may be included within the sentence or in a parenthetical reference at the end of the sentence, as in these examples.

Epstein (2010) points out that “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive” (p. 137).

Here, the writer names the source author when introducing the quote and provides the publication date in parentheses after the author’s name. The page number appears in parentheses after the closing quotation marks and before the period that ends the sentence.

Addiction researchers caution that “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive” (Epstein, 2010, p. 137).

Here, the writer provides a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence that includes the author’s name, the year of publication, and the page number separated by commas. Again, the parenthetical citation is placed after the closing quotation marks and before the period at the end of the sentence.

As noted in the book Junk Food, Junk Science (Epstein, 2010, p. 137), “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive.”

Here, the writer chose to mention the source title in the sentence (an optional piece of information to include) and followed the title with a parenthetical citation. Note that the parenthetical citation is placed before the comma that signals the end of the introductory phrase.

David Epstein’s book Junk Food, Junk Science (2010) pointed out that “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive” (p. 137).

Another variation is to introduce the author and the source title in your sentence and include the publication date and page number in parentheses within the sentence or at the end of the sentence. As long as you have included the essential information, you can choose the option that works best for that particular sentence and source.

Citing a book with a single author is usually a straightforward task. Of course, your research may require that you cite many other types of sources, such as books or articles with more than one author or sources with no individual author listed. You may also need to cite sources available in both print and online and nonprint sources, such as websites and personal interviews. Section 13.2 and Section 13.3 provide extensive guidelines for citing a variety of source types.

writing at work

APA is just one of several different styles with its own guidelines for documentation, formatting, and language usage. Depending on your field of interest, you may be exposed to additional styles, such as the following:

• MLA style. Determined by the Modern Languages Association and used for papers in literature, languages, and other disciplines in the humanities.
• Chicago style. Outlined in the Chicago Manual of Style and sometimes used for papers in the humanities and the sciences; many professional organizations use this style for publications as well.
• Associated Press (AP) style. Used by professional journalists.

References List

The brief citations included in the body of your paper correspond to the more detailed citations provided at the end of the paper in the references section. In-text citations provide basic information—the author’s name, the publication date, and the page number if necessary—while the references section provides more extensive bibliographical information. Again, this information allows your reader to follow up on the sources you cited and do additional reading about the topic if desired.

The specific format of entries in the list of references varies slightly for different source types, but the entries generally include the following information:

• The name(s) of the author(s) or institution that wrote the source
• The year of publication and, where applicable, the exact date of publication
• The full title of the source
• For books, the city of publication
• For articles or essays, the name of the periodical or book in which the article or essay appears
• For magazine and journal articles, the volume number, issue number, and pages where the article appears
• For sources on the web, the URL where the source is located

The references page is double spaced and lists entries in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. If an entry continues for more than one line, the second line and each subsequent line are indented five spaces. Review the following example. (Section 13.3 provides extensive guidelines for formatting reference entries for different types of sources.)

In APA style, book and article titles are formatted in sentence case, not title case. Sentence case means that only the first word is capitalized, along with any proper nouns.

Key Takeaways

• Following proper citation and formatting guidelines helps writers ensure that their work will be taken seriously, give proper credit to other authors for their work, and provide valuable information to readers.
• Working ahead and taking care to cite sources correctly the first time are ways writers can save time during the editing stage of writing a research paper.
• APA papers usually include an abstract that concisely summarizes the paper.
• APA papers use a specific headings structure to provide a clear hierarchy of information.
• In APA papers, in-text citations usually include the name(s) of the author(s) and the year of publication.
• In-text citations correspond to entries in the references section, which provide detailed bibliographical information about a source.

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Master the Art of Research: Topics and Tips for Your Psychology Paper

• by Psychologs Magazine
• May 14, 2024
• 6 minutes read

Writing a psychology research paper is a journey through the depths of human behaviour and mental processes. Therefore, choosing psychology research topics is crucial for a compelling paper. Before diving into your research proposal, a thorough investigation of journal databases like PsychInfo and ERIC can unveil a wealth of relevant studies. The importance of selecting the right topics for psychology research cannot be overstated. It sets the tone for the entire research paper, ensuring your work is grounded in innovative inquiry. A roadmap can be constructed by outlining your ideas of how to go about writing the paper in detail.

Topic Selection

It’s always best to identify general areas of interest in psychology such as cognition and social behavior or mental health. This broad area will help you to narrow down to more specific topics. Identifying gaps in existing research helps to identify areas of interest. This can provide a good foundation for your study and ensure a meaningful contribution to the field of mental health. 

It’s time to narrow down your broad interests to focus on a specific and manageable topic. Structure and organization become essential at this stage to follow. Just remember that the more a research question intrigues you the more it will help you to follow through with all the research phases. 

Also, when you are narrowing down your topic, it is important to select one which is not only in trend currently, but also well-researched. This will help you during the literature review phase of your research process. Lastly, it’s always best to keep in mind guidelines or criteria set by your research guide and educational institution. Your topic should meet academic standards and procedures.

Read More: 6 Reasons You Should Study Psychology

The Review of Literature 

When you begin conducting your literature review, you must refer to online databases like PsycInfo, Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), and Medline to search for relevant research literature.

Make sure to read the abstract, introduction, method, results, and discussion sections of each article. Discussion sections are also important since they highlight gaps in existing research. An Excel sheet must be made where you write down the summaries and key points of each research for your literature review. 

In your literature review, you must describe, compare and evaluate the research studies. The goal of evaluation is to identify gaps and inconsistencies in the literature, thus providing suggestions for solving the research problem. These tips help you develop a thorough literature review. It highlights significant studies as well as sets a foundation for your research paper.

Read More: The Depths of Indian Psychology: Traditions and Modern Insights

Adhering to APA Format

The general structure of the APA format includes the title page, abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, and references.

The title page should have a running head, page number, title of the paper, author’s name, and institutional affiliation. The title should be concise including the key variables or the study’s focus. The abstract should be on a new page, limited to 120 words. It should summarize the research topic, methods, results, and significance. 

Your introduction should start with an exploration of your research question, including a brief history of the same. The introduction will also include a summary of the previous findings in the form of a literature review. Make sure to address gaps in the current research and how the current research will impact the field.

The method section describes in detail how the research was performed. It includes a description of the participants, the study design, the materials that were used, and the procedure of the study. It is essential to provide enough information for another researcher to duplicate your research.

The results section should describe the data that was collected through descriptive statistics as well as inferential statistics which is your t-test, ANOVA and other appropriate tests for your study. Your discussion has to interpret the results and address your research topic. It is essential to discuss the limitations and scope of future research surrounding your research. 

When referring to current research for your review literature, make sure to compile a list of all the sources . It’s also important to cite them throughout the paper wherever direct quotations are used. Refer to the APA format for in-text citations .

Read More; Do You Know About the Basic Principles of Psychology?

Analyzing Your Data

Descriptive statistics in research provide a summary of your data sets. Calculate the mean, median and mode of your data set. Thereafter, you calculate the dispersion of your data which includes variance, standard deviation and range to understand the spread of your data. 

Creating graphs and charts like histograms, bar charts and scatter plots helps visually present the data. Identify the skewness of your data to understand the asymmetry of your data distribution. Identify the techniques you will analyze your data with like t-tests, regression, or ANOVA. This analysis should help answer your research question. 

These tips help ensure that your data analysis is communicated which makes your findings understandable to other researchers and the psychology community. 

Read more: 10 Job Roles in the Field of Psychology

The importance of selecting engaging and significant topics, conducting comprehensive literature reviews, and adhering to the standards of APA format thus far has been highlighted. Researchers ensure their work helps in the understanding of human behaviour. The journey from topic selection to data presentation has its challenges, however, research papers tend to influence the scholarly community and societal perceptions of psychological phenomena. We encourage aspiring researchers to continually seek out new avenues for inquiry and adopt a critical yet open-minded stance toward their findings. The pursuit of knowledge in psychology research helps formulate interventions and policies that can help human well-being. 

1. What are the top topics for conducting Research in psychology? 

To select a psychology research topic, consider areas such as psychotropic medications for mental health, disorders like anxiety , depression , and bipolar disorder , schizoaffective disorder, accessibility of mental health services, the impact of systemic racism on mental health, and mental health concerns within the LGBTQIA+ community.

2. What are some essential tips for writing an effective psychology research paper? 

When writing a psychology research paper, ensure to support your arguments with solid evidence from scientific studies. Adhere to the appropriate academic format.

3. Where can I get extra help with APA style for my research?

You can find support online and offline to improve your understanding of APA style. The APA Publication Manual is a key resource for guidance on formatting, citations and other important aspects. 

• Chiang, I. A., Jhangiani, R. S., & Price, P. C. (2015, October 13). Generating good research questions . Pressbooks. https://opentextbc.ca/researchmethods/chapter/generating-good-research-questions/
• Paré, G., & Kitsiou, S. (2017, February 27). Chapter 9 Methods for literature reviews . Handbook of eHealth Evaluation: An Evidence-based Approach – NCBI Bookshelf. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK481583/
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