Discussion section helps understand the research hypothesis better and places the results in the broader context of the literature in the area. Results are interpreted and understood in this section. You can interpret and explain the results in the discussion section. Most importantly, do not share interpretation of the results here. If your data analyses are complex, then break the section into subsections, ideally a subsection for each hypothesis and elaborate the subsections by using statistical analysis and including tables or figures to represent results visually. In this section, you could describe how you analyzed the data and explain your findings. Furthermore, keep the procedures brief and accurate, and make sure to read through so as to not repeat the steps or avoid redundancy. This section includes Materials and/or Apparatus and Experiments/Procedures/Protocols. The goal of this section is to describe your study and experiments in detail, so that there is no issue in reproducibility of results and other researchers could duplicate your methods effectively. However, the protocol and requirements should be mentioned precisely. The method section in APA research paper format is straightforward. Summarize the key findings from the article and do not quote from the articles, instead paraphrase the content. Furthermore, while incorporating references into your introduction, do not describe every single study in complete detail. For writing an interesting introduction, researchers should introduce logical flow of ideas which will eventually lead to the research hypothesis. However, the challenge here is to keep the reader’s interest in reading your paper.Ī good introduction keeps readers engaged with your paper. A good introduction critically evaluates the empirical knowledge in the relevant area(s) in a way that defines the knowledge gap and expresses your aim for your study and why you conducted it. IntroductionĪn introduction of APA research paper format is the most difficult section to write. Also, provide overview of methods, results, and discussion.ĪPA Style – Abstract in APA Style 3. Additionally, state the topic in a sentence or two. AbstractĪbstract should contain no more than 120 words, and should be one paragraph written in block format with double spacing. Moreover, you could use the toolbox to insert a page number, so that it automatically numbers each page.ĪPA Style – Professional Paper in APA 7 Style 2. The running head should not exceed 50 characters, including punctuation and spacing. Furthermore, create a page header using the “View Header” function in MS Word and on the title page include a running head - a short title that appears at the top of pages of published articles (flush left) and page number on the same line (flush right). After writing the title, write your name followed by name of the college. Title PageĪs per the APA research paper format, the title should be between 10-12 words and should reflect the essence of the paper. The sections in APA-style paper are as follows: 1. The APA research paper format is based on seven main components: title page, abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, and references. You could use an accessible font like Times New Roman 12pt., Arial 11pt., or Georgia 11pt. You should indent the first line of every paragraph 0.5 inches Type the content and keep double-space on standard-sized paper (8.5” x 11”), with 1” margins on all sides. Throughout the paper you need to apply these guidelines while writing the paper – Guidelines for APA Style Paper (7th edition)Īn APA style research format is different as compared to a term paper, a creative writing paper, a composition-style paper, or a thought paper.
Though the reference section may change over the course of time, the information related to the other sections in APA research paper format is similar and could be referred to, for writing an exemplary research paper. Therefore, the best way to deal with beginning to write a research paper is to first know the journal’s requirement and then follow the guidelines accordingly. Students and researchers usually get confused with various research paper writing formats and are unclear about the requirements from the research publication journals. APA research paper format is widely used in the research publishing industry. The APA format is the official style of American Psychological Association (APA) and is commonly used to cite sources in psychology, education and social sciences.
7 Tips for Writing an Error-free APA Style Research Paper.Guidelines for APA Style Paper (7th edition).