APA FORMAT SAMPLE FOR RESEARCH PAPER

What is APA Format?
The American Psychological Association (APA) style is commonly used for citing references in student research papers, especially in fields like education, psychology, and sciences. APA format consists of in-text citations and a reference section. In an APA formatted research paper, there are specific rules regarding headings, page layout, table/figures placement, in-text citations, and the reference section. The overall goal of APA style is to establish a standard method for scholars to clearly and consistently communicate and exchange research findings and ideas.

Basic Paper Structure and Formatting
The basic structure of an APA formatted paper includes four main sections: the title page, abstract, main body, and references. The main sections should be typed in a standard 12-point font like Times New Roman, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5″ x 11″) with 1″ margins on all sides. The entire paper should be double-spaced, including references. Page numbers are placed at the top right corner, just below the page header. A header identifies the paper title and page number on the first page only. The body of the paper begins on a new page.

The title page includes the running head, paper title, author name, and institutional affiliation. The running head is a short version of the paper title typed in all caps and flush left at the top of each page. The full paper title is centered at the top of the title page only. Author name and institutional affiliation are centered below the title.

An abstract typically includes a brief background of the study topic, main research question or hypothesis, methodology used in the study, main findings or results, and conclusions or implications from the study. The body of the paper begins with an introductory paragraph that leads into the research problem and hypothesis or research questions. Subsequent sections discuss methodology, results/findings, and conclusions/implications. The reference section lists sources cited in the body of the paper in alphabetical order by author’s last name.

In-text Citations
APA style uses an author-date citation system in the text to give credit to sources of information and ideas. Parenthetical citations provide brief information, usually the author’s last name and the year of publication, and directs the reader to the full reference entry on the reference page. For direct quotations or highly specific information from a source, include a page or paragraph number in the citation.

Examples of parenthetical in-text citations for one author:

(Smith, 2020)
(Smith, 2020, para. 3)

Examples of parenthetical in-text citations for two authors:

(Smith & Jones, 2018)
(Smith & Jones, 2018, p. 24)

If a source has three or more authors, cite the first author’s surname followed by “et al.” An ampersand before the “et al.” is not used.

(Johnson et al., 2019)

For sources without page numbers, use a paragraph number if available. Otherwise exclude any number or identifier in the parenthetical citation.

(Snyder, 2012, para. 5)
(Snyder, 2012)

Block quotes of 40 or more words are formatted differently than in-text citations. The block quote is indented five spaces from the left margin and double spaced, without quotation marks. The parenthetical citation comes after the closing punctuation for the quote.

The researcher concluded, “Too many variables and small sample sizes undermined the validity of many early studies on the topic” (Smith, 2020, p. 28).

Reference Section
The reference section contains the full bibliographic information of each source cited in the paper. In the reference page section, sources are listed in alphabetical order by the first author’s last name. For multiple sources by the same first author, list them in order by year of publication, with the earliest year first. Capitalize significant words in journal titles and book titles. Include sufficient information for the reader to identify and locate each source.

The basic components of an APA reference entry are:

Author’s last name, first initial(s).
Publication year.
Title of work.
Publication information.

Example reference for a book:

Smith, J. R. (2019). Title of book: Subtitle. Publisher Name.

Example reference for a journal article:

Jones, S., López, C., & Brown, W. (2020). Article title: Subtitle. Journal Title, 99(4), 123-145. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy

Example reference for a web page:

US Census Bureau. (2018, October 1). 2010 census data. Retrieved January 12, 2021, from https://www.census.gov/2010census/data/

Formatting Components
All text in the paper should follow standard APA formatting guidelines, including section headings, tables and figures, numbers and statistics, abbreviations and acronyms, bias-free language, and more. Section headings communicate the paper structure and organize related content. Headings use title case capitalization (only the first letter of the first word and proper nouns are capitalized). The five heading levels are formatted as follows:

MAIN HEADING
Centered, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
Secondary Heading
Left-aligned, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
Tertiary Heading.
Left-aligned, boldface italic, sentence style capitalization ending with a period.
Quaternary Heading
Indent, boldface, sentence style capitalization ending with a period.
Quintary Heading
Italicized, sentence style capitalization ending with a period, with the final word ending with a colon.

Numbers and statistics are formatted depending on how they are used in the sentence. Numbers below 10 are written out while numbers 10 and above are numeric, unless the number is the first word of the sentence. Statistics and numbers are reported with the appropriate punctuation and statistics symbols. When reporting exact p-values, include the p as lowercase in the text (e.g., p < .05). Bias-Free Language APA requires using inclusive and bias-free language in writing style. Gender-specific pronouns like he/she or their are substituted for plurals like they/them when the antecedent can refer to either a man or woman. Terms reflecting gender, sexual orientation, racial and ethnic identity, and disabilities are used respectfully. When discussing research participants, sensitive language like addicts, victims, mentally ill is avoided and instead focus on their humanity through phrases like people who use substances/have disabilities. Headings are also checked for potential loaded terms. Overall, APA format aims to ensure fair and ethical treatment of all people referenced in scholarly communication. Sample APA Research Paper Here is a sample research paper written in APA format: Title Page The Effects of Homework on Academic Achievement in High School Students John Doe University of California, Los Angeles March 18, 2021 Abstract This study explored the effect of homework on academic achievement among high school students. A convenience sample of 100 high school students from a suburban high school completed a survey regarding time spent on homework each night and their current grade point average (GPA). Data analysis showed a significant positive correlation between hours spent on homework per night and GPA. Students who spent 1-2 hours on homework each night had higher GPAs than students spending less than 1 hour. Further research is needed to better understand how other variables may impact this relationship. The findings provide preliminary evidence supporting moderate homework assignments to improve academic performance in high school.