Creating an outline is the first step you should take as you begin to research, organize, and write a research paper. Here are basic guidelines for creating an APA format paper outline:
Introduction
The introduction should be between 5-10% of the overall body of the paper. Include a hook to engage the reader, along with the thesis statement that conveys the main argument of your paper. The introduction paragraph should be about 5-7 sentences.
Hook: The hook can be a relevant quote, statistic, rhetorical question, brief story, or interesting fact that introduces the topic and piques the reader’s interest. For example, if your paper is about gender bias in the workplace, your hook could be a shocking statistic about the gender pay gap.
Thesis statement: The thesis should be the last sentence of your introduction. The thesis is a clear, concise statement of your main argument and should help guide your paper. For a paper on gender bias, your thesis could be something like “This paper will examine three types of gender bias that still exist in many workplaces and negatively impact women’s career advancement.”
Body
The body should take up between 75-90% of the paper. Each claim or topic sentence you make should be addressed in its own section or paragraph, typically 3 to 5 sentences paragraphs. Your paper may have 2-5 body paragraphs depending on the length and complexity of the topic.
Example body paragraph on the first type of gender bias:
Topic Sentence: One form of gender bias that still negatively impacts women in the workplace is unequal access to leadership opportunities and promotions.
Supporting detail: Various studies have found that women are less likely than their male counterparts to receive promotions even when they have equal or higher performance evaluations (Smith, 2017; Johnson, 2020; etc.).
Supporting detail: A meta-analysis of 22 separate studies on gender bias in promotions found that men received promotions and career advancements at nearly twice the rate of equally qualified women (Williams & Dempsey, 2018).
Supporting detail: Without equal access to leadership roles and opportunities for career growth, women often hit a “glass ceiling” that makes it difficult to rise to top level executive positions in many companies and industries.
Conclusion: Unless more is done to address unconscious bias against women in promotion decisions, gender inequality in leadership will continue to be a problem.
Conclusion
The conclusion should wrap up and reiterate the main points without simply repeating them. It should emphasize the importance and implications of the findings. It can hint at avenues for future research. A conclusion is typically 2-5 sentences.
Restate thesis: Restate your thesis statement that you made gender bias still negatively impacts women’s career advancement in many ways.
Summarize main points: Briefly summarize the three key types of gender bias explored in the body paragraphs—unequal access to leadership roles, biased performance evaluations, unequal salaries despite similar qualifications and responsibilities.
Convey importance: Stress the real world impacts of continuing gender inequality—how it limits women’s career mobility and earning potential over decades in the workforce.
Hint at future research: Suggest potential next steps like promoting unconscious bias training and instituting transparent guidelines for merit-based promotions to help further address the problem.
References
List all in-text citations alphabetically by author’s last name on a new page according to APA format. Provide full bibliographic information for all sources consulted for your research paper.
That covers the basic structure and components of an APA research paper outline. Of course, the specific claims, examples, sources, and details would need to be adapted based on the focus and scope of the paper topic selected. Let me know if you have any other questions!