Writing and Assembling an APA-Format Research Report
Experimental Psychology
Lecture, Chapter 14
Sections of the APA-format Paper
Title page
Abstract
Introduction
Method section
Results section
Discussion section
References
Appendixes
Author note
Tables
Figures
Title Page
Includes manuscript page header, page number, running head, authors, and
affiliations.
Manuscript page header
Running head
Title
Author’s name
Author’s institutional affiliation double-spaced below title,
centered.
Abstract
Level 1 title: centered, upper and lower case
Brief description of the paper and the research conducted.
No more than 120 words, 1 paragraph, no indentation
Introduction
Level 1 title, exactly the same as on page 1, or title page
Articulate problem
Thesis statement
Cite all sources of information and list full reference in references section
Unbiased language
Methods
Level 1 title called “Methods.”
Should be clear and specific enough that another researcher could replicate your
study by simply reading your paper.
Participants
Measurement instruments
Procedure
Results
Inferential statistics – Assume your reader is knowledgeable in statistics;
include test used, df for test, test statistics, probability level, and effect
size.
Descriptive statistics – means and standard deviations; text or table, depending
on # groups used.
Figure – pictorial presentation of data analysis results
Table – display of numerical data
Discussion
Summary – briefly restate significant findings.
comparison/contrast
Conclusions
References
All sources must be cited; all citations must be listed in the reference page.
Periodicals
Books
Chapters from edited books
Internet sources
Note: new format for unpublished manuscript references (changed in 2001).
Final Sections
Appendix – use level 1 heading; not common in published papers
Headings:
1 – centered, bold, upper and lower case
2 – flush left, bold, upper and lower case
3 – indented, bold, lowercase paragraph heading ending with “.”
4 – indented, bold, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with “.”
5 – indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with “.”