Format Requirements
Running Head: APA FORMAT REQUIREMENTS
1/14/02
American Psychological Association (APA) Format Requirements
for Research Papers in Psychology Courses*
Leslie L. Downing
State University of New York College at Oneonta
Timothy M. Franz
St. John Fisher College
*Paper submitted in fulfillment of a requirement in Psychology, 335, Laboratory in
Social Psychology.
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Format Requirements
Abstract
The style and format specified by the American Psychological Association (APA) for
research reports in psychology is presented in words and by example in this brief paper.
This paper, including this abstract, is written and typed using page layouts, section
headings and subheadings, referencing style, and other features required by APA for
journal articles and required by many psychology courses for research and term papers.
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Format Requirements
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American Psychological Association (APA) Format Requirements
for Research Papers in Psychology Courses
The style and format described in this paper is called “APA format” or “APA
style”, and is explained in detail in the fifth edition of the Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association (APA, 2001). This paper is also written in APA
format, and can be used as an example of how a paper should be organized and how the
manuscript should be typed. A brief explanation of each section of the paper and of
specific requirements for headings and subheadings, referencing methods, and other
characteristics of a paper are presented.
The entire paper, starting with the first line on page one, and ending with the last
line in the tables and figures, should be double-spaced. All papers should include a page
header, which is a shortened version of the title (three or fewer words). It appears in the
upper right hand corner of every page of the manuscript. The purpose for this is in case
the pages of the manuscript become disorganized, or mixed in with another manuscript
(remember, most professors, like most journal editors, are working with many papers at
the same time). The best way to include a page header is to use the ‘header’ function that
is available in most word processing computer software programs. The programs will
also allow an automatic page numbering function.
The Title Page
The first page of a manuscript should contain a page header (as described
previously), a description of a running head, the title, the author’s name, and the author’s
institutional affiliation. This title page is counted as page one. The description of the
running head should be positioned on the first line of text, left justified, preceded by the
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term “Running Head:”, typed all in capital letters (maximum of 50 characters). If the
manuscript is published, the publisher will replace the page header with the running head.
The title, name, and affiliation should be centered on the page and double-spaced and
should appear towards the middle of the page. A paper submitted for a course (like this
one) should also have a note, near the end of the page, also double-spaced, which
indicates the course and semester for which the paper is being written. The title itself
typically should not exceed 15 words.
The Abstract
Page 2 will contain the word, abstract, centered near the top of the page. Below it
will be a 120 word or less paragraph, double-spaced, which briefly summarizes the entire
paper. This is the only paragraph in the paper that does not start off with a tab. It should
begin against the left margin. Examples of what should be included in the abstract are
given in the APA Publication Manual (2001), and can be found at the beginning of any
recent article published in a journal of the American Psychological Association.
At the upper-right hand corner will be the page header and the page number (2).
All subsequent pages of the manuscript will have a page number and the page header that
appears in the exact same location.
The Body of the Paper
The title of the paper, exactly as it appears on the cover sheet, page 1, is to be
centered near the top of page 3. It is double-spaced and is followed immediately by the
body of the paper, which is also double-spaced. Sections and subsections within the body
of the paper will depend upon what type of paper it is. Papers reporting results of an
original study, as in Johnson and Downing (1979) or Lavery, Franz, Winquist, & Larson
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(1999), typically have an Introduction, which is not labeled, followed by Method,
Results, and Discussion sections, each of which starts with a heading centered above the
section to which it refers, with the first letter capitalized, no period, and no underlining.
In brief, non-data papers, such major heading need not be used, as in this paper.
Second level headings are done as in the heading of this section (titled The Body
of the Paper), from the margin, no period, and underlined. The text below it is indented,
starting on the next line.
Third level headings. These are indented, underlined, and followed by a period.
The text immediately follows the heading on the same line. Papers not presenting original
data, such as theoretical papers (Festinger, 1954), reviews of the literature, (Brewer,
1979), or analytical papers (Downing, 1975), use headings and subheadings as seem
appropriate for the material being covered.
Referencing
All published material, referred to in the paper, is to be cited with the last name or
names of the author or authors, followed by the year of publication. A book or article
might be referred to as, a book by Strunk and White (1979) or as a book (Strunk and
White, 1979). Further, you could start a sentence by saying something like “According to
Strunk and White (1979).” For one or two authors, always cite them. For three to six,
such as the paper by Lavery et al. (1999) list all authors the first time you cite the paper,
and then use the Latin abbreviation “et al.” from then on. For seven or more authors, you
may use the Latin abbreviation “et al.” beginning with the first citation.
A complete reference for each citation will appear in the Reference section of the
paper. The Reference section is not a bibliography; this means that only those articles that
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are cited appear in the references. If the content of an article did not fit in your paper even
though you read it (thus, you were unable to cite it), it should not appear in the
references. Any article from any recent APA journal can be used as an example of how to
use this referencing method. Also, rules and examples for references are presented in the
APA Publication Manual (APA, 1983).
Figures and Table
Tables are presentations of numerical information, usually in rows and columns,
and are to be separately numbered. The text should refer to a table by name, either by
stating in parentheses (see Table 1) or by referring to it in the text. Tables are to be
placed, one per page, immediately following the Reference section at the end of the
manuscript. All material in tables is to be double-spaced, include a title, and horizontal
lines only (no vertical lines). Cutting and pasting output from SPSS is not an appropriate
format for tables. Instructions about how to format tables are detailed in the Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association (2001).
All graphs, illustrations, and pictures are called figures, and are identified by
numbers, in sequence of appearance. They will appear at the end of the paper, one per
page, following the Reference section and the tables. Like tables, the text should refer to
a figure either by stating it in parentheses (see Figure 1) or referring to it in text. Like
tables, figures should be titled. However, figures get their own title page that precedes the
page that includes the figure. This is done so that when publishing a paper, the publisher
can scan your figure directly into their version of the paper.
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References
Following the body of the paper, a separate section, beginning a new page, starts
with the word, References, centered near the top of the page. The Reference section is not
a bibliography, but contains only citations of specifically mentioned books, articles, or
presentations. The entire section is to be double-spaced with references listed
alphabetically by author. Margins and indentations should follow the pattern shown in the
reference section of this paper. Examples of how to reference specific types of materials
can be found in any APA journal or in the publication manual (APA, 2001).
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References
APA. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.).
Washington, D.C.: APA.
Brewer, M.B. (1979). In-group bias in the minimal intergroup situation: A cognitivemotivational analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 307-324.
Downing, L.L. (1975). The prisoners dilemma game as a problem solving phenomenon:
An outcome maximization interpretation. Simulation and Games, 6, 366-391.
Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7, 117140.
Johnson, R.D., & Downing, L.L. (1979). Deindividuation and valence of cues: Effects on
pro-social and anti-social behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
37, 1532-1538.
Lavery, T.A., Franz, T.M., Winquist, J.R., & Larson, J.R., Jr. (1999). The role of
information exchange in predicting group accuracy on a multiple judgment task.
Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 21, 281-289.
Strunk, W. Jr., & White, E. B. (1979). The elements of style (3rd ed.). New York:
Macmillan.