
Formatting a research paper shouldn’t take more time than the research itself. Knowing the most important parts of a research paper helps you outline your paper quickly. It can also help to guide and frame your research. Follow the sample research paper outline here to get started.
Formatting a Research Paper
Before you start your paper, it’s important to know what style guide to use. Style guides regulate your paper’s typography, grammar, citation, and bibliography. Different fields use different style guides in their research studies.
The APA style guide, named for the American Psychological Association, is used in behavioral and social science research, including educational and psychological studies. Here are some basic tips for formatting an APA research paper.
- Paper should be on 8 ½ x 11-inch white paper, with 1-inch margins on the top, bottom, and sides.
- Font is 12 point Times New Roman.
- Lines are double-spaced.
- Cover pages are required in APA papers and are center-aligned.
- Each page needs a left-aligned running header with the title of your study.
- Right-align page numbers at the top of each page, including the cover page.
- Indent the first word in each paragraph, except in the abstract.
- The title itself is not bolded, but individual section headings (e.g. Background, Methodology) are.
- In-text citations of other studies, reports, and articles include the author’s or organization’s name, as well as the year of publication.
Advertisement
Other Style Guides
The other two most prominent style guides are primarily used for liberal arts subjects:
Other style guides are used for scientific and medical studies. These include:
- AMA (American Medical Association)
- CBE (Council of Biology Editors)
The style guides are similar in some ways, but have important differences as well. Your teacher or professor will typically tell you what style guide to use.
Parts of a Research Paper
Research studies begin with a question in mind. A paper that describes a particular study clearly states the question, methodology, findings, and other relevant information. Read below for descriptions and examples of research paper sections.
The main sections of a typical APA research paper include:
- Cover Page
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Background
- Methodology
- Results
- Conclusion
- Appendices
A more straightforward version of a research paper is the IMRAD format (Introduction, Methodology, Results, and Discussion). However, all of the following sections are typically present in a formal research paper.
Advertisement
Title or Cover Page
Just like any other paper you write, your research paper needs a cover page with your study’s title. It also needs your and any co-writers’ names and institutional affiliations (if any). Here is an example of a basic APA cover page.
The Effects of Food Insecurity on School Performance
Kayla Yang and Nicole Brighton
University of California, Davis
Abstract
An abstract is a detailed summary of your study. It should include a broad overview of the paper, your research question, the significance of your study, methods of research, and findings. Don’t list cited works in the abstract.
Here is an example of an abstract for a paper on food insecurity.
Poverty affects more than 41 million Americans every day – most of whom are children. Food insecurity and undernutrition have a confirmed correlation to slower cognitive development for children under three years of age. Hungry children cannot form skills as quickly as their peers due to both deprivation of vital nutrients and poor concentration. But, there has been little focus on how these effects scale up in terms of school performance past kindergarten.
Public schools have several programs in place to mitigate the problem of food insecurity, including free breakfast and reduced lunch. We surveyed 100 students at Arbor Elementary School over the course of one school year to see how effective these programs were in improving their academic performance and general contentment in school. The results of these surveys reveal how long children are academically affected by systemic food insecurity, even when their stomachs are currently full.
Advertisement
Introduction
The introduction section tells the reader what problem your study is attempting to solve. You can address the study’s significance and originality here as well. Clearly state the research question in the form of a thesis statement.
Poverty and poor school performance are two problems that keep Americans from reaching their full potential. Alongside poverty is food insecurity, which affects millions of households – and children – every day. But could focusing on one problem help to solve the other? We wanted to find out whether programs designed to reduce food insecurity for targeted children would improve their school performance, and therefore, give them a more successful start in life.
Background
What inspired you to take on this study? What has previous research stated or revealed about this topic? The background section is the place to add historical data or define previous theories that provide context for your study. It’s also a helpful place to consider your audience and what information they will need to understand the rest of your paper. Read on for an example of a paragraph from the background section of a research paper.
Food insecurity is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a lack of regular access to food due to one’s financial status. According to the Department’s report “Household Food Security in the United States in 2016,” 12.3 percent of American households, or approximately 41 million people, experienced food insecurity at some point in 2016 (USDA 2017). The Right to Food was included in the United Nations’ 1948 Declaration of Human Rights, while the Food and Agriculture Organization measures food insecurity on a scale from mild (uncertainty about obtaining food) to severe (no access to food for an entire day). (FAO 2019).
Advertisement
Methodology
Knowing whether you used qualitative or quantitative methods is an important part of understanding your study. You can list all the ways you collected data, including surveys, experiments, or field research. This section is also known as “Materials and Methods” in scientific studies.
We used qualitative methods to gather data about students who may experience food insecurity. These methods included surveys with various questions that assessed whether students felt hungry, insecure about their next meal, and/or distracted from classwork due to hunger (Appendix A). The surveys were distributed to 100 students in fourth and fifth grade (10-11 years old) at Arbor Elementary School, 50 of whom were recipients of Title 1 funding via free and reduced lunch. The remaining 50 were a control group of students who were not identified as socioeconomically disadvantaged. The students completed these surveys at the beginning of the school year, then once every two months until the end of the school year, for a total of five survey periods.
Advertisement
Results
What does your study find? State your findings and supply the data in this section. Use an objective perspective here; save the evaluation for your conclusion section.
The survey results indicated a strong correlation between school performance and food insecurity (Appendix D). Students who answered affirmatively in the surveys were consistently among the lower performing members of their class. Contrasted with their peers who were not identified as socioeconomically disadvantaged, these students identified anxiety about their next meal as one of the top three concerns in their minds. Their participation in programs like free breakfast and reduced lunch helped to assuage daily hunger and general happiness, but their concern over food insecurity remained.
Conclusion
Explain why your findings are significant in the conclusion section. This section allows you to evaluate results and reflect on your process. Does the study require additional research?
The problem with systemic food insecurity goes beyond distracting hunger for young students. Even after they’ve had a nutritious breakfast and lunch at school, concern over dinner was distracting from their school performance. The final survey period, taken just before the beginning of summer break, indicated how much food insecurity can dictate a child’s anticipation of a long period without school – and therefore, regular meals.
Having a lower school performance later in life could place these children as future parents in food-insecure households, thus perpetuating the cycle. Solving the cyclical problem of poverty and school performance requires participation from all stakeholders, including schools, city governments, and state and federal legislation that works to move following generations out of the cycle.
Appendices
If you have information that is too dense for the paper itself, include it in an appendix. Appendices are helpful when you want to include supplementary material that is relevant but not integral to the paper itself.
Appendix A
Arbor Elementary School Survey Questions - September 2019
- Did you have breakfast at home or at school this morning?
- Did you buy lunch or bring lunch from home this afternoon?
- Do you feel hungry now?
- What time of day is it hardest for you to concentrate?
- Do you know what your next meal will be?
- Do you ever worry about food?
- Do you ever feel like there isn’t enough food to eat at your house?
- Are you hungrier on weekends than on school days?
- Is it harder to focus on schoolwork when you’re hungry?
- Are there issues that are more important to you than food?

Sample apa research paper
Click to View & DownloadOther Parts of a Research Paper
If you’d like to go into more depth than the sections above, consider including additional parts of a research paper.
- Limitations of Study: Found after the Introduction section, the Limitations of Study section lists any factors by which you limited your research. These can include age, location, sex, and education level. This section can also list the ways that your study was impacted by shortcomings such as limited resources or small sample sizes.
- Literature Review: The Literature Review section takes scholarly articles or books out of the Background section for a more focused investigation. You can usually find this section between Background and Methodology.
- Discussion: A more concentrated section for evaluating results is the Discussion section. This section is a helpful place to consider the process as a whole.
- Acknowledgments: This is a place to thank anyone who helped you complete your research. It can include colleagues, focus group participants, fellow researchers, mentors, or family members.
More Tips on Writing Research Papers
Now that you know how to structure your research paper, it’s time to find the perfect question to answer. Read our article on the differences between good and bad research questions so you’ll know what common pitfalls to avoid. No matter what you choose to research, you’ll be prepared!
FAQs
What is the basic format of research paper? ›
A complete research paper in APA style that is reporting on experimental research will typically contain a Title page, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and References sections. Many will also contain Figures and Tables and some will have an Appendix or Appendices.
What are the 5 parts of research? ›- Introduction.
- Review of Literature.
- Methods.
- Results.
- Discussion.
- Step One: Determine the purpose of the paper. ...
- Step Two: Refine your research question. ...
- Step Three: Organize your approach. ...
- Step Four: Collect information. ...
- Step Five: Attribute the information. ...
- Step Six: Write your conclusion. ...
- Step Seven: Refine your thesis statement.
The most popular formats of the traditional sizes are the Letter (8.5 × 11 inches), Legal (8.5 × 14 inches) and Tabloid (11 × 17 inches) formats. You more than likely use these formats in your everyday life. Letter is the standard for business and academic documents.
What is APA standard format? ›APA is the style of documentation of sources used by the American Psychological Association. This form of writing research papers is used mainly in the social sciences, like psychology, anthropology, sociology, as well as education and other fields.
What is a APA format example? ›Basic Format for an Online Article:
Author's Last Name, First Initial. (Year). Article title. Magazine/Journal/Newspaper Title, Volume number(Issue number), Page numbers.
Formatting the First Page of Your Paper
In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor's name, the course, and the date. Again, be sure to use double-spaced text. Double space again and center the title. Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks.
- Abstract or Summary.
- Introduction.
- Review of Literature.
- Methods.
- Results.
- Conclusions and Discussion.
- References.
Scientific papers are organized into specific sections and each has a goal. We have listed them here. Your title is the most important part of your paper. It draws the reader in and tells them what you are presenting.
What goes in a research paper introduction? ›- An overview of the topic. Start with a general overview of your topic. ...
- Prior research. Your introduction is the place to review other conclusions on your topic. ...
- A rationale for your paper. ...
- Describe the methodology you used. ...
- A thesis statement. ...
- An outline.
What are the 12 parts of research paper? ›
- Title/Cover Page. ...
- Abstract. ...
- Introduction and Statement of the Problem. ...
- Limitations of Study. ...
- Methodology. ...
- Literature Review. ...
- Main Body of Paper/Argument. ...
- Conclusion.
- Step 1: Identify and develop your topic. ...
- Step 2 : Do a preliminary search for information. ...
- Step 3: Locate materials. ...
- Step 4: Evaluate your sources. ...
- Step 5: Make notes. ...
- Step 6: Write your paper.
APA and MLA are the most common styles to use, but CMS is not unheard of - just not as common for undergrads.
How to create a research paper? ›- Choose a topic.
- Read and keep records.
- Form a thesis.
- Create a mind map or outline.
- Read again.
- Rethink your thesis.
- Draft the body.
- Revise.
- Paper should be on 8 ½ x 11-inch white paper, with 1-inch margins on the top, bottom, and sides.
- Font is 12 point Times New Roman.
- Lines are double-spaced.
- Cover pages are required in APA papers and are center-aligned.
...
In-text citations in APA and MLA.
MLA (Modern Language Association) format is used for humanities and literature works. APA (American Psychological Association) is used for technical and scientific works. Each writing style is formatted to make citations for that specific field easier.
How do you use APA correctly? ›APA citation basics
When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, for example, (Jones, 1998), and a complete reference should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.
APA format, also known as APA style, is one of the styles used in academic writing. Specifically, it's used in psychology, sociology, anthropology, and the other social sciences. APA style was developed by the American Psychological Association in 1929.
What is MLA format in research? ›MLA (Modern Language Association) Style is widely used in the humanities, especially in writing on language and literature. MLA style uses brief parenthetical citations in the text that refer to an alphabetical list of works cited appearing at the end of the work.
Do you indent paragraphs in a research paper? ›
Double-space the entire research paper, including quotations, notes, and the list of works cited. Indent the first line of a paragraph half an inch from the left margin. Indent set-off quotations half an inch as well (for examples, see 76–80 in the MLA Handbook).
What is the best font to use for a research paper? ›Font Acceptable fonts are Times New Roman, 12 pt. or Courier New, 12 pt. in the upper half of the page. Margins: All margins — top, bottom, left, and right — are set to 1” throughout the paper.
What are the 3 research questions? ›- Descriptive research questions.
- Comparative research questions.
- Relationship-based research questions.
In particular, he emphasized three things that research needs: focus, theories, and competencies.
What terms should be avoided when making a research title? ›Avoid roman numerals (e.g., III, IX, etc.) Obvious or non-specific openings with a conjunction: e.g., “Report on”, “A Study of”, “Results of”, “An Experimental Investigation of”, etc. (these don't contribute meaning!)
What not to do in research paper? ›- Vague research question and going off-topic. ...
- Misformatting the paper. ...
- Using complex language. ...
- Poor abstract. ...
- Ineffective keywords. ...
- Disordered/uncited floating elements. ...
- Unexpanded abbreviations.
A thesis statement is the basic stand that an author takes, the opinion that he expresses, and the major point that he wishes to make about his subject. It contains the controlling idea of the essay, and therefore, gives the direction and the unity to all the separate elements of the writing.
How many pages should a research paper be? ›How many pages is a research paper. On average, a research paper ranges between 15 to 50 pages. As indicated earlier, the length of your paper is affected by the complexity of your topic. As such, some disciplines may require a longer document while shorter papers suffice in other disciplines.
What is a good hook for a research paper? ›A hook is an opening statement (which is usually the first sentence) in an essay that attempts to grab the reader's attention so that they want to read on. It can be done by using a few different types of hooks, which are a question, quote, statistic, or anecdote.
What is a good introduction sentence for a research paper? ›This is generally accomplished with a strong opening hook. The hook is a striking opening sentence that clearly conveys the relevance of your topic. Think of an interesting fact or statistic, a strong statement, a question, or a brief anecdote that will get the reader wondering about your topic.
What are the 5 parts of research introduction? ›
The introduction contains a topic sentence, a thesis statement, then three to five reasons, details and/or facts supporting your research followed by a conclusion. It should be relatively brief, concise and clear.
What are the common elements of a research paper? ›- Title. Your title should be brief, topic-specific, and informative, clearly indicating the purpose and scope of your study. ...
- Abstract. ...
- Introduction. ...
- Literature Review. ...
- Methodology (Materials and Methods) ...
- Results. ...
- Discussion. ...
- Conclusion.
- Prepare the figures and tables.
- Write the Methods.
- Write up the Results.
- Write the Discussion. Finalize the Results and Discussion before writing the introduction. ...
- Write a clear Conclusion.
- Write a compelling introduction.
- Write the Abstract.
- Compose a concise and descriptive Title.
Good research is replicable, reproducible, and transparent. Replicability, reproducibility, and transparency are some of the most important characteristics of research. The replicability of a research study is important because this allows other researchers to test the study's findings.
How long is a research paper? ›The length of a research paper depends on the topic or assignment. Typically, research papers run around 4,000–6,000 words, but it's common to see short papers around 2,000 words or long papers over 10,000 words. If you're writing a paper for school, the recommended length should be provided in the assignment.
How long does it take to write a research paper? ›How much time does it take to write a research paper? The longer the research paper and the more complex the topic, the longer it will take to complete. However, you can take 40 hours to achieve a good research paper.
What are the three research formats? ›There are several types of research methods. Exploratory, descriptive, and causal are the three main types used in survey research. It helps to familiarize yourself with these types before designing your survey research.
What is the research essay basic format of MLA list them? ›Guidelines for Formatting a Paper in MLA
Make 1 inch margins on the top, bottom, and sides. The first word in every paragraph should be indented one half inch. Indent set-off or block quotations one half inch from the left margin. Use any type of font that is easy to read, such as Times New Roman.
- Choose a topic.
- Read and keep records.
- Form a thesis.
- Create a mind map or outline.
- Read again.
- Rethink your thesis.
- Draft the body.
- Revise.
A recent AuthorAID blog post described the hourglass-like structure of journal articles having the IMRAD format (introduction, methods, results, and discussion).
What are the most common research paper styles? ›
There are three main "Schools of Style" used to properly format an academic paper, referred to as APA, MLA, or CMS.
How do you start an introduction for a research paper? ›- An overview of the topic. Start with a general overview of your topic. ...
- Prior research. Your introduction is the place to review other conclusions on your topic. ...
- A rationale for your paper. ...
- Describe the methodology you used. ...
- A thesis statement. ...
- An outline.
The APA (American Psychological Association) style format is the preferred citation style for social science research papers. What does APA style mean? APA style is a set of guidelines for writing and formatting research papers in psychology and related fields.
What a MLA research paper looks like? ›An MLA paper has a standard look for every page including 1-inch margins, a readable font, a running header including your last name and page number, and author-page in-text citations. At the end of your paper, you will include a works cited with a list of all the sources used in the paper.
Is research a MLA or APA? ›Students in humanities normally follow the MLA format, while those in science and research field usually follow the APA format.
How is a research paper structured MLA? ›All papers must be word-processed. A research paper contains the following elements: title page, contents page, main text, list of works cited, and declaration of authorship (Eidesstattliche Versicherung).