Running head: THIS IS THE RUNNING HEAD IN 50 CHARACTERS OR LESS

(The running head is what gets printed across the top of journal pages. It literally begins with

the words "Running head." The 50 characters include spaces. It is not the same as the 'short

title', which goes in the header next to the page number for the purpose of identifying your

paper.)

The Title Goes Here and Should be Centered

Your Name

Your University

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Abstract

This is the abstract. Unlike the rest of the paper, it is not indented. It should be an interesting,

short, accurate representation of what your paper says in 120 words or less. Because conciseness

is so important in the abstract, use digits for all numbers except at the beginning of sentences.

Try to restructure sentences so they do not begin with a number. Also, use abbreviations more

liberally than you would in the body of the paper (less common abbreviations need to be

explained, just as as you would in the body of the paper). See the APA Manual for the content

required in an abstract.

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The Title Goes Here and Should be Centered

This is the first paragraph. Try not to start with such things as, “Recent research has

shown.” Note that the title of the article is not in bold and is centered with the first letter of

significant words capitalized. The example presented in this paper will walk you through how to

write up an experiment. The same basic style issues can be applied to a literature review.

APA Style

Some aspects of APA style have remained the same from the fourth to the fifth edition of

the APA Manual. For example, every line is double-spaced without exception. The first level of

heading in a section is centered as shown with the title above. The second level header is flush

left and italicized, as shown with “APA Style” above.

Third-level heading. If you need to further divide those sections, the third-level header is

indented, italicized, and followed by a period. The text begins immediately after heading as

shown in this paragraph.

APA Style Changes

There are, however, important changes from the Publication Manual’s fourth to the fifth

edition, all aimed at making things simpler and clearer. The two most relevant changes are to the

Reference section. First, the "hanging indent" is now used; i.e., the first line of each reference is

flush left and subsequent lines are indented (see the example references in this document).

Second, the manual now suggests that, to indicate italicized text (e.g., certain levels of headings;

journal and book titles in the reference list; statistical abbreviations such as M, SD, and p), use

italicized font instead of underlining.

For an excellent, annotated example of an APA article, see the APA Manual (5th ed.),

page 306.

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Method

Participants (or 'Subjects' if it is an animal study)

“Sixty participants” is used instead of “60 participants” to begin this sentence because

any number starting a sentence must be spelled out, no matter how large the number. Otherwise,

as a general rule, spell out numbers of ten or less, and write numerals for numbers 11 or greater.

Exceptions are units of measurement, where numerals are used, such as 5 ml.

Design

This study used a 2 x 2 (sex x personality) between-subjects factorial design. The two

independent variables were sex (male or female participant) and type of personality (introvert or

extrovert). The dependent variable was musical ability as measured by the Musical Ability Test.

Use the factorial structure (e.g., 2 x 2) only when you have at least two independent variables.

Also note that each independent variable always has at least two levels, because you are

manipulating or comparing at least two conditions of interest; thus, you would never have a 2 x 1

design. If you have only a single independent variable, you might say something like the

following: "This study used a between-subjects design. There was one independent variable with

two levels…"

Materials

If the materials used in the study were not particularly unusual or detailed, this section is

often combined with the procedure section. The headers used in the Method section are

somewhat flexible. They can vary depending on the needs of the type of experiment that you

conducted.

Procedure

All Method sections outline the procedure of the experiment. Include enough detail that

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someone could replicate your experiment, but don’t give unnecessary details (e.g., you would not

say, “The clock used to time the trials was 12 inches in diameter and white” unless the size or

color of the clock were relevant variables in your study). Finally, write the Method section in the

past tense, because you are referring to work that you have already done.

Results

The Results section is where authors present the statistical analyses conducted to

determine whether your hypotheses were supported. Sometimes the Results section is combined

with the discussion, especially if multiple experiments are reported in one paper. Although

traditionally you would present only your statistical findings here and reserve discussion of these

findings for the Discussion section, there is a recent trend towards more explanation of the

results in the Results section, even if you have not combined the Results and Discussion sections.

Ask your instructor if you’re not sure what to do.

When reporting statistical analyses, there are specific rules for reporting the statistics,

including degrees of freedom and significance level. For example, you might state that Freshmen

performed significantly better than Sophomores on the test of musical ability, F(1,286) = 6.06,

p < .05. You might also refer the reader to the means presented in Table 1. Unlike in the third

edition of the APA manual, it is no longer necessary to inform the publisher that they should

“Insert Table 1 about here.” It is now sufficient merely to reference Table 1 in the text. You

could also include Figure 1 to show readers some other aspect of the data. Do not include a table

or figure if it is redundant with information in the text.

Discussion

The Discussion section immediately follows the Results section. Here is where you

discuss your findings, their implications and their generalizability. It is typical to begin first with

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whether your main hypotheses were supported, then discuss how your findings support or fail to

support the previous research cited in your introduction (the research that was the basis for your

research question). There is also usually a discussion of the limitations of the present study, and

specific suggestions for future studies. The fact that the Discussion section started on a new page

is coincidental.

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References

(Note: Unlike the previous sections, references are started on a new page. The first line of a

reference is not indented, but all following lines are (hanging indent). Pay special attention to

capitalization, underlining, and punctuation. They are all specific requirements of APA

formatting. Below are examples of a journal article and a chapter in a book.)

Abramson, L. Y., Seligman, M. E. P., & Teasdale, J. D. (1978). Learned helplessness in

humans: Critique and reformulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87, 49-74.

Bolling, M., Kohlenberg, R. J., & Parker, C. R. (2000). Depression: A radical behavioral

analysis and treatment approach. In Dougher, M. (Ed.), Clinical Behavior Analysis

(pp.127-152). Reno, NV: Context Press.

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Table 1

Mean +/- SD Music Test Scores for Men and Women

Mean SD

Men 55.92 2.38

Women 60.84 4.16

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Figure Caption

Figure 1. Insert title of your figure here. If there is more than one figure, entitle this the “Figure

Captions” page.

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