title for apa research paper

Streefkerk, R. (2022, June 07). APA Title Page (7th edition) | Template for Students & Professionals. Scribbr. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/apa-title-page/

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APA Guide: 7th Edition

Student Paper Example

Student Paper Example This is a student paper example from the 7th Edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

Professional Paper Example

Professional Paper Example This is a professional paper example from the 7th Edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

Student Title Page Elements

The title page includes the following elements: Page number, Paper title, Author, Author Affiliation, Course, Instructor, and Due Date . Remember, your instructor can include other requirements for your assignment. Refer to their instructions carefully.

Your title page and paper is double-spaced. Use 1-inch margins.

Acceptable Fonts:

Author Name(s) (Byline)

Author Affiliation

Locations should include the city, state, province, and country.

Course Name

See the example title page below:

All content on this guide comes from the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association and from the APA Style Blog.

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association ( 7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

American Psychological Association. (2020, October). Blog . https://apastyle.apa.org/blog

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When writing a paper, do I use italics for all titles?

Simply put: no .

APA's Publication Manual (2020) indicates that, in the body of your paper , you should use italics for the titles of:

Beyond APA's specific examples, know that certain types of titles are almost always written in italics.

A general rule of thumb is that within the text of a paper, italicize the title of complete works but put quotation marks around titles of parts within a complete work.

The table below isn't comprehensive, but it's a good starting point

On an APA-style reference page , the rules for titles are a little different. In short, a title you would italicize within the body of a paper will also be italicized on a reference page. However, a title you'd place in quotation marks within the body of the paper (such as the title of an article within a journal) will be written without italics and quotation marks on the references page.

Here are some examples:

Smith's (2001) research is fully described in the Journal of Higher Education.

Smith's (2001) article "College Admissions See Increase" was published in the Journal of Higher Education after his pivotal study on the admissions process.

Visit the APA Style's " Use of Italics " page to learn more!

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How to Write an APA Research Paper

Psychology/neuroscience 201, v iew in pdf format.

An APA-style paper includes the following sections: title page, abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, and references. Your paper may also include one or more tables and/or figures. Different types of information about your study are addressed in each of the sections, as described below.

General formatting rules are as follows:

Do not put page breaks in between the introduction, method, results, and discussion sections.

The title page, abstract, references, table(s), and figure(s) should be on their own pages. The entire paper should be written in the past tense, in a 12-point font, double-spaced, and with one-inch margins all around.

(see sample on p. 41 of APA manual)

Abstract (labeled, centered, not bold)

No more than 120 words, one paragraph, block format (i.e., don’t indent), double-spaced.

State topic, preferably in one sentence. Provide overview of method, results, and discussion.

Introduction

(Do not label as “Introduction.” Title of paper goes at the top of the page—not bold)

The introduction of an APA-style paper is the most difficult to write. A good introduction will summarize, integrate, and critically evaluate the empirical knowledge in the relevant area(s) in a way that sets the stage for your study and why you conducted it. The introduction starts out broad (but not too broad!) and gets more focused toward the end. Here are some guidelines for constructing a good introduction:

Method (labeled, centered, bold)

The Method section of an APA-style paper is the most straightforward to write, but requires precision. Your goal is to describe the details of your study in such a way that another researcher could duplicate your methods exactly.

The Method section typically includes Participants, Materials and/or Apparatus, and Procedure sections. If the design is particularly complicated (multiple IVs in a factorial experiment, for example), you might also include a separate Design subsection or have a “Design and Procedure” section.

Note that in some studies (e.g., questionnaire studies in which there are many measures to describe but the procedure is brief), it may be more useful to present the Procedure section prior to the Materials section rather than after it.

Participants (labeled, flush left, bold)

Total number of participants (# women, # men), age range, mean and SD for age, racial/ethnic composition (if applicable), population type (e.g., college students). Remember to write numbers out when they begin a sentence.

Materials (labeled, flush left, bold)

Carefully describe any stimuli, questionnaires, and so forth. It is unnecessary to mention things such as the paper and pencil used to record the responses, the data recording sheet, the computer that ran the data analysis, the color of the computer, and so forth.

Apparatus (labeled, flush left, bold)

Include an apparatus section if you used specialized equipment for your study (e.g., the eye tracking machine) and need to describe it in detail.

Procedure (labeled, flush left, bold)

What did participants do, and in what order? When you list a control variable (e.g., “Participants all sat two feet from the experimenter.”), explain WHY you did what you did. In other words, what nuisance variable were you controlling for? Your procedure should be as brief and concise as possible. Read through it. Did you repeat yourself anywhere? If so, how can you rearrange things to avoid redundancy? You may either write the instructions to the participants verbatim or paraphrase, whichever you deem more appropriate. Don’t forget to include brief statements about informed consent and debriefing.

Results (labeled, centered, bold)

In this section, describe how you analyzed the data and what you found. If your data analyses were complex, feel free to break this section down into labeled subsections, perhaps one section for each hypothesis.

Discussion (labeled, centered, bold)

The goal of the discussion section is to interpret your findings and place them in the broader context of the literature in the area. A discussion section is like the reverse of the introduction, in that you begin with the specifics and work toward the more general (funnel out). Some points to consider:

Final paragraph: Be sure to sum up your paper with a final concluding statement. Don’t just trail off with an idea for a future study. End on a positive note by reminding your reader why your study was important and what it added to the literature.

References (labeled, centered, not bold)

Provide an alphabetical listing of the references (alphabetize by last name of first author). Double-space all, with no extra spaces between references. The second line of each reference should be indented (this is called a hanging indent and is easily accomplished using the ruler in Microsoft Word). See the APA manual for how to format references correctly.

Examples of references to journal articles start on p. 198 of the manual, and examples of references to books and book chapters start on pp. 202. Digital object identifiers (DOIs) are now included for electronic sources (see pp. 187-192 of APA manual to learn more).

Journal article example: [Note that only the first letter of the first word of the article title is capitalized; the journal name and volume are italicized. If the journal name had multiple words, each of the major words would be capitalized.]

Ebner-Priemer, U. W., & Trull, T. J. (2009). Ecological momentary assessment of mood disorders and mood dysregulation. Psychological Assessment, 21, 463-475. doi:10.1037/a0017075

Book chapter example: [Note that only the first letter of the first word of both the chapter title and book title are capitalized.]

Stephan, W. G. (1985). Intergroup relations. In G. Lindzey & E. Aronson (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (3 rd ed., Vol. 2, pp. 599-658). New York: Random House.

Book example: Gray, P. (2010). Psychology (6 th ed.). New York: Worth

Table There are various formats for tables, depending upon the information you wish to include. See the APA manual. Be sure to provide a table number and table title (the latter is italicized). Tables can be single or double-spaced.

Figure If you have more than one figure, each one gets its own page. Use a sans serif font, such as Helvetica, for any text within your figure. Be sure to label your x- and y-axes clearly, and make sure you’ve noted the units of measurement of the DV. Underneath the figure provide a label and brief caption (e.g., “Figure 1. Mean evaluation of job applicant qualifications as a function of applicant attractiveness level”). The figure caption typically includes the IVs/predictor variables and the DV. Include error bars in your bar graphs, and note what the bars represent in the figure caption: Error bars represent one standard error above and below the mean.

In-Text Citations: (see pp. 174-179 of APA manual) When citing sources in your paper, you need to include the authors’ names and publication date.

You should use the following formats:

Secondary Sources

“Secondary source” is the term used to describe material that is cited in another source. If in his article entitled “Behavioral Study of Obedience” (1963), Stanley Milgram makes reference to the ideas of Snow (presented above), Snow (1961) is the primary source, and Milgram (1963) is the secondary source.

Try to avoid using secondary sources in your papers; in other words, try to find the primary source and read it before citing it in your own work. If you must use a secondary source, however, you should cite it in the following way:

Snow (as cited in Milgram, 1963) argued that, historically, the cause of most criminal acts... The reference for the Milgram article (but not the Snow reference) should then appear in the reference list at the end of your paper.

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How to Write a Title Page in APA Format for Psychology

Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author and educational consultant focused on helping students learn about psychology.

James Lacy, MLS, is a fact-checker and researcher.

The title page is the first page of your psychology paper. In order to make a good first impression, it is important to have a well-formatted title page in proper APA format that clearly represents your paper.

Use APA title page format for psychology lab reports and other student papers. Your instructor may also request that you use a similar format for other types of psychology writing .

This article discusses how to format a title page for a psychology paper. It also covers the differing guidelines for title pages for student papers versus professional papers.

Title Page Elements for a Psychology Paper

There are a number of key elements that your title page should contain. However, it is important to note that the format for psychology student papers is somewhat different than that of professional papers. Important elements to include are:

Choosing a Title for Your Psychology Paper

One of the most difficult tasks is choosing a good title. Your title should be as specific as possible.

Your goal should be to craft a title that can stand alone and be fully explanatory without further elaboration. A reader browsing through paper titles in an online database should be able to quickly read your title and know exactly what your paper is about.

Page Title Examples

The best way to structure your title is to look at your hypothesis and experimental variables . For example: The Effects of [ Independent Variable ] on [ Dependent Variable ].

The official APA publication manual notes that your title should be brief, yet communicate the main topic and variables of interest.

Avoid words that serve no real purpose or that do not communicate essential information. Some examples of such words and phrases include “An Experiment on…,” “A Study of…”, “method,” or “results.”

While there is no maximum length for titles, the APA recommends keeping your title concise while still including key terms.

Author’s Name and School Affiliation

The next element of your title page is the byline, which lists the author’s name and institutional affiliation. Listing your first name, middle initial(s), and last name is the recommended format. Do not include abbreviations of your titles or degrees such as Dr. or PhD.

Students should include the name of the department followed by the name of their school. This should be centered on the page and appear after the author's name.

Name and Affiliation Example

June Callaway

Department of Psychology, University of Ohio

PSYCH 101: Introduction to General Psychology

Dr. Ashana Lee

September 7, 2022

*Note: This information should be centered on your title page, not aligned to the left as it appears here.

The institutional affiliation should be the location where the research was conducted, most often a college or university. In some cases, research may have been supported by more than one institution. For these instances, only include two affiliations if both schools offered substantial support to the research and only list two affiliations for every author.

What should you do if you were not affiliated with an academic institution when the research was conducted? In this instance, the APA suggests listing your city and state of residence in place of the academic affiliation.

Other Elements of a Title Page

There are also additional formatting concerns you should observe as you draft an APA format title page for your psychology paper:

Format for Professional Psychology Papers

The APA's guidelines are slightly different for papers intended for scholarly publication in a professional journal. In addition to the basic elements included in a basic title page, a professional paper should also include:

Author's Note, Disclosure, and Contact Info

For an author's note, include the author's name followed by a link to their ORCID iD. The disclosure might be a simple sentence stating that you have no known conflict of interest to disclose. Next, state that correspondence concerning the article should be addressed to the individual listed, then provide the mailing address and email contact for that individual.

Title Page Checklist for a Psychology Paper

Before you turn in your psychology paper, ask yourself the following questions:

Check out this example of a title page in APA format.

American Psychological Association. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association .

American Psychological Association. Title page setup . APA Style.

American Psychological Association. Page header . APA Style.

By Kendra Cherry Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author and educational consultant focused on helping students learn about psychology.

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COMMENTS

General Format
The title should be centered and written in boldface. APA recommends that your title be focused and succinct and that it should not contain abbreviations or
Title page setup
Place one double-spaced blank line between the paper title and the author names. Center author names on their own line. If there are two authors, use the word “
Five Steps to a Great Title
A great title summarizes the main idea of the paper. Your title should identify the key issues under investigation as well as how they relate to
How do I come up with an APA title?
Title Tips · Center the title on your title page and on the first page of the body of your paper. Use full terms and avoid abbreviations. Avoid
Titles
Elements of a Good Title · Titles should be concise. · Titles should be fully explanatory when standing alone. · Titles are used as a statement of content for
APA Title Page (7th edition)
Write the author's name under the paper title (leave a blank line in between). Give their full names (first name, middle initial(s) and last
Title Page
The title page includes the following elements: Page number, Paper title, Author, Author Affiliation, Course, Instructor, and Due Date.
When writing a paper, do I use italics for all titles?
A general rule of thumb is that within the text of a paper, italicize the title of complete works but put quotation marks around titles of parts within a
How to Write an APA Research Paper
An APA-style paper includes the following sections: title page, abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, and references. Your paper may also
How to Write a Title Page in APA Format for a Psychology Paper
The next element of your title page is the byline, which lists the author's name and institutional affiliation. Listing your first name, middle