how to research paper format

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

13.1 Formatting a Research Paper

Learning objectives.

• Identify the major components of a research paper written using American Psychological Association (APA) style.
• Apply general APA style and formatting conventions in a research paper.

In this chapter, you will learn how to use APA style , the documentation and formatting style followed by the American Psychological Association, as well as MLA style , from the Modern Language Association. There are a few major formatting styles used in academic texts, including AMA, Chicago, and Turabian:

• AMA (American Medical Association) for medicine, health, and biological sciences
• APA (American Psychological Association) for education, psychology, and the social sciences
• Chicago—a common style used in everyday publications like magazines, newspapers, and books
• MLA (Modern Language Association) for English, literature, arts, and humanities
• Turabian—another common style designed for its universal application across all subjects and disciplines

While all the formatting and citation styles have their own use and applications, in this chapter we focus our attention on the two styles you are most likely to use in your academic studies: APA and MLA.

If you find that the rules of proper source documentation are difficult to keep straight, you are not alone. Writing a good research paper is, in and of itself, a major intellectual challenge. Having to follow detailed citation and formatting guidelines as well may seem like just one more task to add to an already-too-long list of requirements.

Following these guidelines, however, serves several important purposes. First, it signals to your readers that your paper should be taken seriously as a student’s contribution to a given academic or professional field; it is the literary equivalent of wearing a tailored suit to a job interview. Second, it shows that you respect other people’s work enough to give them proper credit for it. Finally, it helps your reader find additional materials if he or she wishes to learn more about your topic.

Furthermore, producing a letter-perfect APA-style paper need not be burdensome. Yes, it requires careful attention to detail. However, you can simplify the process if you keep these broad guidelines in mind:

• Work ahead whenever you can. Chapter 11 “Writing from Research: What Will I Learn?” includes tips for keeping track of your sources early in the research process, which will save time later on.
• Get it right the first time. Apply APA guidelines as you write, so you will not have much to correct during the editing stage. Again, putting in a little extra time early on can save time later.
• Use the resources available to you. In addition to the guidelines provided in this chapter, you may wish to consult the APA website at http://www.apa.org or the Purdue University Online Writing lab at http://owl.english.purdue.edu , which regularly updates its online style guidelines.

General Formatting Guidelines

This chapter provides detailed guidelines for using the citation and formatting conventions developed by the American Psychological Association, or APA. Writers in disciplines as diverse as astrophysics, biology, psychology, and education follow APA style. The major components of a paper written in APA style are listed in the following box.

These are the major components of an APA-style paper:

Body, which includes the following:

• Headings and, if necessary, subheadings to organize the content
• In-text citations of research sources
• References page

All these components must be saved in one document, not as separate documents.

The title page of your paper includes the following information:

• Title of the paper
• Author’s name
• Name of the institution with which the author is affiliated
• Header at the top of the page with the paper title (in capital letters) and the page number (If the title is lengthy, you may use a shortened form of it in the header.)

List the first three elements in the order given in the previous list, centered about one third of the way down from the top of the page. Use the headers and footers tool of your word-processing program to add the header, with the title text at the left and the page number in the upper-right corner. Your title page should look like the following example.

The next page of your paper provides an abstract , or brief summary of your findings. An abstract does not need to be provided in every paper, but an abstract should be used in papers that include a hypothesis. A good abstract is concise—about one hundred fifty to two hundred fifty words—and is written in an objective, impersonal style. Your writing voice will not be as apparent here as in the body of your paper. When writing the abstract, take a just-the-facts approach, and summarize your research question and your findings in a few sentences.

In Chapter 12 “Writing a Research Paper” , you read a paper written by a student named Jorge, who researched the effectiveness of low-carbohydrate diets. Read Jorge’s abstract. Note how it sums up the major ideas in his paper without going into excessive detail.

Write an abstract summarizing your paper. Briefly introduce the topic, state your findings, and sum up what conclusions you can draw from your research. Use the word count feature of your word-processing program to make sure your abstract does not exceed one hundred fifty words.

Depending on your field of study, you may sometimes write research papers that present extensive primary research, such as your own experiment or survey. In your abstract, summarize your research question and your findings, and briefly indicate how your study relates to prior research in the field.

Margins, Pagination, and Headings

APA style requirements also address specific formatting concerns, such as margins, pagination, and heading styles, within the body of the paper. Review the following APA guidelines.

Use these general guidelines to format the paper:

• Set the top, bottom, and side margins of your paper at 1 inch.
• Use double-spaced text throughout your paper.
• Use a standard font, such as Times New Roman or Arial, in a legible size (10- to 12-point).
• Use continuous pagination throughout the paper, including the title page and the references section. Page numbers appear flush right within your header.
• Section headings and subsection headings within the body of your paper use different types of formatting depending on the level of information you are presenting. Additional details from Jorge’s paper are provided.

Begin formatting the final draft of your paper according to APA guidelines. You may work with an existing document or set up a new document if you choose. Include the following:

• Your title page
• The abstract you created in Note 13.8 “Exercise 1”
• Correct headers and page numbers for your title page and abstract

APA style uses section headings to organize information, making it easy for the reader to follow the writer’s train of thought and to know immediately what major topics are covered. Depending on the length and complexity of the paper, its major sections may also be divided into subsections, sub-subsections, and so on. These smaller sections, in turn, use different heading styles to indicate different levels of information. In essence, you are using headings to create a hierarchy of information.

The following heading styles used in APA formatting are listed in order of greatest to least importance:

• Section headings use centered, boldface type. Headings use title case, with important words in the heading capitalized.
• Subsection headings use left-aligned, boldface type. Headings use title case.
• The third level uses left-aligned, indented, boldface type. Headings use a capital letter only for the first word, and they end in a period.
• The fourth level follows the same style used for the previous level, but the headings are boldfaced and italicized.
• The fifth level follows the same style used for the previous level, but the headings are italicized and not boldfaced.

Visually, the hierarchy of information is organized as indicated in Table 13.1 “Section Headings” .

Table 13.1 Section Headings

A college research paper may not use all the heading levels shown in Table 13.1 “Section Headings” , but you are likely to encounter them in academic journal articles that use APA style. For a brief paper, you may find that level 1 headings suffice. Longer or more complex papers may need level 2 headings or other lower-level headings to organize information clearly. Use your outline to craft your major section headings and determine whether any subtopics are substantial enough to require additional levels of headings.

Working with the document you developed in Note 13.11 “Exercise 2” , begin setting up the heading structure of the final draft of your research paper according to APA guidelines. Include your title and at least two to three major section headings, and follow the formatting guidelines provided above. If your major sections should be broken into subsections, add those headings as well. Use your outline to help you.

Because Jorge used only level 1 headings, his Exercise 3 would look like the following:

Citation Guidelines

In-text citations.

Throughout the body of your paper, include a citation whenever you quote or paraphrase material from your research sources. As you learned in Chapter 11 “Writing from Research: What Will I Learn?” , the purpose of citations is twofold: to give credit to others for their ideas and to allow your reader to follow up and learn more about the topic if desired. Your in-text citations provide basic information about your source; each source you cite will have a longer entry in the references section that provides more detailed information.

In-text citations must provide the name of the author or authors and the year the source was published. (When a given source does not list an individual author, you may provide the source title or the name of the organization that published the material instead.) When directly quoting a source, it is also required that you include the page number where the quote appears in your citation.

This information may be included within the sentence or in a parenthetical reference at the end of the sentence, as in these examples.

Epstein (2010) points out that “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive” (p. 137).

Here, the writer names the source author when introducing the quote and provides the publication date in parentheses after the author’s name. The page number appears in parentheses after the closing quotation marks and before the period that ends the sentence.

Addiction researchers caution that “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive” (Epstein, 2010, p. 137).

Here, the writer provides a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence that includes the author’s name, the year of publication, and the page number separated by commas. Again, the parenthetical citation is placed after the closing quotation marks and before the period at the end of the sentence.

As noted in the book Junk Food, Junk Science (Epstein, 2010, p. 137), “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive.”

Here, the writer chose to mention the source title in the sentence (an optional piece of information to include) and followed the title with a parenthetical citation. Note that the parenthetical citation is placed before the comma that signals the end of the introductory phrase.

David Epstein’s book Junk Food, Junk Science (2010) pointed out that “junk food cannot be considered addictive in the same way that we think of psychoactive drugs as addictive” (p. 137).

Another variation is to introduce the author and the source title in your sentence and include the publication date and page number in parentheses within the sentence or at the end of the sentence. As long as you have included the essential information, you can choose the option that works best for that particular sentence and source.

Citing a book with a single author is usually a straightforward task. Of course, your research may require that you cite many other types of sources, such as books or articles with more than one author or sources with no individual author listed. You may also need to cite sources available in both print and online and nonprint sources, such as websites and personal interviews. Chapter 13 “APA and MLA Documentation and Formatting” , Section 13.2 “Citing and Referencing Techniques” and Section 13.3 “Creating a References Section” provide extensive guidelines for citing a variety of source types.

Writing at Work

APA is just one of several different styles with its own guidelines for documentation, formatting, and language usage. Depending on your field of interest, you may be exposed to additional styles, such as the following:

• MLA style. Determined by the Modern Languages Association and used for papers in literature, languages, and other disciplines in the humanities.
• Chicago style. Outlined in the Chicago Manual of Style and sometimes used for papers in the humanities and the sciences; many professional organizations use this style for publications as well.
• Associated Press (AP) style. Used by professional journalists.

References List

The brief citations included in the body of your paper correspond to the more detailed citations provided at the end of the paper in the references section. In-text citations provide basic information—the author’s name, the publication date, and the page number if necessary—while the references section provides more extensive bibliographical information. Again, this information allows your reader to follow up on the sources you cited and do additional reading about the topic if desired.

The specific format of entries in the list of references varies slightly for different source types, but the entries generally include the following information:

• The name(s) of the author(s) or institution that wrote the source
• The year of publication and, where applicable, the exact date of publication
• The full title of the source
• For books, the city of publication
• For articles or essays, the name of the periodical or book in which the article or essay appears
• For magazine and journal articles, the volume number, issue number, and pages where the article appears
• For sources on the web, the URL where the source is located

The references page is double spaced and lists entries in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. If an entry continues for more than one line, the second line and each subsequent line are indented five spaces. Review the following example. ( Chapter 13 “APA and MLA Documentation and Formatting” , Section 13.3 “Creating a References Section” provides extensive guidelines for formatting reference entries for different types of sources.)

In APA style, book and article titles are formatted in sentence case, not title case. Sentence case means that only the first word is capitalized, along with any proper nouns.

Key Takeaways

• Following proper citation and formatting guidelines helps writers ensure that their work will be taken seriously, give proper credit to other authors for their work, and provide valuable information to readers.
• Working ahead and taking care to cite sources correctly the first time are ways writers can save time during the editing stage of writing a research paper.
• APA papers usually include an abstract that concisely summarizes the paper.
• APA papers use a specific headings structure to provide a clear hierarchy of information.
• In APA papers, in-text citations usually include the name(s) of the author(s) and the year of publication.
• In-text citations correspond to entries in the references section, which provide detailed bibliographical information about a source.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

How to Format a Research Paper: APA, MLA, and Chicago Styles

The rules for academic writing go beyond citing sources and using proper research methods. You also have to adhere to the right research paper format and the technical rules for structuring and writing your paper. The problem is the three main research paper formats—APA, MLA, and Chicago—all have different rules.

Below, we explain all the essential formatting guidelines you need to know when writing your research paper. We’ll cover the formatting guidelines for all three styles and even share some examples of academic citations so you can write yours to match.

Table of Contents

What is a research paper format?

Style guide comparison: which formatting guidelines to use, common rules for all research paper formats, apa style guide, mla style guide, chicago style guide.

A research paper format is a set of rules and style suggestions for writing in academic research. These formats each have their own preferences about how a paper should be, such as how to write in-text citations or structure the bibliography , and style choices like when to spell out numbers.

Although there are a few other styles, modern academic writing typically uses three main ones: APA, MLA, and Chicago.

The first step in how to write a research paper is choosing your format. It’s smart to know which style you’ll use for academic citations and writing choices before you begin; otherwise, you’ll have a lot more editing to do at the end.

Which format to use is generally related to the subject of the research paper. Professors may state which style they prefer for papers in their class, but this is not always the case. If you’re unsure of which style to use, here are the traditional guidelines for which subjects use which formats:

• APA: social sciences (psychology, sociology, anthropology, education, and some business topics)
• MLA: humanities (languages, philosophy, literature, religion, ethics, and the arts)
• Chicago: history and unique topics

While these styles have different preferences for paper structure and other formatting guidelines, the most distinct differences are in how they write academic citations.

You can see the differences yourself in our article on citation examples , which explains the differences in detail and how to create them yourself.

If you’re having trouble writing academic citations, use our free citation generator , which automatically creates citations for APA, MLA, and Chicago.

Before we get into the differences between these three research paper formats, let’s talk about what’s the same. Some rules are universal for academic writing, so you follow them no matter your format. Here are the key formatting guidelines every style adheres to:

• Double-spaced
• Paragraph indentations are 0.5 inches
• Printed on 8½-by-11-inch paper
• One-inch margin on all sides (except running heads)
• Use the Oxford comma , a.k.a. the serial comma.
• Spell out numbers that begin a sentence, heading, or title.
• Entries in the bibliography use a hanging indent (every line except the first is indented).

The APA format comes from the American Psychological Association, which explains its connection to the social sciences. Compared to other styles, the APA style guide emphasizes formality and clarity, in keeping with the association’s scientific orientation. Likewise, APA citations tend to value dates and years of publication.

APA paper structure

• Title page creation. Title pages, also called cover pages , are necessary in APA and must include the paper’s title and the names of each author. Student papers also require the school, course number, instructor name, and assignment due date on the title page, while professional papers need the authors’ affiliations and a note on the authors.
• Running head . Every page in APA requires a running head, which is a line of text at the top of the page. The running head for student papers has only the page number, flush right, but professional papers also include the paper’s title abbreviated to under 50 characters, flush left.
• Abstract . Although not always necessary, some APA papers include an abstract , a page that goes immediately after the title page and contains a brief summary of the paper in under 250 words. Place the title “Abstract” at the top of the page, centered and in bold, and use no indentation for the text. Abstracts can be written in paragraph style or categorized by Objective, Method , Results , and Conclusion .
• First page. In addition to the title page, the first page of text also has the paper’s title with title case capitalization, centered and in bold.

APA rules for style

• Formality . Do not use contractions or colloquialisms . Avoid using the editorial we in the sense of everyone . Instead, say something more specific, such as “people” or “the average person” or similar.
• Capitalization . Use title case capitalization for all headings, tables, and figure titles. However, for the titles of works in the reference list, use sentence capitalization (only capitalize the first letter of the first word).
• Fractions . Differing from other number rules, fractions are spelled out if they are simple and/or common ( one-third , a half ).
• numbers with units of measurement ( 9 in. )
• numbers in a series after a noun ( Chapter 4 )
• times and dates ( 4:17 p.m., 7/20/69 )
• ages ( 5 years old )
• scores and points ( 7–1 )
• money ( $3.50 )
• numbers themselves ( the number 8 )
• statistical or mathematical functions: ratios, decimals, percentages, etc. ( 10:1, 3 times as many )

APA citation formats

For in-text citations where the source information is not presented in the text, use parenthetical citations with the author’s last name and the year of publication , separated with a comma. If you are using a direct quote, you must also include the page number (with the abbreviation p. ), a timestamp, or another location indicator, also separated with a comma.

(Sobol, 2021)

(Sobol, 2021, p. 455)

APA bibliography formatting

Each source used in your paper requires a full citation in the bibliography, which in APA is referred to as the reference page . The reference page uses the title “References” centered and in bold at the top, and itself comes at the end of the research paper text, but before tables and appendices.

Generally, each source entry contains the full name of the author or authors (each should be listed with the last name first), title, date of publication, and sometimes the type of source.

Sobol, M., Przepiórka, A., Meisner, M., & Kuppens, P. (2021). Destiny or control of one’s future? Fatalistic time perspective and self-esteem in extroverts and introverts. The Journal of General Psychology, 149 (4), 443–455.

Each type of source has its own formula, so refer to our APA guide for how to write full citations for books, online articles, videos, etc.

The MLA format comes from the Modern Language Association and applies to research papers in the arts and humanities. The MLA style guide is one of the most used formats, in particular for high school and undergraduate students. Because it deals with human interest and artwork, MLA emphasizes creators and authorship in citations.

MLA paper structure

• Block quotes . Set direct quotations in block quotes if they are four lines or longer (with poetry, three lines or longer). Block quotes are indented 0.5 inches on each side and set apart from other text. Do not use quotation marks; place the parenthetical citation after the ending punctuation.
• Author’s name
• Instructor’s name
• Course number
• Running head . Each page must include a running head with the author’s last name and page number, flush right.

MLA rules for style

• Abbreviations . Do not use periods with abbreviations ( UK , not U.K. ).
• Numbers . If a number or fraction can be written in one or two words, spell it out ( ninety-nine , twenty million , one-fifth ). For other numbers, use numerals. Additionally, use numerals for items in a series ( Chapter 4 ) and when numbers are mixed or discussed frequently ( between 50 and 150 people ).
• Dates . Do not abbreviate dates. Use the full month-day-year or day-month-year format.
• Names . Use a person’s full name the first time they are mentioned, and only surname (last name) for subsequent mentions. Surnames include particles like de , O’ , or von .

MLA citation formats

In-text citations in MLA use parenthetical citations with the author’s last name and preferably also the page number , a timestamp, or another location indicator. Do not use commas or abbreviations for the page number.

MLA bibliography formatting

In MLA, the bibliography is called the works cited page . It comes at the end of the paper with the title “Works Cited” centered at the top. Entries are organized alphabetically by the first word, usually the author’s last name.

Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays. Translated by Justin O’Brien, New York, Random House, 1955.

You can read about the specific details for formatting a works cited page in our guide here . To learn how to write full citations in MLA, see our MLA guide .

The Chicago format is a little different from APA and MLA because it encourages personalization. Rather than offering a specific way of formatting your paper, Chicago offers rules for a few different methods, which allows the author to choose the most apt one for them.

This flexibility is most evident in the choice between two citation systems: Author-Date and Notes-Bibliography . The Author-Date system follows similar guidelines to the parenthetical citations in APA and MLA, while the Notes-Bibliography system utilizes footnotes or endnotes to reference sources, rather than interrupting the text.

Chicago paper structure

• Page numbers . Each page should include a page number, either in the top right or bottom center.
• Block quotes. Use block quotes for direct quotations five lines or longer. Indent each line 0.5 inches, and do not use quotation marks.
• Capitalization . Headings are capitalized using the title case.

Chicago rules for style

• Abbreviations . Use periods for abbreviations that end in lowercase letters and initials in names (unless the entire name is initialized, like MLK ). Do not use periods for abbreviations with all capital letters.
• numbers with symbols or measurements ( 3 km )
• percentages ( 7% )
• decimals ( 0.333 )

Chicago citation formats

Author-date:

Chicago’s author-date system for academic citations follows similar rules as the APA and MLA style guides. It uses a parenthetical citation with the author’s last name and the year of publication , as well as an optional location indicator like a page number with no abbreviation. The author’s name and year of publication are not separated by a comma, but the page number or other location is.

(Maalouf 1984)

(Maalouf 1984, 215)

Notes-bibliography:

As an alternative to the author-date system, you can instead use the notes-bibliography system, which utilizes footnotes (bottom of the page) and endnotes (end of the chapter or section). This is advisable if you use a lot of citations so that they do not disrupt the reading flow with constant interruptions.

Both footnotes and endnotes are marked in-text with a superscript number corresponding to the same number in the note section. If you include a bibliography at the end of the paper, your notes use a short form , which only covers the basic information like the author’s name, an abbreviated title, and page number.

1. Maalouf, Crusades , 210.

If you are not including a bibliography, you must include the full citation in the first note that references the source.

1. Amin Maalouf, The Crusades through Arab Eyes. London: Al Saqi Books, 1984.

However, all references to the same source after the first can use the short form.

Chicago bibliography formatting

The bibliography in Chicago is understandably flexible. In fact, even the title at the top changes: “Bibliography” for the notes-bibliography system and “References” or “Works Cited” for the author-date system.

In terms of formatting, names are inverted so that the surname comes first, and titles are capitalized in the title case.

Maalouf, Amin. 1984. The Crusades through Arab Eyes . London: Al Saqi Books.

For details on how to cite specific types of sources, see our Chicago guide .

Key takeaways

• Most research papers use either the APA, MLA, or Chicago format, depending on the subject or the professor’s preference. In general, APA is for social sciences, MLA is for arts and humanities, and Chicago is for history and unique subjects.
• Each style has its own rules for how to format papers, such as when to spell out numbers, and how to write academic citations.
• You can see the basics for each format above, or read more in-depth instructions in our dedicated guides: APA , MLA , or Chicago .
• To help with academic citations, use our free citation generator , which creates citations automatically for all three styles.

Research paper format FAQs

What are the differences between apa, mla, and chicago reference styles.

The three main research paper formats—APA, MLA, and Chicago—all have their own rules for paper structure and academic citations. Aside from the preferences of the course professor, the formats are generally categorized by subject: APA for social sciences, MLA for arts and humanities, and Chicago for history and unique subjects.

Can I use more than one citation style in my research paper?

No, you must use only one research paper format consistently. Each style has overlapping rules that contradict each other, so keep to only one at a time.

What are some common mistakes to avoid in research paper formatting?

Be sure to check the formatting guidelines on how to identify each type of source. Citing a book uses a different format than citing an online article, even if you’re using the same style guide.