apa 6th edition format for research proposal

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How to Write a Research Proposal in the APA Style

The sixth edition of the “Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association” directs you how to format and structure your research proposal. This is the most common style used for proposal related to the social sciences. A research proposal in APA format should include a title, abstract, main body and references.

General Structure

APA format recommends that you type your proposal with a highly legible 12-point font, such as Times New Roman. It needs to be double-spaced. When you write a new paragraph, indent fives spaces or use the Tab key. Your paper should have a 1-inch margin on all sides. At the top of each page, insert a running head in the header. To format this correctly, write the title of your proposal in the upper left hand side and the page number in the upper right hand side. Your running head is limited to 50 characters, including spaces. If you must shorten your title, select the keywords.

For your research proposal, your title page should include your paper’s title, your name and your university’s name. Other information that may appear on the title page includes submission date, budget period, total funds requested or advisor’s name, depending on your proposal’s audience. APA style recommends that your title is no more than 12 words in length. All text on this page should be double-spaced. When listing names, do not include any titles or degrees. The running head is different on the title page than the rest of your paper. Format your running head so it says “Running head” followed by a colon and your title.

In APA format, your abstract is the second page of your paper. Despite appearing at the beginning of your paper, plan to write your research proposal last. This is a brief summary of your entire paper. In a 150- to 250-word paragraph, state your problem, and propose a solution for it. To properly format this page, center the word “Abstract” without any additional formatting on the first line of the page. Following a double-space, write your paragraph. Do not indent this paragraph. After your summary, indent five spaces and write the word, “Keywords” in italics followed by a colon. Then list keywords related to your proposal.

In-Text Citations

Every sentence that references another person’s work must include an in-text citation. The APA recommends that you use the author-date method. Write the author’s name and the publication year within parentheses at the end of the referencing sentence. For example, “One study found that the most important element in comprehending non-native speech is familiarity with the topic (Gass & Varonis, 1984).”

At the end of your proposal, APA style advises that you create a references page that lists citations for all of your references. Label this page with the word “References” centered on the first line of the page. Then list all the sources used within your proposal in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. For any references that are longer than one line, indent all subsequent lines by five spaces.

When writing references, APA style recommends that you give the author’s last name and then use initials for all other names. For a single author book, write the author’s last name, a comma, first initial and a period. Next, write the publication year in parentheses. Place a period outside the last parenthesis. Then write the title of the book in italics and sentence case, a period, the city, a comma, the state, a colon, the publisher’s name and a period. A reference may look like this:

Zerby, C. (2002). Devil’s details: A history of footnotes. Montpelier, VT: Invisible Cities Press.

• University of North Carolina Charlotte: Outline for Research Reports and Proposals Using APA Style
• Purdue University: APA Formatting and Style Guide: General Format
• University of Michigan: Proposal Writer's Guide: The Title
• Penn State University: APA In-Text Citation Guide
• Purdue University: APA Formatting and Style Guide: Reference List: Books
• College of Charleston: APA Citation Style for a Bibliography/Works Cited Page

Fitzalan Gorman has more than 10 years of academic and commercial experience in research and writing. She has written speeches and text for CEOs, company presidents and leaders of major nonprofit organizations. Gorman has published for professional cycling teams and various health and fitness websites. She has a Master of Arts from Virginia Tech in political science and is a NASM certified personal trainer.

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APA Sample Paper

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Note:  This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style  can be found here .

Media Files: APA Sample Student Paper  ,  APA Sample Professional Paper

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Note: The APA Publication Manual, 7 th Edition specifies different formatting conventions for student  and  professional  papers (i.e., papers written for credit in a course and papers intended for scholarly publication). These differences mostly extend to the title page and running head. Crucially, citation practices do not differ between the two styles of paper.

However, for your convenience, we have provided two versions of our APA 7 sample paper below: one in  student style and one in  professional  style.

Note: For accessibility purposes, we have used "Track Changes" to make comments along the margins of these samples. Those authored by [AF] denote explanations of formatting and [AWC] denote directions for writing and citing in APA 7. 

APA 7 Student Paper:

Apa 7 professional paper:.

This page has been archived and is no longer being updated regularly.

Quick Answers—Formatting

Go to 7th edition paper format guidelines

• Running Head

The running head is a shortened title (no more than 50 characters, including spaces) that appears on every page. Use the automatic functions of your word-processing program to create a header that contains the running head and the page numbers for your paper. The header is located within, not below, the paper’s margin. There is no need to set the header at a specific distance from the top of the page. The words Running head : precede the running head on the title page only.

Publication Manual (6th ed., section 2.01, p. 229; section 8.03, pp. 229–230)

From the APA Style website:

How do I format my paper so that the phrase Running head appears on only the first page?

From the APA Style Blog:

Mysteries of the Running Head Explained

Running Head Format for APA Style Papers

Back to top of page

Set uniform margins of at least 1 in. (2.54 cm) on the top, bottom, left, and right of every page. Use your word-processing software to add a header that will appear at the top of every page that includes the running head and the page number. The header appears within the top margin, not below it.

Publication Manual (6th ed., section 8.03, pp. 229–230)

A Marginal Note

• Heading Levels

There are five levels of headings in APA Style. Proceed through the levels numerically, starting with Level 1, without skipping levels.

The number of headings needed for a paper will vary depending on the paper’s complexity and subject matter. Sections of similar importance have the same level of heading.

Don’t use “Introduction” as your first heading—it’s assumed that the beginning of the paper is the introduction.

Use boldface and/or italics only for headings within the body of your paper (as described for each level of heading in the Publication Manual ).

Use regular font formatting (no boldface or italics) for all section titles, such as Abstract, Author Note, Title of Your Paper (on the title page and on the page where the text begins), References, Appendix/Appendices, and Footnotes. These are not headings but labels for these sections.

More information

Publication Manual (6th ed., sections 3.02–3.03, pp. 62–63)

Five Essential Tips for APA Style Headings

Headings and the Use of Boldface Type

How to Use Five Levels of Heading in an APA Style Paper

Lists, such as numbered lists and bulleted lists, may be used in APA Style.

Each item on the list is punctuated at the end by a comma, semicolon, or period, depending on the grammatical structure of the list. Numbers are followed by periods and are not in parentheses.

In running text, a series of items is designated by letters in parentheses: (a) first item, (b) second item, and (c) third item.

Publication Manual (6th ed., section 3.04, pp. 63–65).

Lists, Part 1: Parallelism

Lists, Part 2: Commas and Semicolons

Lists, Part 3: Lowercase Letters

Lists, Part 4: Numbered Lists

Lists, Part 5: Bulleted Lists

Lists, Part 6: Overview

Tables can help you present a large amount of material efficiently. Table layout needs to be logical and easy for readers to understand. Here are some guidelines on formatting your table.

Place each table on a separate page at the end of your manuscript, after the reference list.

If font size and style are not specified by the organization for which you are writing (e.g., publisher, university), the suggested font is 12-point Times New Roman.

Margins depend on the size of the table but must be at least 1 in. (2.54 cm).

Tables may use single-spacing or one-and-a-half spacing (p. 229).

Information necessary for understanding the table and definitions of abbreviations used within the table appear in a table note.

Publication Manual (6th ed., sections 5.07–5.19, pp. 128–150; Table 5.1, p. 129, illustrates the basic components of a table; section 8.03, p. 228)

APA publishes a companion guide to the manual that focuses exclusively on tables: Presenting Your Findings: A Practical Guide for Creating Tables .

Many types of figures can help you present data to the reader, including graphs, charts, maps, drawings, and photographs. A good figure is easy to read with elements large enough to be read easily. Here are some guidelines on creating your figure.

Place each figure on a separate page at the end of your manuscript, after any tables (or after the reference list, if there are no tables).

Place a caption below each figure describing its contents and defining any abbreviations used in the figure.

Publication Manual (6th ed., sections 5.20–5.30, pp. 150–167; section 8.03, p. 230)

For a comprehensive guide to figures in APA Style, see Displaying Your Findings: A Practical Guide for Creating Figures, Posters, and Presentations .

Figure Construction: Resisting the Urge to Obscure

• Table of Contents

Because the Publication Manual provides guidelines for writers submitting manuscripts to scholarly journals, it is silent on the topic of tables of contents. Usually questions about tables of contents come from students or teachers who want the information to complete a class assignment. Style preferences for undergraduate writing can vary by discipline, university, and instructor. Instructors should provide their preferred formatting guidelines if they require tables of contents; if guidelines are not included with the assignment or syllabus, students can request them.

Dear Professor... Your Students Have Questions We Can't Answer

The title page includes five elements: title, running head, author, byline, institutional affiliation, and author note (which includes grant/funding information and a full correspondence address). The title page is numbered page 1.

Instructors who require other information on the title page should supply students with examples of their preferred format.

Publication Manual (6th ed., sections 2.01–2.03, pp. 23–25; section 8.03, p. 229; see also sample papers, pp. 41–59, and supplemental material )

Dissertation Helpers

• Serial Comma

Use a comma between elements in a series of three or more items.

height, width, and depth

Publication Manual (6th ed., section 4.03, pp. 88–89)

Using Serial Commas

Material quoted directly from another source (i.e., reproduced word for word from works by other authors, your own previously published work, material replicated from a test item, and/or verbatim instructions to participants) must always provide the author, year, and specific page(s) in the text citation (for sources that don’t have page numbers, see the APA Style Blog post on citing a Kindle listed below) and include a complete entry in the reference list.

If the quotation includes fewer than 40 words, incorporate it in text and enclose it with double quotation marks. If the quotation includes more than 40 words, it should be treated as a block quotation, meaning that it is displayed in a freestanding block of text without quotation marks.

If material is paraphrased (i.e., restated in your own words), always provide the author and date in the in-text citation. It is not necessary to include the page number(s) in the citation, but it may be helpful, especially if the source is very long (e.g., a short passage from a whole book).

Publication Manual (6th ed., section 4.08, p. 92; sections 6.03–6.10, pp. 170–174)

You Can Quote Me on This

Punctuating Around Quotation Marks

How to Cite Direct Quotations

How Do I Cite a Kindle?

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APA Style 6th Edition: Citing Your Sources

Apa 6th edition, what is the purpose of a citation, quick links.

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APA Publications in the Library

This guide pertains to the 6th edition of the APA Manual.

What is the purpose of citations?

Citations help readers locate your sources. They help to continue the scholarly conversation. To learn more about how citations can help you avoid plagiarism, view this interactive tutorial: 

USC Library Lessons: Avoiding Plagiarism through Citations

When considering citations and references for your papers, you can ask yourself, "could someone find this information in the future?"

A client's personal file would not need a citation because your reader cannot go find that information again.  Census statistics would require a citation because your reader could go locate that information again.

APA requires FOUR ELEMENTS of every citation:

• Who- Author of content
• When- Date content was published
• What- Title of content
• Where- Publication information . This can be the website you got it from or the journal or book's publication information.

If any of the elements listed above are unavailable, check out "Missing pieces: How to write an APA style reference even without all the information" from APA Style Blog for more information.

• APA Style Blog
• Owl at Purdue Popular guide for APA. Use the navigation links on the left-hand side of the page.
• Organizing Your Social Science Research Paper Writing guide to help you develop and organize a quality research paper for any class in the social sciences.
• Sample Paper Sample paper provided by APA. For every style rule, there is a comment highlighted in the paper that tells you where to find the discussion of the rule in the APA Style Manual.
• Next: In Text Citations >>
• Last Updated: Sep 22, 2022 11:20 AM
• URL: https://libguides.usc.edu/APA-citation-style

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Quick Guide to APA Citation (6th ed.) | In-Text Citation & Reference List

APA style is one of the most common formats for citing sources Other well known citation styles include  MLA and Chicago .

APA Style citations consist of two parts:

• In-text citation : A brief citation in parentheses when you mention a source, citing the author’s last name and the year of publication, e.g. (Smith, 2019) . It identifies the full source in the reference list.
• Reference list entry : Full publication details listed on the reference page , which appears at the end of your paper. The reference provides all the information needed to find the source, e.g. Smith, P. (2019, April 18). Citing Sources in APA Format. Retrieved April 21, 2019, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/

This citation guide is based on the 6th edition of the APA Manual. The latest edition, published in October 2019, is not yet supported, but we have compiled a quick guide to the most important 7th edition changes . You can also use our free APA Citation Generator to automatically create accurate citations.

Table of contents

In-text citations, reference list, apa formatting for papers.

An in-text citation is a concise way to show the reader where the original idea came from and to give credit to the original author. Use one every time you quote or paraphrase a source.

Include the author’s last name and the year of publication. When quoting a source, it’s also necessary to include the page number(s) of the quote.

• An earlier study in which X and Y were compared revealed that … (Smith, 2017) .
• Smith (2017) shows how, in the past, research into X was mainly concerned with …

When there are two authors, separate their last names with an ampersand (&), or with the word ‘and’ when they appear in the running text.

• Research shows that there is a great need for … (Reynolds & Thomas, 2014) .
• Reynolds and Thomas (2014) write that there is a great need for …

3-5 authors

When there are three or more authors, separate their last names using commas . The last two authors’ last names should be separated by both a comma and an ampersand.

• Recent research suggests that there is … (McGuire, Morrison, Reynolds, & Thomas, 2014) .
• McGuire, Morrison, Reynolds, and Thomas (2014) argue that …

If you cite the same source again, to save space, you shorten the citation. Instead of including all the authors’ names, include only the first author, followed by “ et al. ” (meaning “and others”).

• In this research, many participants made use of … (McGuire et al., 2014) .
• McGuire et al. (2014) noticed that …

6 or more authors

If a source has six or more authors, use the shortened version from the first citation.

• Lunott et al. (2015) discuss the …

Organization as author

When a source does not list an individual author, it can often be attributed to an organization instead.

• According to new research … (Microsoft, 2014) .

When you quote a source , you also have to add the page number to the in-text citation.

• According to the company’s business plan, “making an APA Citation Generator is a lot of work, but many students benefit from it” (Swan, 2014, p. 5) .

Multiple sources in one citation

Sometimes, it’s necessary to cite multiple sources in one sentence. You can combine them into one set of parentheses, separated by semicolons .

• Various studies show that … ( Docker & Vagrant, 2002 ; Porter, 1997 ; Lima, Swan, & Corrieri, 2012 ).

Full in-text citation guide

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• Missing commas and periods
• Incorrect usage of “et al.”
• Ampersands (&) in narrative citations
• Missing reference entries

Every source cited in the text must also appear in your reference list .

The format differs depending on the source type, but every reference begins in the same way: with the author’s last name and initials, the publication year or date, and the title of the source.

Book citations

Note: Book titles should be italicized .

• Format Last Name, Initials. (Year). Book title (edition). City, State/Country: Publisher.
• Example Porter, M. E. (1998). Competitive strategy: Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Free Press.

Journal article citations

Note: The journal title and volume number should be italicized .

• Format Last Name, Initials., & Last Name, Initials. (Year). Article title. Journal Name , Volume (Issue), Page Number(s). https://doi.org/DoiNumber
• Example Andreff, W., & Staudohar, P. D. (2000). The evolving European model of professional sports finance. Journal of Sports Economics , 1 (3), 257–276. https://doi.org./10.1177/152700250000100304

Website citations

• Format Last Name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Page title [OptionalType]. Retrieved from http://webaddress
• Example Worland, J. (2015, July 27). U.S. flood risk could be worse than we thought. Retrieved from http://time.com/3973256/flooding-risk-coastal-cities

Report citations

Note: The title should be italicized .

• Format Organization Name or Author Last Name, Initials. (Year). Report title . Retrieved from http://webaddress
• Example Royal Bank of Scotland. (2015). Annual report and accounts 2014 . Retrieved from http://investors.rbs.com/~/media/Files/R/RBS-IR/2014-reports/annual-report-2014.pdf

More APA Style examples

Do you want to cite an image , interview , YouTube video , movie , or another source type that is not on this list? We have many more APA Style examples to help you cite correctly.

Sorting the reference list

Sort the references in alphabetical order based on the author’s last name. If you cite multiple sources by the same author, then sort them by publication year.

When you use the APA Citation Generator , your reference list is alphabetized automatically.

Full reference list guide

There are certain formatting rules you must adhere to when writing a paper in APA format .

The basic requirements are:

• Times New Roman 12 pt
• Double line spacing
• One-inch (2.54 cm) margins
• Left-aligned running head with a shortened title and page number

In addition to these general rules, there are more specific requirements for formatting the title page , running head , abstract , reference page , and headings and subheadings .

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