APA Research Paper Outline. Step-by-Step Guide

So, you’ve been assigned a research paper. Where do you even begin writing it? What goes where? And how long will it take? The answer to all your questions is an outline. And in this post, we’ll walk you through the basic section makeup and APA formatting requirements. In ten minutes, you’ll learn everything you need to know to get you started.

By the way, we won’t go into the difference between MLA and APA, but you can check it out in another guide.

Why a Good Outline Matters

An outline is a roadmap. You’ve probably heard this cliche a thousand times, but only because it’s 100% true. Of course, you can skip the outlining step and get writing right away, but you’ll likely have to double back, delete, and rewrite whole sections. In the end, you’ll waste your time and get frustrated, all because you don’t have your roadmap.

What Is the Purpose of an Outline in APA Papers?

The short answer is to make your writing easier and better. The long answer is two-fold:

• An outline keeps you focused. It prevents you from straying off-topic or adding side notes that don’t contribute to the paper. Your writing will be tighter and more concise, which professors love.
• An outline saves your time. It’s about reducing rewriting and second-guessing. But it’s also about beating writer’s block and procrastination. With a clear plan, you’ll have no excuses to put off writing.

Besides, some instructors will require you to submit an outline for grading as a part of your research paper assignment.

Standard Building Blocks of an APA Research Paper

Let’s go through the standard research paper elements one by one. We’ll include APA-specific requirements and general outline recommendations to make you 100% ready to tackle this task.

Title Page

According to the APA style guidelines, research papers always have a title page that includes:

1. Page number
2. Paper title (usually under 12 words)
3. Author (your full name)
4. Affiliation (your class, department, and university)
5. Course
6. Instructor
7. Due date

All this information should be centered, except for the page number, which should always appear in the upper right-hand corner. Put the paper title in bold.

You may also include a running head, if requested. It’s a shorter version of your paper title, written in all capital letters, aligned to the left margin. If it’s necessary, the running head should appear on all pages, including the title page. Labeling it as “Running head” is unnecessary.

Abstract

A one-page summary of your paper comes right after the title page and should not exceed 250 words, including the keyword list. In your abstract:

• Briefly cover the core components of the literature review
• State your research question and hypotheses
• Describe the methods used
• Present study results
• Highlight the implications of your research

On the first line of the page, add a section label “Abstract”, centered in bold. On the next line, start your abstract without an indent and write it as a single paragraph. Below the abstract, add a label “Keywords:”, indented and in italic. Provide a list of keywords, separated by commas, but leave out a period at the end of the list.

If you’re unsure whether to include an abstract, consult your instructor. Some classes have unique requirements regarding the abstract word count and formatting, which you should follow in favor of the standard APA guidelines.

Introduction

A research paper introduction is a little more complex than an essay opening. Your goal here is to explain why you chose a specific topic and why your readers should care. How do you achieve that? Provide context without going into detail, and explain the issue's relevance. You’ll also want to include your research question or objectives in the introduction, but you can leave the hypotheses for the literature review.

On the first line of the paper, write the paper title, centered in bold, using the title case. Do not include the label “Introduction”, since it is implied. However, you can include at least two Level 2 headings, flush left and in bold on a separate line. Do not include a subsection heading if you only have one subsection in the introduction or other parts of the paper.

Literature Review

Unless your professors allow it, do not combine the introduction with the literature review. The former usually outlines the study’s relevance and provides basic background, while the latter is a deeper dive into the major concepts, theories, and existing knowledge gaps.

You can structure the literature review:

• Chronologically, if you’re doing a historical retrospective or comparing past and present approaches;
• Thematically, if you have several key points to cover and want to explore each in a separate subsection;
• Theoretically, if you’re dealing with several cornerstone theories in the field and looking for existing contradictions or knowledge gaps;
• Methodologically, if your study focuses on methodological differences or developing new methods.

After the introduction, add a Level 1 heading labeled “Literature Review”, centered in bold, using the title case. Start writing the section body on the next line. You may also need to use Level 2 (flush left, bold), Level 3 (flush left, bold, italic), Level 4 (bold, indented, inline with the text), or Level 5 (bold, italic, indented, inline with the text) headings. The same heading formatting applies to all subsequent sections of APA research papers.

Methodology

The makeup of the materials and methodology section varies by subject and topic. Depending on what you’re studying, you will need to include:

• Experiment design
• Experiment materials and apparatus
• Experimental procedure
• Sampling requirements and techniques
• Data collection methodology
• Data processing methodology
• Ethical considerations and consent issues, etc.

When outlining your paper, start by picking the relevant methodology subsections and fill them up with one-sentence summaries of the major points that will go into them. For example, in a section on sampling, you’ll need to include information on the sample size and makeup, as well as limitations and their implications.

Remember to include “WHY” for every “WHAT” and “HOW”. Instead of merely explaining how you will conduct an experiment, justify your reasoning. You can draw parallels with cornerstone studies or compare your choice methodology with others to explain your choices.

Study Results

Outlining this section before conducting your study is a challenge, but you should still have a rough idea of what goes into it based on your hypotheses. Similar to the methodology chapter, results will differ significantly across research fields and topics, but you will likely need to:

• List your tests or analyses for each hypothesis.
• Present numerical results with corresponding outcomes, such as p-values or r2 values, standard deviations, and means.
• Include a brief summary of your findings after presenting the numbers and statistics.
• Provide tables or figures to represent your findings visually, with a short description of the data presented.

What your Results section will not have is the interpretation of your results. That will come in the following Discussion chapter.

Discussion and Recommendations

If the results section includes your study results, the discussion section explains and interprets them. Although the exact layout of this section will depend on your research field and topic, you will likely need to:

• Explain what the numbers you’ve received mean.
• Discuss whether your results confirm or disprove your initial hypotheses.
• Comment on the limitations and shortcomings of your study.
• Provide theoretical and practical implementation recommendations.
• Suggest areas or changes for further studies of the issue.

Of course, you can’t predict how your study will turn out, so at the outlining stage, you can only include the general headings in your outline to remember to cover each of the major issues when writing the discussion chapter.

Conclusion

Some instructors permit combining the discussion and conclusion sections, but in most cases, you’ll need a separate chapter to finalize your paper. The basic outline of the research paper conclusion should include:

• Brief overview of the study relevance.
• Restatement of your research question) and hypotheses.
• Summary of the methods used.
• Short explanation of the results.
• Summary of the findings’ implications.

Ultimately, your conclusion will resemble an abstract, but it may be more detailed depending on your word count requirements.

References

A reference list is integral to an APA research paper. It should include all sources you use in your study. Remember to consult the latest version of the APA guidelines to properly format the entries, even if you’re using an automated reference generator.

Use the same formatting for the reference list as you’ve used throughout the paper. Add a section heading “References” on the first line, centered in bold. Start the alphabetized list on the next line and use a hanging indent for the second and following lines of each entry. Do not number the entries.

Appendices

Include appendices only if necessary. That’s the place for raw research data, surveys and questionnaires, and other materials which may help the readers better understand and evaluate your study, but which would disrupt the flow of your paper if you were to include them in any of the mandatory sections. While you may not need to use appendices for short research papers, most capstones, theses, and dissertations will need them. As always, ask your instructor if you’re unsure whether to include something in the appendices, the main body of the work, or leave out altogether.

Tables and Figures

At the outlining stage, you won’t know how many tables or figures your paper will need, but you can have a rough idea of what you can visualize. For example, you can expect to plot your data on a diagram or compile it into a table.

Tables and figures have the same basic APA formatting, which includes:

• Number – flush left, in bold: Figure 1
• Title – flush left, in italic, using title case
• Visuals – your table or a figure with a legend
• Notes – additional information necessary to understand the data in the table or the figure.

You can either embed your figures and tables in the body of the paper, placing them at the top or bottom of the page, or add them after the reference list, placing each on a separate page. You may need to ask your professor which option they prefer.

Tips & Best Practices for Writing Your Outline

We couldn’t leave you to handle the research paper outline without sharing a few actionable tips. We’ve selected the best advice from our expert writers designed to help you complete this step of the writing process quickly.

Start Anywhere, Polish Later

Unless you have to submit an outline for grading, no one besides you will see it. So there’s no reason to make it pretty or worry about proper formatting. This type of perfectionism is a comfy excuse for procrastination. To beat it, start outlining in any way you can. As you keep working, your outline will take shape.

Use Parallel Headings

Parallel headings give your outline and paper a polished and professional look. And it only takes a little forethought and attention to detail to use them. First, select the most appropriate heading format for your paper. Next, align all headings to this format. Here are examples to make it clear:

• Non-parallel headings: Sampling Methodology, Analyze Data, Interpreting Results.
• Parallel headings: Sampling Methodology, Data Analysis, Results Interpretation.

Keep Track of Your Sources

Citations protect you from plagiarism accusations, and you can start working on them from the get-go. When outlining your sections and subsections, note which references will go where. You can even paste excerpts or quotes into your outline to help you remember which parts you’re going to use.

By the way, you can use automatic online citation generators to include properly formatted in-text citations and entries for your reference list to save yourself some time during the final formatting stage.

Know When to Stop

At some point, your outline will be ready, but you’ll be tempted to keep working on it instead of actually performing your research and writing the paper. Set a hard deadline or goal for yourself to progress to the next stage of your study.

Get Feedback Before Writing

Like we’ve established at the beginning of this post, an outline should help you write your research paper. So leverage it at every opportunity. For example, if you aren’t sure whether you’ve covered all angles or chosen appropriate sources, show your outline to your academic advisor. Get their feedback and use their comments to streamline your study roadmap before you waste any time on experiments or writing.

Finally, it’s also vital to know when you’re out of your depth, and it’s time to call for backup. Whether you’ve run out of time or want to focus on something more important than schoolwork, our APA paper writing service is here to help. Contact our support team to learn more or go straight to the order form to choose your personal writer.