appropriate levels of heading

Research Paper Template

The template below is suggested for the body of the paper and appropriate levels of heading, but not required. However, if you make changes, be sure they are consistent with APA format. Remember, the outline is designed to help you structure your paper, but it is not a comprehensive example of what to include.

On the first page of the body of your paper, the basic headings and subheadings should look something like this, remembering to use one-inch margins according to APA style.

research Paper 3

Title of Your Paper

Provide a couple of paragraphs of introduction to your paper. Let your reader know what your paper is about, how you’re going to accomplish that, and something of how the paper is organized.

Begin your Research Paper with a summary of the main sections of your paper including the topic, whether it is related to assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and/or prevention, and whether your paper deals with one or more particular groups of people.

First Main Section

Be sure to appropriately support your key ideas with journal articles and your textbooks as appropriate. Cite your sources correctly so that you do not fail to give proper credit or plagiarize.

Other Main Sections

Make sure that you use appropriate levels of heading so that your paper is well organized, even by the way it looks.

Use Level 2 Headings

If helpful, use appropriate levels of heading to organize your work. Unless your topic is particularly complex, you probably will not need more that Level 2 headings.

Personal Application

The final section of your paper should describe the “so what” of having completed the research paper. Feel completely free to use first person pronouns in this section, since it is appropriate to do so here. See the Research Paper Instructions for more details on what to include in this final section.