research paper

The running head is a shorter version of your title. It should be at the top left corner of every page, in all caps.

Page numbers go in the top right corner.

The title goes in the center of the page, in bold. Every major word should be capitalized.

The author goes here.

This is the author’s institution.

The abstract gets a heading like this, in bold.

This is the only paragraph in the paper that is not indented.

Keywords go after the abstract, like this.

Here’s the title again, with each word capitalized, in bold. Note that this is the only heading here – the introduction section does NOT have a heading.

Every new paragraph is indented.

Citation for a paper with one author. Note that all in-text citations appear BEFORE the period.

Citation for a paper with two authors.

Citation for a paper with one author where the author is mentioned in the text.

Citation for a paper with three or more authors. Note the punctuation around “et al.” There is NO period after the “et” and there IS a period after the “al.”

The major sections should have headings like this, centered and in bold.

If you split a section into sub- sections, each one gets a heading like this. The label is flush left, in bold.

All figures should be referenced in the text.

Note how here and throughout the paper, EVERYTHING is double-spaced. This includes the title page and the reference list.

We’ve reached the end of the paper. The reference list doesn’t start until the next page.

The reference section is labeled like this, in bold. It does NOT say “works cited” or “bibliography.”

References go in alphabetical order, and each one has a hanging indent.

Include the last name and first initial of each author. Do NOT write out their full names.

Only the first word of an article title (and the first word after a colon) is capitalized.

Journal titles are in italics and each word is capitalized.

The volume number is in italics, and the issue number is in parentheses.

Page numbers go here. Note that there are no p’s before the numbers.

This is the doi. Every published article has one. You should be able to find it somewhere on the title page of the article.

This is the year the article was published. Do NOT include the month or day.