APA-Lab-Report-template-with-annotations.pdf

Title of Lab Report

Student Name

AB1234: Name of Subject

Lecturer’s/Tutor’s Name

29 February 2020

Student papers must have the page

number on the top right hand corner of

the header

The title should be 4 lines down from the top,

in bold, centralized and use title caps

All papers must have double line spacing

(unless your lecturer states otherwise), from

title page to References to Appendices

This is the date of submission

Your subject code and name of the subject

as in your subject outline

Use the same font throughout the whole paper

Recommended fonts are:

• San serif fonts: Calibri 11, Arial 11, Lucida Sans Unicode

• Serif fonts:

Times New Roman 12, Georgia 11

Abstract

The abstract is usually between 150 to 250 words. Refer to your subject outline for the

specific word requirement. It provides an overview of the research study so readers can

decide if they wish to read further. It is also a concise but comprehensive summary of the

most important details of the research study. Details should include essential perspectives of

the literature review, the problem being studied and/or research questions, the hypotheses, the

method used (design, sample, sample size), the findings/results of the study (effect size,

confidence level, statistical significance), the implications of the study, and the applications

of the findings. It is formatted as you see here, double-line spacing as with the rest of the lab

report (unless otherwise advised in the subject outline). There should be a line for keywords

below the abstract, which are important points of research study used as search points for

research databases and other researches.

Keywords: three to five words, research topic, population, method, applications of the

findings

Title of Lab Report

Your introduction is in this paragraph. No need to write the first level heading

“Introduction” unless, in your subject outline, your lecturer specifically requires it. This

introduction presents the specific problem under investigation and should have a description

of the research strategy. Specifically it explains why the problem is important in the context

of the field of study.

The second and subsequent paragraphs contain the literature review for the specific

areas of interest related to the problem under investigation. This is a suggested beginning for

the literature review. The purpose of this literature review is to examine the changes that have

taken place in the referencing style of the APA since its beginning in 1929 (APA Style,

2020). The literature review should delve into related research studies and theoretical

frameworks from the research literature and has to be comprehensive, especially for

psychology lab reports.

The individual paragraphs of the literature review explain how the current study

relates to previous work in different areas of interest. Each paragraph discuss the links to

theory and the impact of previous research studies on different aspects of the current study.

State your first study (Gold et al., 2013) for your literature review discussion and

point out the main issues. Explain the main ideas in this study, the methodology, results and

conclusion. Evaluate its importance and relevance to your broad area of inquiry. You can

state the next study, Gaultney (2010) is relevant for these reasons. Then move onto the next

paragraph or sub-area.

All articles or books reviewed which will be discussed in the Discussion section must

be covered in this section. Ensure you cover all relevant areas in your literature review

(Curcio et al., 2006; Kousaie & Phillips, 2102; Trockel et al., 2000).

Title of the paper: Bold, Centralised,

Title caps

Indent first line of every paragraph 0.5”

In-text citation for three or more authors

In-text citation for one author

Organisation of in-text citations for multiple studies

In-text citations for two authors

All paragraphs must be indented 0.5” or 1.25cm from the left. Remember to cite your

sources in the correct APA style based on the 7

edition of the Publication Manual of the

American Psychological Association (APA; America Psychological Association, 2020).

Ensure that you have the relevant reference for the citation in your References list at the end

of the paper (APA, 2020).

The final paragraph in this section is a road map of the lab report. It contains the

primary (and/or secondary) hypotheses and objectives of the study, how the hypotheses and

research design relate to each other, and the theoretical and practical implications of this

study.

Method

Participants

These are the people who participated in your study. State their age, sex, ethnic

group, and give percentages for comparison. For example, 60% identified themselves as

female, 38% as male, and 2% as transsexuals, between the ages of 23 and 26 years (M = 25,

SD = 2.1).

For aquaculture lab reports, this first subsection would be titled “Sample Collection”

and explain the details of how and where samples were collected, transported, stored and

maintained for the experiment. Include field collection permits where relevant.

Research Design

Describe the specific design of your study; include variables, definitions and

justifications. Be specific so that other researchers can replicate and validate your study.

Second level heading, title caps, left aligned and bold font

First level heading, title caps, centralised and bold font

In-text citation for group authors with acronym, first mention

Subsequent mention of same in-text citation

Measures

Describe the specific instruments you used in your study to collect data, e.g., tests

and/or questionnaires. When describing the measures, do discuss the reliability of the

measures used.

For aquaculture lab reports, this subsection would contain the specific names of the

specific instruments used to collect data for the study. Describe the specific instruments used,

for example, tests, genetic sequencing, and others measures. When describing the measures,

also discuss the reliability of the measures used. Describe in detail the procedures taken to

ensure the tests or other scientific measures for data collection are accurately and correctly

administered. The following subsection (Procedures) would not exist in an aquaculture lab

report.

Procedure

Here you detail how the sample size was determined and selected. Describe the

settings and locations in which the data was collected, any reward for participation, as well as

ethics approval for the study.

Statistical Analysis

Here you detail the specific statistical methods applied to the data for analysis of

results. It is the same for aquaculture lab reports.

Results

This is the section where you describe the analyses of the results of your research

study. You can include tables and your graphs from your analyses in this section. It is a good

idea to organise the analyses based on your study indicators.

Second level heading, title caps, left aligned and bold font

First level heading, title caps, centralised and bold font

Study Indicator 1

Present the analyses and discussion in relation to the appropriate research question(s).

Present important statistical results can be found in a table. Number your tables from 1 to N,

based on the order they appear in your paper. Even if you only have one table, still label it

Table 1. Ensure you refer to important details in the table when referring to it in your text.

For example, Table 1 shows the results of the baseline characteristics of college students and

their sleep patterns.

Table 1

Sociodemographic Characteristics of Participants - Baseline

Baseline characteristics

No naps

Naps

Total

Gender

Female

60.8

Male

39.2

Marital status

Single

45.8

Married/partnered

15.0

Divorced/widowed

16.7

Other

22.5

Children

22.5

Note: N = 120 (n = 60 for each condition). Details of participants that are important for the

analysis should be included here. Do not repeat details already in your text above.

Link these baseline characteristics to those used in your literature review studies, if

relevant (Kousaie & Phillips, 2102; Trockel et al., 2000). Evaluate the implications for your

first research question.

Second level heading, title caps, left aligned and bold font

Table number, title caps, left aligned and bold font

Table heading, letter caps, left aligned and in italics

Study Indicator 2

Present the analyses and discussion in relation to the appropriate research question(s).

If you need to include a graph, embed it as a figure. Number your figures from 1 to N, based

on the order they appear in your paper. Even if you only have one figure, still label it Figure

1. Ensure you refer to important details in the figure when referring to it in your text. For

example, Figure 1 shows the correlation between frequency of naps taken by college students

during two semesters and their academic results.

Figure 1

Association Between Naps Taken and Academic Results

Note: This is a fictitious scatter plot. Each dot represents nothing. Describe the details of the

scatter plot here in these notes.

Complete the analysis here. Cite any of the studies covered in your literature review

that correspond with this analysis (Curcio et al., 2006; Gaultney, 2010) and evaluate the

Y-axis details

X-axis details

Figure number, title caps, left aligned and bold

Figure heading, letter caps, left aligned and in italics

Second level heading, title caps, left aligned and bold font

implications for your second research question. When you have finished the analyses and

presentation of results, move to the next section, the discussion.

APA 7

(APA, 2020) has very specific instructions on how to set up tables and

graphs: Refer to the specific page at this link (https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-

guidelines/tables-figures).

Discussion

In this section, you discuss the evaluations and implications of the analyses from the

above section. Discuss relating the analyses to the literature review readings such as Kousaie

and Phillips (2102) and Gold et al, (2013), citing where relevant. This is a very important part

of your paper as this is where you showcase your critical thinking abilities.

This is the section where you remind readers of the hypotheses in your study, evaluate

and interpret the implications of the findings, drawing inferences and conclusions for each

hypothesis investigated in the study. This is also where you emphasise theoretical and/or

practical consequences of the finding.

For the critical analysis, you can have sub-sections here for limitations and future

directions, ending with your concluding paragraph(s).

Limitations and Future Directions

Discuss the limitations of your research study, and the implications these have on

your analyses and evaluations.

Consider the future directions that other researchers can embark on in their research

studies in the light of what you have found out in your analyses and evaluations. Possible

new directions or ideas arising from your study can be postulated here.

Second level heading, title caps, left aligned and bold font

First level heading, title caps, centralised and bold

Alternative in-text citation for two authors

Conclusion

The conclusion is where you summarise, in a few succinct sentences, the main issues

and your final evaluations from your research study. You do not introduce any new ideas in a

conclusion.

First level heading, title caps, centralised and bold

References

American Psychological Association (2020). Publication manual of the American

Psychological Association (7

ed.). American Psychological Association.

https://apastyle.apa.org/products/publication-manual-7th-edition

APA Style. (2020). About APA style. https://apastyle.apa.org/about-apa-style

Curcio, G., Ferrara, M., & De Gennaro, L. (2006). Sleep loss, learning capacity and academic

performance. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 10, 323-337.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2005.11.001

Gold, B. T., Kim, C., Johnson, N. F., Kryscio, R. J., & Smith, C. D. (2013). Lifelong

bilingualism maintains neural efficiency for cognitive control in aging. The Journal of

Neuroscience, 33(2), 387-396. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3837-12.2013

Gaultney, J. F. (2010). The prevalence of sleep disorders in college students: Impact on

academic performance. Journal of American College Health, 59(2), 91-97.

https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2010.483708

Kousaie, S. & Phillips, N. A. (2102). Ageing and bilingualism: Absence of a“bilingual

advantage” in Stroop interference in a nonimmigrant sample. The Quarterly Journal

of Experimental Psychology, 65(2), 356-369.

https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2011.604788

Trockel, M. T., Barnes, M. D., & Egget, T. L. (2000). Health-related variables and academic

performance among first-year college students: Implications for sleep and other

behaviors. Journal of American College Health, 49(3), 125-131.

https://doi.org/10.1080/07448480009596294

First level heading, title caps, centralised and bold

Reference for two or more authors up to 19.

Indent second

and subsequent

lines for each

reference