APA essay sample: an annotated APA 7 student paper

Below is a short, complete sample paper with notes on every part. Its seven references are real, checkable works with DOIs. This post belongs to our citation styles series; for the reference list in depth, read the pillar, references in APA.

What are the parts of an APA student paper?

A student paper needs three parts: title page, text and references; the abstract, tables, figures and appendices are added only when needed [1].

Student paper vs professional paper

If your assignment is a research proposal, see research proposal APA format, which adds method and timeline sections.

What are the APA 7 formatting settings?

Set these once in a template and every paper will be right from the first page [1][3][4].

Two errors account for most lost marks: extra space after paragraphs (Word's default adds 8 pt) and justified text. Set Before and After to 0 pt and align left.

How do you format APA headings?

APA has five heading levels; most essays need only Levels 1 and 2 [5].

Use levels in order: a Level 2 heading goes under a Level 1, never on its own. Do not label the introduction; the paper's title does that job. APA advises against a single subsection: if you divide a section, use at least two subheadings.

The sample paper

Sample student paper written for this guide. The student, department, university, course and instructor are placeholders; the research and all seven references are real. Markdown cannot show the page layout, so the notes after each part describe what you would see on the page.

Page 1: title page

1

 

 

Retrieval Practice as a Study Strategy: What the Evidence Shows for University Students

 

Student Name

Department of Psychology, Example University

PSYC 101: Introduction to Psychology

Dr. Instructor Name

November 14, 2026

Notes on the title page:

1. Page number "1" sits in the top right corner, in the header. There is no running head.
2. Title is bold, centered and in title case, placed three or four double-spaced lines down from the top margin. Keep it focused; skip "A Study of".
3. One blank double-spaced line separates the title from your name.
4. Byline, affiliation, course, instructor, date, each centered on its own double-spaced line. Write the course number and name as your institution writes them, and the date in the format your country uses (APA shows "November 14, 2026" for US papers).
5. No "Title page" label, no images, no word count, unless your instructor asks [2].

Page 2: the text begins

2

Retrieval Practice as a Study Strategy: What the Evidence Shows for University Students

Most students prepare for exams by rereading their notes and highlighting the textbook. These methods feel productive, but a large review of learning techniques rated both of them as having low utility (Dunlosky et al., 2013). The same review rated practice testing, also called retrieval practice, as one of only two techniques with high utility. Retrieval practice means recalling information from memory, for example with flashcards or practice questions, rather than looking at it again. This essay reviews laboratory and classroom evidence on retrieval practice and argues that first-year students should use it as their main study strategy, spaced out over the weeks before an exam.

What the Evidence Shows

Retrieval Practice in the Laboratory

In a widely cited experiment, Roediger and Karpicke (2006) asked students to read short prose passages and then either read them again or try to recall them. On a test five minutes later, students who had reread the passages remembered slightly more. After two days and after one week, the pattern reversed: students who had practiced recall remembered more than those who had restudied. Students who restudied also predicted that they would remember more, which suggests that rereading creates a feeling of fluency that is not the same as learning.

Karpicke and Blunt (2011) compared retrieval practice with concept mapping, a technique in which students draw diagrams that link ideas and which is often recommended as a deep form of study. One week later, students who had practiced retrieval did better on the final test than students who had made concept maps, including on questions that required inferences. The benefit held even when the final test asked students to draw a concept map.

Retrieval Practice in Classrooms and Meta-Analyses

Single experiments can mislead, so reviews that pool many studies matter. A meta-analysis of the testing effect found that testing produced better retention than restudying across a large body of experiments, although the size of the benefit varied with the conditions of each study (Rowland, 2014). A later meta-analysis that included classroom studies as well as laboratory work found that practice tests improved learning across education levels and settings (Adesope et al., 2017). Together, these reviews suggest that the effect is not limited to word lists in a laboratory.

Spacing Retrieval Over Time

When students practice matters as much as how. In a review and quantitative synthesis of research on distributed practice, Cepeda et al. (2006) found that spreading study sessions apart produced better recall than massing them together, and that the best gap between sessions grew with the length of time the information had to be remembered. For an exam several weeks away, this means short retrieval sessions across those weeks rather than one long session the night before. Brown et al. (2014) describe how students can combine the two strategies, for example by returning to old practice questions at increasing intervals.

Limitations

Most of this research measured recall of factual or conceptual material over days or weeks. Less is known about complex skills such as writing or laboratory technique, and many experiments used short study sessions rather than whole courses. Retrieval practice also feels harder than rereading, which may discourage students who judge their learning by how easy study feels (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006).

Conclusion

The evidence from laboratory experiments, classroom studies and meta-analyses points in one direction: recalling information from memory leads to better long-term retention than reviewing it again (Adesope et al., 2017; Dunlosky et al., 2013; Rowland, 2014). First-year students would benefit from replacing some rereading with self-testing, spaced over the weeks before an exam. Instructors can support this by offering low-stakes practice quizzes throughout the term.

Notes on the text:

1. Title repeated at the top of page 2, bold and centered. It replaces an "Introduction" heading [1].
2. Every paragraph is indented 0.5 inch and double-spaced, with no extra space between paragraphs.
3. "What the Evidence Shows" is a Level 1 heading (centered, bold). "Retrieval Practice in the Laboratory" and "Retrieval Practice in Classrooms and Meta-Analyses" are Level 2 headings (flush left, bold) inside it. The section has two subsections, because APA advises against a lone subheading. "Spacing Retrieval Over Time", "Limitations" and "Conclusion" go back to Level 1.
4. Narrative citations name the authors in the sentence: "Roediger and Karpicke (2006)" uses "and". Parenthetical citations use "&": "(Roediger & Karpicke, 2006)".
5. Three or more authors become "et al." from the first citation: "(Dunlosky et al., 2013)", "Cepeda et al. (2006)", "Brown et al. (2014)". See how to cite two or three authors in APA.
6. Several sources in one parenthesis are in alphabetical order, separated by semicolons: "(Adesope et al., 2017; Dunlosky et al., 2013; Rowland, 2014)".
7. No page numbers appear because the paper paraphrases and does not quote. A direct quotation would need one: (Rowland, 2014, p. 1440). Page illustrative.
8. Claims stay within the sources, and "Limitations" says what the evidence does not cover.

Page 4: references

4

References

Adesope, O. O., Trevisan, D. A., & Sundararajan, N. (2017). Rethinking the use of tests: A meta-analysis of practice testing. Review of Educational Research, 87(3), 659–701. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654316689306

Brown, P. C., Roediger, H. L., III, & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make it stick: The science of successful learning. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354

Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612453266

Karpicke, J. D., & Blunt, J. R. (2011). Retrieval practice produces more learning than elaborative studying with concept mapping. Science, 331(6018), 772–775. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1199327

Roediger, H. L., III, & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x

Rowland, C. A. (2014). The effect of testing versus restudy on retention: A meta-analytic review of the testing effect. Psychological Bulletin, 140(6), 1432–1463. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037559

Notes on the references:

1. New page, "References" bold and centered, no other label.
2. Hanging indent of 0.5 inch on each entry and double-spacing throughout (not visible here).
3. Alphabetical order by first author: Adesope, Brown, Cepeda, Dunlosky, Karpicke, Roediger, Rowland. "Roediger" precedes "Rowland" because "e" comes before "w".
4. Every in-text citation has an entry and every entry is cited. Count them: seven sources in the text, seven entries.
5. "Roediger, H. L., III": the suffix follows the initials, set off by commas. In the text it disappears: (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006).
6. Sentence case for article and book titles ("Make it stick: The science of successful learning"), title case and italics for journal names, italic volume, plain issue.
7. The book has no DOI and no city. APA 7 dropped publisher locations.
8. DOIs as links, with no period after them.

All seven references were checked against their Crossref records.

How do you add a table or figure?

Number it in bold, give it an italic title in title case on the next line, and place notes below [1]. Example (illustrative layout):

Table 1

Study Techniques Rated by Dunlosky et al. (2013)

Mention every table in the text ("as Table 1 shows") and place it after the paragraph that first mentions it, or after the references if your instructor prefers.

Common mistakes in APA essays

How to write an APA essay with AI for Research

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FAQ

How do you format an essay in APA 7?

Use 1-inch margins, an accepted font such as 12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Calibri, and double-spacing throughout. Indent each paragraph 0.5 inch and align text to the left. Put a page number in the top right corner of every page. Start with a title page, repeat the title in bold at the top of the first text page, and end with a References page.

What goes on an APA 7 student title page?

In order: the paper's title in bold, centered, three or four lines from the top; a blank double-spaced line; your name; your department and university; the course number and name; the instructor's name; and the due date. Add a page number at the top right. A student title page does not need a running head or an author note unless your instructor asks for them.

Does an APA student paper need a running head or abstract?

No, not by default. APA 7 dropped the running head for student papers and kept it only for professional manuscripts submitted for publication. An abstract is also optional for student papers. Include either one only if your instructor or institution asks for it, and follow their instructions if they differ from the APA defaults.

Do you write 'Introduction' as a heading in APA?

No. The introduction has no heading in APA 7. Instead, repeat the full title of the paper at the top of the first page of text, bold and centered, and begin the first paragraph below it. Use Level 1 headings, centered and bold, for the main sections that follow, such as Method, Results, Discussion or the sections of an essay.

How long should an APA essay be?

APA does not set a length. Your instructor or assignment brief decides the word or page count, and whether the title page and references count toward it. Most course essays run 1,500 to 3,000 words. If no length is given, ask, and keep the paper focused enough that each section answers one part of the question.

Next steps

• Build and check the reference list: references in APA.
• Cite any number of authors: how to cite two or three authors in APA.
• When to shorten author names in other styles: et al. in citations.
• Writing for an English or history class instead? See MLA format.
• Plan a longer paper: how to write a research paper.

Sources

1. American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000 (chapter 2, Paper elements and format)
2. American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Title page setup. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/title-page
3. American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Font. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/font
4. American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Sample papers. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/sample-papers
5. American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Headings. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/headings