How to Report Results in APA 7: Templates & Examples

In short

Write the statistic’s symbol in italics, the degrees of freedom in parentheses, the value to two decimals, the exact p to three and an effect size: t(58) = 3.42, p = .001, d = 0.89. Drop the leading zero only for values that cannot exceed 1 (p, r, α). Below, the template for every test.

By Víctor Ciudad-Fernández, PhD in Psychology · Ciudad Science · Updated 6 October 2026

To report results in APA 7 you write the same string every time: the symbol of the statistic in italics, the degrees of freedom in parentheses, the value to two decimals, the exact p value to three decimals and the effect size. Like this: t(58) = 3.42, p = .001, d = 0.89, or F(2, 87) = 5.23, p = .007, η²p = .11.

If that string is complete, the result is properly reported; if the effect size is missing, a reviewer will ask you for it. Below you have the template for each analysis (t-test, ANOVA, correlation, regression, chi-square, non-parametric tests, EFA and SEM) so you can copy it and swap in your own numbers.

This is a skill any researcher who publishes needs to master, whether you work in psychology, health, biology, education or economics, and yet it is rarely taught systematically. You learn to run the analyses, you interpret SPSS or R output, but when the time comes to present those results in a manuscript, many find themselves lost among italics, decimal places, and typographic conventions that were never explained with sufficient clarity.

The result is results sections riddled with formatting errors that, while they may seem minor, convey an image of carelessness and can lead reviewers to question the author's methodological competence.

The seventh edition of the APA Publication Manual, published in 2019, introduced some changes from previous editions, although the fundamental principles remain the same. The goal of these standards is to standardize the communication of results so that any reader, regardless of their institution or country, can interpret the data in the same way. Knowing these conventions not only improves the formal quality of our manuscripts but also facilitates the peer review process and increases the likelihood of acceptance in scientific journals.

This page gives you the sentence for each test. If what you need is the whole section, with the paragraphs in the order a reviewer expects, go to the APA 7 results section example: a complete Results section annotated sentence by sentence, from the participants paragraph to the last hypothesis.

And if what you need right now is the sentence to paste, without reading anything else, the APA 7 Results Kit gathers all ten model paragraphs with a copy button and, under each one, the mistake that gets it sent back. It opens by leaving your email in the form just below this article.

Want me to take care of it?

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If you'd rather skip the templates and work straight from your numbers, there are three shortcuts. The APA 7 results formatter turns any loose statistic (t, F, r, χ²…) into the full string, with correct italics and decimals. The correlation table generator builds the matrix with means, SD and asterisks from your coefficients. And if what you have is a result already written out in a paragraph and you're missing the effect size, effect size from text calculates it without sending you back to SPSS.

How to report each test

Every guide below gives the model sentence for one analysis, the table that goes with it and the mistake that gets it sent back. They are grouped by type of analysis, so you can go straight to yours.

Rules that apply to every test

Checking assumptions

Comparing two groups

Three or more groups: the ANOVA family

Categorical outcomes

Correlation and regression

Mediation and moderation

Psychometrics: factor structure, reliability and agreement

Tables and figures

Effect sizes and conversions

  • Effect size: how to interpret Cohen’s d, η², r and f, with the benchmark tables.
  • Effect size conversions: t to d, F to partial η², odds ratio to risk ratio and ten more, each with the assumption you accept when you convert.

General principles of statistical formatting

There are several cross-cutting rules that apply to virtually any statistical result reported in APA 7 format. Statistical symbols are always written in italics: t, F, p, r, d, η², M, SD, N, n. Numbers are generally rounded to two decimal places, with the exception of the p-value, which is reported to three decimal places (for example, p = .032).

When the p-value is less than .001, it is simply written as p < .001, without attempting further precision. A convention that frequently causes confusion is the omission of the leading zero before the decimal point for statistics that cannot exceed a value of 1 (such as correlations, p-values, or bounded effect sizes). We write r = .45 and p = .012, not r = 0.45 or p = 0.012. However, statistics that can exceed 1 (such as means, standard deviations, or t and F values) retain the zero: M = 0.87, t(45) = 0.92.

Before you submit: if your results section is already written, run it through Previum. It is a free Reviewer 2 style pre-review that tells you what would come back at you (missing effect sizes, incomplete statistics, tables that disagree with the text) while you can still fix it, instead of finding out three months later in the editor's letter.

Degrees of freedom are included in parentheses immediately after the statistical symbol, with no space: t(34), F(2, 87), χ²(3). In the case of the F statistic from ANOVA, two degrees of freedom are reported separated by a comma: the numerator (effect) and the denominator (error). Confidence intervals are expressed in brackets, preceded by the confidence level: 95% CI [2.34, 5.67]. And effect sizes must always accompany significance tests, something that APA 7 emphasizes with particular insistence.

How to report the most common analyses

For an independent samples t-test, the standard format includes the mean and standard deviation of each group, the t statistic with its degrees of freedom, the p-value, and the effect size (typically Cohen's d).

A complete example would be: "The experimental group (M = 23.45, SD = 4.12) scored significantly higher than the control group (M = 19.87, SD = 3.98), t(58) = 3.42, p = .001, d = 0.89." Note that Cohen's d retains the leading zero because, although uncommon, it can theoretically exceed a value of 1.

If you are unsure which values of d count as small or large in your field, see the guide on interpreting effect sizes, and for the long version with the SPSS output step by step, the one on reporting the t-test and chi-square in APA 7.

For a one-way ANOVA, the F statistic is reported with both degrees of freedom, the p-value, and the effect size (typically partial η² or generalized η²): "A significant effect of therapy type on symptom reduction was found, F(2, 87) = 5.23, p = .007, η²p = .11." When the ANOVA is significant and post hoc comparisons are performed, these must be reported indicating the method used (Bonferroni, Tukey, Games-Howell) and the results of each relevant comparison.

It is not necessary to report all possible comparisons if only some are theoretically interesting, provided the selection is justified. The full write-up, including factorial and repeated measures designs, is in how to report an ANOVA in APA 7.

Correlations are typically presented in a correlation table when there are multiple correlations, with means and standard deviations included. For individual correlations mentioned in the text: "The relationship between trait anxiety and academic performance was negative and statistically significant, r(98) = -.34, p < .001." For multiple regressions, the unstandardized (B) and standardized (β) coefficients are reported, along with their standard errors, t-values, and p-values, generally in table format.

The model R² and its overall significance through the F test must also be included. The table template and the wording that goes with it are in how to report a regression in APA 7.

Quick templates for chi-square, non-parametric tests and SEM

Chi-square test of independence. "The distribution of responses differed between groups, χ²(2, N = 180) = 9.87, p = .007, Cramer's V = .23." Inside the parentheses go the degrees of freedom and the sample size, separated by a comma, and the effect size (φ for 2 x 2 tables, Cramer's V for larger ones) is compulsory too. A very common shortcut is to give only the χ² and the p value and leave it there.

Non-parametric tests. "Group A scored higher (Mdn = 24.00) than group B (Mdn = 19.50), U = 312.50, z = -2.87, p = .004, r = .29." When the test is non-parametric, central tendency is described with the median, not the mean, and the effect size is derived from z. The detail for Mann-Whitney, Wilcoxon, Kruskal-Wallis and Friedman is in how to report non-parametric tests in APA 7.

Structural equation models. Here what you report is not a single statistic but model fit: "The model showed acceptable fit, χ²(84) = 152.31, p < .001, CFI = .96, TLI = .95, RMSEA = .054 [.041, .067], SRMR = .048." Do not report the model χ² alone: with large samples it comes out significant almost every time and tells you nothing useful. Alongside fit you need the standardized coefficients with their standard errors and confidence intervals.

Already drafted it? Paste your Results section into Review one section and you get the first objection a reviewer would raise, quoting the exact sentence from your text. Free, no sign-up.

Exploratory factor analysis: the five blocks the results section needs

EFA is the analysis that raises the most doubts when writing it up, because what you report is not a single statistic but five blocks that have to appear together and in this order: extraction method and rotation with a justification for the choice, sampling adequacy (KMO and Bartlett's test of sphericity), the criteria used to decide the number of factors and what each one indicated, total variance explained, and the loadings table.

The template for the first two blocks: "The KMO was .89 and Bartlett's test of sphericity was significant, χ²(45) = 1234.50, p < .001, justifying factorization. The items were then subjected to principal axis factoring with Promax rotation." Rotation is a decision, not a default: oblique (Promax, Oblimin) when the factors can correlate, which is the norm inside a single domain, and orthogonal (Varimax) only if you are willing to impose independence.

Full guide

What you have here is the summary. If what you need are the APA 7 standards for reporting exploratory factor analysis results, that guide gives you the results paragraph ready to fill in with your own values, the loadings table in APA 7 format with its note, and the five errors that get an EFA sent back.

The most visible piece of the write-up is that loadings table: items in rows, factors in columns, loadings to two decimals with no leading zero (loadings below .30 or .40 are usually suppressed for readability) and the communalities (h²) in the last column. With oblique rotation, what goes in the table is the pattern matrix, not the structure matrix.

In the text go the total variance explained and that of each factor: "The three-factor solution explained 58.4% of the total variance." Reporting an EFA incompletely, omitting the KMO, not stating the rotation or not justifying the number of factors, is one of the usual reasons a reviewer sends the section back. If you need to validate a questionnaire, this is exactly the kind of analysis I make reviewer-proof.

Tables and figures: essential complements

APA 7 standards specify that tables should have a clean format with horizontal lines only at the top, below the headers, and at the bottom. Vertical lines are not used. Each table has a bold number (Table 1, Table 2...) and an italicized title that concisely describes its content. Footnotes are used to explain abbreviations, indicate significance levels, or provide any necessary clarification.

Building that table by hand in Word is where most of the formatting errors creep in. If your result is a t test, an ANOVA or a chi-square, the universal APA table generator takes your numbers and returns the table already laid out: the three horizontal rules, the italics where they belong, the decimals trimmed to APA convention and the note underneath.

Figures have gained importance in communicating results, and APA 7 offers more detailed guidelines than previous editions regarding their format. Each figure requires a bold number and an italicized title, just like tables. Axes must be clearly labeled, legends must be self-explanatory, and if error bars are included, it must be specified what they represent (standard deviation, standard error, confidence interval).

A common error is including figures that duplicate information from tables. The APA recommends choosing the most appropriate format for each result: tables are preferable when numerical precision is important, while figures are more effective for showing patterns, trends, or interactions. In a meta-analysis, the standard figure is the forest plot, which summarizes each study's effect and the pooled effect in a single image.

Common errors and how to avoid them

The most common error, by far, is omitting effect sizes. Many manuscripts report p-values as if they were the only relevant indicator, ignoring the explicit APA 7 recommendation to always include measures of effect magnitude. Another frequent error is reporting results as "marginally significant" when the p-value falls between .05 and .10.

APA 7 discourages this practice because it perpetuates a dichotomous interpretation of significance and suggests precision where there is none. It is preferable to report the exact p-value and let the reader draw their own conclusions.

It is also common to find inconsistencies in the use of decimal places, errors in the formatting of degrees of freedom, or the inclusion of Levene's test or the Shapiro-Wilk test without any context. Preliminary assumption analyses should be mentioned, but it is not necessary to exhaustively report every diagnostic test.

It is sufficient to indicate that the relevant assumptions were verified, briefly describe the results, and detail the corrective measures adopted in case of violations (for example, the use of the Greenhouse-Geisser correction for sphericity or robust standard errors for heteroscedasticity).

A good practice worth mentioning is the use of specific templates or checklists for verifying APA format before submitting a manuscript. Checking that each statistic includes all required elements (italicized symbol, degrees of freedom, exact value, p-value, effect size) avoids tedious corrections during the review process and conveys professionalism.

Ultimately, reporting correctly is not just a matter of editorial aesthetics but of scientific transparency: enabling other researchers to evaluate, interpret, and, if necessary, reanalyze our results. One step before all of this, when the problem is not formatting but having the output in front of you without knowing what to report, the free output interpreter tells you what to look at and hands you the APA 7 wording.

If you only check six things before you submit, check these, in the order I find them when reviewing Results sections:

  • p = .000. That number does not exist: it is the software rounding. Write p < .001.
  • A leading zero where it does not belong. r = 0.34, p = 0.003 or α = 0.87 carry a zero APA 7 does not want, because those indices cannot exceed 1.
  • A missing effect size, or one without its interval. A test without an effect size is incomplete; an effect size without its CI is half-told.
  • Incomplete degrees of freedom. An F takes two, a chi-square also takes the N, and an r takes N − 2.
  • Text that does not match the table. It usually happens after rerunning an analysis and updating only one of the two places.
  • An interpretive sentence smuggled into Results. “Which suggests that…” belongs in the Discussion.

Frequently asked questions

How do you report a p-value in APA 7?

Exactly, to three decimals and without the leading zero: p = .032. When it falls below .001 you stop giving digits and write p < .001. Never copy the "p = .000" your software prints, because a probability is not zero, it has simply been rounded. And avoid "n.s." and "marginally significant": APA 7 asks for the exact value and lets the reader judge.

Which statistics are italicized in APA 7?

Statistical symbols written with Latin letters: M, SD, N, n, t, F, p, r, d, B, SE, R², Mdn. Greek letters are not italicized: χ², η², β, α, ω, τ. Neither are abbreviations that are not variables, such as CI, KMO or SEM, nor the names of tests (Mann-Whitney, Bonferroni).

When do you drop the zero before the decimal point in APA 7?

Whenever the statistic cannot exceed 1 in absolute value: p, correlations, proportions, factor loadings, Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega, η², R². Everything that can go above 1 keeps the zero: M, SD, t, F, B and Cohen's d (a d of 1.20 is perfectly possible).

Is reporting effect size compulsory in APA 7?

Yes. APA 7 asks for an effect size, and where possible its confidence interval, alongside every significance test in your primary results. It is the single most repeated omission in first-round reviews, and the easiest to fix: d for a t-test, η²p or η²G for an ANOVA, r for a correlation, R² or f² for a regression, Cramér's V for a chi-square.

How are degrees of freedom written in APA 7?

In parentheses immediately after the symbol, with no space: t(58), F(2, 87), χ²(3, N = 180). The F carries two, numerator and denominator, separated by a comma. When they come out as decimals, because you used Welch's correction or Greenhouse-Geisser, report them with their decimals: that is precisely what tells the reader you applied the correction.

How many decimals should I use in APA 7?

Two for most statistics and three for the p-value. The underlying rule in APA 7 is to report the number of digits that carries actual information, and to stay consistent throughout the manuscript: if the means in your table have two decimals, they all do.

What goes in the text and what goes in a table?

Up to three or four values of the same kind read fine in the text; beyond that, a table. And never both: if a number is in the table, the text comments on what matters rather than repeating the figure. APA 7 tables carry no vertical rules, and anything not self-evident is explained in the note.

Can I interpret findings inside the Results section?

No. Results is what came out; Discussion is what it means. The interpretive sentence smuggled into Results is the comment I write most often when reviewing manuscripts, and it almost always shows up in the last paragraph, once the author is already thinking about the discussion.

Did APA 7 change anything about reporting results?

Yes. Effect sizes and their confidence intervals moved from advisable to expected, p values are reported exactly instead of by thresholds, tables were simplified, and the manual insists on describing how missing data were handled. A section written with APA 6 habits is spotted on the first read.

If you want the whole craft, not just the sentences: the book "Report Your Results in APA 7" walks one complete study through all ten tests (t, ANOVA, correlation, regression, mediation, non-parametrics, EFA and reliability), with each one's model paragraph built on real numbers, the mistake that gets manuscripts sent back, and the reproducible kit in R, jamovi and SPSS. The whole first chapter free to decide, and your purchase includes the Spanish edition.

If you would rather have someone check your dissertation results before the committee does, my statistical consulting for doctoral theses reviews the tables and the full results section before submission.

Cite this guide

Ciudad-Fernández, V. (2026, October 6). How to report results in APA 7: Templates and examples. Ciudad Science. https://analisisdedatospsicologia.com/en/blog/como-reportar-resultados-apa-7

Cite this guide

Ciudad-Fernández, V. (2026, March 27). How to Report Results in APA 7: Templates & Examples. Ciudad Science. https://analisisdedatospsicologia.com/en/blog/como-reportar-resultados-apa-7

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