APA 7th Edition (2020) has specific formatting requirements for every statistical test. Getting these right matters — examiners and supervisors notice when results are formatted incorrectly, and it affects how confident they are in your analysis.
This guide covers the most common tests with exact formatting examples.
General APA rules for statistics
- Use italic format for all statistical symbols: M, SD, t, F, r, p
- Drop the leading zero for values that cannot exceed 1.0 (correlation, alpha, p-values): write .84 not 0.84
- Report exact p-values when possible (e.g., p = .034 not p < .05) — except when p < .001, write p < .001
- Always include effect sizes (Cohen's d, eta-squared, Cramer's V, r)
- Always include confidence intervals for means, mean differences, and correlations
Descriptive statistics
Format: M = X.XX, SD = X.XX (n = N)
Example: "The mean score for academic performance was M = 72.4, SD = 11.8 (n = 120)."
Pearson correlation
Format: r(df) = .XX, p = .XXX, 95% CI [.XX, .XX]
Example: "A significant positive correlation was found, r(118) = .54, p < .001, 95% CI [.40, .66]."
Note: df = n - 2. APA 7th Edition requires the 95% confidence interval.
Spearman correlation
Format: rho(df) = .XX, p = .XXX
Example: "Spearman's rho indicated a moderate positive relationship, rho(48) = .48, p = .003."
Independent samples t-test
Format: t(df) = X.XX, p = .XXX, d = X.XX, 95% CI [X.XX, X.XX]
Example: "An independent samples t-test revealed a significant difference, t(78) = 3.21, p = .002, d = 0.72, 95% CI [1.14, 5.32]."
Paired samples t-test
Format: t(df) = X.XX, p = .XXX, d_z = X.XX, 95% CI [X.XX, X.XX]
Example: "A paired samples t-test indicated significant improvement, t(39) = 4.18, p < .001, d_z = 0.66, 95% CI [2.1, 6.4]."
One-way ANOVA
Format: F(df_between, df_within) = X.XX, p = .XXX, eta-squared = .XX
Example: "A one-way ANOVA revealed significant differences between groups, F(2, 87) = 8.34, p < .001, eta-squared = .16."
Always follow with Tukey HSD for significant ANOVA results.
Tukey HSD post-hoc
Format: Group A vs Group B: MD = X.XX, p = .XXX, 95% CI [X.XX, X.XX]
Chi-square
Format: chi-squared(df, N = n) = X.XX, p = .XXX, V = .XX
Example: "A chi-square test of independence revealed a significant association, chi-squared(2, N = 150) = 11.42, p = .003, V = .28."
Mann-Whitney U
Format: U = X.X, z = X.XX, p = .XXX, r = .XX
Cronbach's alpha
Format: alpha = .XX (interpretation, k = N items)
Example: "The scale demonstrated good reliability, alpha = .84 (k = 12 items)."
Shapiro-Wilk normality test
Format: W = .XXX, p = .XXX
Example: "Normality was assessed using the Shapiro-Wilk test. The results indicated that the assumption of normality was met, W = .971, p = .142."
Getting every format automatically
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