A research proposal formatted “in APA” is judged on two separate things: whether it follows APA’s mechanical formatting rules (title page, headings, in-text citations, reference list) and whether it includes the sections a proposal specifically needs (problem statement, literature review, proposed method, timeline). The APA formatting rules themselves are identical for a proposal and a completed paper — what differs is the content of the sections and, in most conventions, the verb tense used to describe work that has not happened yet.
APA has no official “proposal” template
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th edition, 2020) does not publish a dedicated research-proposal template. Its formatting rules — fonts, margins, spacing, headings, title page, citations, and the reference list — are written for manuscripts generally and apply equally whether the document is a completed empirical paper, a literature review, or a proposal. The specific sections a proposal must contain (problem statement, objectives, literature review, methodology, timeline, and so on) are set by the institution, thesis committee, IRB, or funder requiring the proposal, not by APA itself. Always check your department’s or funder’s own guidelines first for required sections and page limits; use this page for the APA formatting mechanics that sit underneath whatever structure they require.
For guidance on the sections themselves rather than formatting, see Research Project Proposal Examples: Structure and Annotated Excerpts.
Title page
APA 7th edition defines two title-page formats, and which one applies depends on who is asking for the proposal, not on the fact that it’s a proposal specifically:
- Student papers (most course-required and thesis/dissertation proposals): title (centered, bold, positioned in the upper half of the page), author name(s), institutional affiliation, course number and name, instructor name, and the assignment due date, with the page number in the top right. No running head is required unless the instructor or institution asks for one.
- Professional papers (proposals submitted to a funder, journal, or external review body): title, author name(s) and affiliation(s), an Author Note, and a running head — a shortened, all-caps version of the title in the page header — alongside the page number.
Many institutions and funders layer their own required cover-sheet fields (proposed start date, budget category, committee member signatures, IRB protocol number) on top of the APA title page or in place of it. Where a program’s own template conflicts with APA’s, follow the program’s template — APA format governs the body of the document, not institutional administrative requirements.
Abstract
An abstract is not automatically required by APA for a proposal, and many course-level or committee proposals skip it. When one is required (common for funder submissions and dissertation proposals), APA’s own guidance caps it at 250 words, placed on its own page, labeled “Abstract” (centered, bold) with the text as a single, non-indented, double-spaced block below. For proposal abstracts specifically — summarizing planned rather than completed work — see How to Write an Abstract for a Research Proposal.
Headings
APA 7 defines five heading levels, and a proposal typically only needs the first two or three:
| Level | Format | Typical proposal use |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Centered, bold, title case | Major sections: Introduction, Literature Review, Proposed Method, References |
| 2 | Flush left, bold, title case | Subsections within a major section, e.g. Participants, Instruments, Procedure under Proposed Method |
| 3 | Flush left, bold italic, title case | Further subdivisions where a subsection is long enough to need them |
| 4 | Indented, bold, title case, ends in a period, text runs in | Rarely needed in a proposal-length document |
| 5 | Indented, bold italic, title case, ends in a period, text runs in | Rarely needed in a proposal-length document |
A common Level-1 sequence for a proposal is: Introduction (or Statement of the Problem), Purpose of the Study, Significance of the Study, Literature Review, Research Questions or Hypotheses, Proposed Method, Timeline, and References. This is a widely used convention, not a fixed APA requirement — confirm the exact section list against your program or funder’s instructions.
Verb tense: the one convention specific to proposals
This is the clearest structural difference between formatting a proposal and formatting a completed paper. Because the study described in a proposal has not yet been conducted, most proposal writing guides and thesis/dissertation handbooks call for future tense in the sections describing what the researcher intends to do: “This study will examine…”, “Participants will be recruited…”, “Data will be analyzed using…”. The literature review, by contrast, still uses past tense to describe work that has already been published (“Smith (2023) found that…”). This tense convention is standard academic-writing practice rather than an explicit rule stated in the APA Publication Manual itself, so treat it as the expected default and confirm against any tense guidance your committee or funder provides. If the proposal is later revised into a completed paper or thesis, these future-tense sections are typically converted to past tense to report what was actually done.
In-text citations
Citation mechanics don’t change for a proposal: APA uses an author-date system, with both parenthetical, e.g. (Smith, 2023), and narrative, e.g. Smith (2023), forms standard, and every in-text citation must have a matching entry in the reference list. This matters most in a proposal’s literature review, where the citation density is often higher than in a completed paper’s introduction, since the literature review is doing the work of establishing the gap the proposed study will address. Quotations under 40 words are enclosed in double quotation marks with an author-date-page citation, e.g. (Smith, 2023, p. 25); quotations of 40 words or more are set as an indented block quotation with no quotation marks. For the specific author-count and “et al.” rules, see Et Al. Citation Rules: APA, MLA, Chicago & Vancouver/AMA.
Reference list
The reference list follows the same mechanics as any other APA document: a centered, bold “References” heading starting a new page; entries alphabetized by the first author’s surname (or, for works without an author, the first significant word of the title); a 0.5-inch hanging indent on every entry; and double spacing throughout with no extra space added between entries. DOIs and URLs can be formatted as live hyperlinks or as plain non-underlined text, as long as the choice is applied consistently across the whole list. A proposal’s reference list is necessarily provisional — sources are added as the literature review develops — but the formatting rules apply from the first draft, not only the final version.
What a proposal typically does not include
Because the research hasn’t been conducted yet, a proposal generally omits the sections that report what was found:
- Results — replaced, where relevant, with an “Anticipated Results” or “Expected Outcomes” subsection under the proposed method, described in future/conditional terms rather than as findings.
- Discussion — sometimes replaced with a “Significance” or “Implications” section explaining why the anticipated findings would matter, without discussing findings that don’t yet exist.
What a proposal typically adds that a completed paper does not: a timeline, a budget or resource-needs section (common for funded and grant-linked proposals), and, depending on the field, a statement of feasibility or preliminary data supporting that the study is achievable. For the funding-proposal side of this rather than the APA-formatting side, see Components of a Grant Proposal and How to Write a Timeline for a Research Grant Proposal.
Frequently asked questions
Is a research proposal the same format as a research paper in APA?
The underlying APA formatting mechanics — title page, fonts, margins, headings, in-text citations, reference list — are the same. The content differs: a proposal describes intended work (often in future tense) and typically ends with a proposed method and timeline rather than results and discussion of actual findings.
Does a research proposal need a literature review in APA format?
Most research proposals include a literature review, since it’s what establishes the gap or need the proposed study addresses, and APA’s author-date citation rules apply to it the same as any other section. Whether it’s a separate Level-1 heading or folded into the introduction depends on your program or funder’s required structure, not on APA itself.
What font and spacing does APA require for a proposal?
The same as any APA document: one of APA’s approved fonts (for example 11-point Calibri or Arial, or 12-point Times New Roman), 1-inch margins on all sides, and double spacing throughout the entire document, including the reference list, with no added paragraph spacing.
Does a research proposal need an abstract in APA format?
Not automatically. APA’s abstract rules apply only if your program, committee, or funder requires one. When required, it follows the standard 250-word limit and single-block-paragraph format.
Should a research proposal be written in future or past tense?
The sections describing planned work (methodology, expected data collection) are conventionally written in future tense, since the study hasn’t happened yet. The literature review stays in past tense, describing work that has already been published. This is a widely followed academic-writing convention rather than an explicit APA Publication Manual rule.
Related CASRAI resources
- How to Write a Research Paper in APA Style — the full APA 7 mechanics (title page, abstract, IMRaD headings, citations, references) for a completed manuscript.
- Research Project Proposal Examples: Structure and Annotated Excerpts — annotated proposal sections, independent of citation style.
- How to Write an Abstract for a Research Proposal
- How to Present a Research Proposal Orally
- Et Al. Citation Rules: APA, MLA, Chicago & Vancouver/AMA
- Components of a Grant Proposal: What Every Section Needs to Do
