Grad students lose more time figuring out how to report a result than running it. APA 7 has exact formatting rules for every test, scattered across a 400-page manual. Here's the syntax I wish I'd had, for the tests most theses actually use.
Independent-samples t-test
t(df) = value, p = .xxx, d = value
Example: t(58) = 2.45, p = .018, d = 0.63.
One-way ANOVA
F(df_between, df_within) = value, p = .xxx, η² = value
Example: F(2, 87) = 4.12, p = .020, η² = 0.09.
Chi-square test of independence
χ²(df, N = n) = value, p = .xxx
Example: χ²(1, N = 200) = 6.73, p = .009.
Pearson correlation
r(df) = value, p = .xxx
Example: r(48) = .42, p = .002.
Simple linear regression
Coefficient: b = value, SE = value, t(df) = value, p = .xxx. Model fit: R² = value, F(df1, df2) = value, p = .xxx.
Mann-Whitney U (non-parametric t-test alternative)
U = value, z = value, p = .xxx — report medians (Mdn), not means.
Wilcoxon signed-rank test
z = value, p = .xxx, r = value — effect size is r, not d.
Cronbach's alpha (reliability)
α = value, reported per scale, not per item. α ≥ .70 is the conventional (debated) cutoff.
Logistic regression
b = value, SE = value, Wald χ²(df) = value, p = .xxx, OR = value — reviewers will ask for the odds ratio if it's missing.
Three things that trip people up every time: p-values drop the leading zero (p = .018, never p = 0.018); report exact p over p < .05 unless p is very small (p < .001); and effect sizes are not optional in APA 7 — a missing effect size is one of the most common methods-section desk-reject notes.
If you'd rather not hand-format these, I built statmate.org — it runs the test and outputs the line above automatically for 20 test types. But the syntax above works on its own, no tool required.
Top comments (0)