Your research paper is due, and you want to see how a finished one is supposed to look before you start writing your own. This page has 12 downloadable research paper examples in PDF, organized by format (APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 17, Harvard), by length (3 to 15 pages), and by subject (science, history, psychology). Pick the one closest to your assignment, and you will have a working model in under five minutes.
Find the Right Research Paper Example in Under 60 Seconds
A research paper is a structured argument, supported by sources, and formatted according to a specific style. The right example for your assignment depends on four things: the format your professor assigned, the length, the subject area, and your academic level. Use this routing guide to find the closest match.
Pick by what you know first:
- You know your format (APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard) = jump to Format examples below.
- You know your length (3-4, 5-8, 10, 12-15 pages) = jump to Length examples below.
- You know your subject (science, history, psychology) = jump to Subject examples.
- You only know your level (high school, college) = jump to the Academic Level examples.
- You only know one section is hard (intro, thesis, methods, results, conclusion) = jump to Specific Sections below.
- You're not a full paper = jump to the Research Paper Components.
Research Paper Example by Format
The format your professor assigns determines the title page, in-text citations, references list, font, spacing, and margins. The four formats below cover roughly 95 percent of US college and high school assignments.
Before you scroll through each format individually, here's how the four compare at a glance. Use the table to confirm you're in the right format, then jump to the matching section below for the full rules and an inline excerpt.
Format | Most common in | In-text citation pattern | References page label | Title page required |
APA 7 | Psychology, education, business, nursing, social sciences | (Smith, 2023, p. 42) | "References" | Yes (student version) |
MLA 9 | Literature, English, philosophy, humanities | (Smith 42) | "Works Cited" | No (header block on page 1 instead) |
Chicago 17 | History, theology, some social sciences | Footnote with superscript number | "Bibliography" | Yes (unnumbered) |
Harvard | UK and Australian universities, some US graduate programs | (Smith, 2023, p. 42) | "Reference List" | Varies by institution |
If your assignment sheet specifies a format, jump to that section. If it doesn't, default to APA 7 it's the most commonly required across US colleges and is accepted in most disciplines outside literature, history, and theology.
APA Format Research Paper Example (APA 7th Edition)
APA is the most common format in psychology, education, business, nursing, social sciences, and most undergraduate research papers across the US. The current standard is APA 7, published in 2019.
Key APA 7 rules at a glance:
- 1-inch margins on all four sides
- Double-spaced throughout, including references
- 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, or 11-point Georgia
- Page number in the top right of every page (title page is page 1)
- Student papers do not require a running head unless the instructor asks for one
- Title page with paper title (bold, centered, upper half of page), author name, institution, course, instructor, and due date
- References page starts on a new page, "References" centered and bolded at top, hanging indent on every entry
Example excerpt from the APA sample, introduction section: "Adolescent screen time has more than doubled since 2015 (Twenge, 2023), a trend that has accelerated since the widespread adoption of short-form video platforms. While prior research has examined the relationship between social media use and self-reported well-being, less attention has been given to how the type of content consumed, rather than total time spent, predicts measurable changes in attention span. This paper examines that question..." Notice the move the writer is making here. The first sentence anchors the topic in a recent statistic with a citation. The second sentence positions the paper inside an existing conversation. The third sentence states what this paper specifically does. That three-step opening is the APA introduction template, and you can copy the structure exactly. |
MLA Format Research Paper Example (MLA 9th Edition)
MLA is the standard in literature, English, philosophy, and most humanities courses. The current standard is MLA 9, published in 2021. MLA 9 reintroduced explicit research paper formatting guidance that MLA 8 had dropped.
Key MLA 9 rules at a glance:
- 1-inch margins on all sides
- Double-spaced throughout
- 12-point Times New Roman is the standard, though any readable serif font between 11 and 13 point is acceptable
- Header in the top right of every page with your last name and page number
- No title page unless the instructor requires one. Instead, four lines in the top left of page 1: your name, instructor name, course, and date
- Title centered (not bold, not underlined, not in quotes) one double-space below the date block
- In-text citations use author last name and page number with no comma between them: (Smith 42)
- Works Cited page at the end, on its own page, with hanging indent
Example excerpt from the MLA sample, body paragraph: "Conrad's narrator does not describe the wilderness so much as he refuses to. The Congo is rendered through what cannot be said about it. Marlow's repeated insistence that his story is 'inconclusive' (Conrad 11) is not a confession of narrative weakness but a structural argument: the European mind, the novella suggests, has no vocabulary adequate to what it has done." Notice how the quote is integrated. The writer sets up the quote with their own claim, then uses the source as evidence, then interprets the quote in their own voice. The page number sits inside the parenthetical with no "p." prefix and no comma. That punctuation pattern is correct MLA. Copy it. |
Chicago Format Research Paper Example (Chicago 17th Edition)
Chicago format appears most often in history, theology, and some social science courses. The current standard is the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition. Chicago supports two citation systems: notes-bibliography (footnotes plus a bibliography, common in history and humanities) and author-date (parenthetical citations plus a reference list, common in sciences and social sciences). The example below uses notes-bibliography because it is the more common student assignment.
Key Chicago 17 rules at a glance:
- 1-inch margins on all sides
- Double-spaced body text, single-spaced footnotes and bibliography entries (with a blank line between bibliography entries)
- 12-point Times New Roman is the standard
- Page numbers in the top right or bottom center, starting from the first page of body text (title page is unnumbered)
- Footnote numbers superscripted in the body, full citation in the footnote on first reference, shortened form on subsequent references
- Bibliography on its own page at the end
Example excerpt from the Chicago sample, body paragraph with footnote: "Lincoln's decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation as a war measure rather than a moral declaration has been read in two opposed ways by modern historians. James McPherson treats it as the natural endpoint of a moral logic Lincoln had been working through since 1854.¹ Eric Foner, by contrast, argues that the framing was strategic Lincoln understood that emancipation justified on military necessity could survive a Supreme Court that would have struck it down on moral grounds.² The disagreement is less about the proclamation itself than about what kind of politician Lincoln was when he signed it." ¹ James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 558. ² Eric Foner, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery (New York: W. W. Norton, 2010), 240. Notice three Chicago-specific moves. The footnote numbers are superscripted in the body text. The footnotes themselves give full publication details on first reference (author's full name, full title in italics, publication city, publisher, year, page number). Subsequent references to the same source would be shortened to the author's last name and a shortened title. The body prose stays clean of citation clutter; that's the point of notes-bibliography style. Copy the footnote punctuation exactly: comma after author name, italics on book title, parenthetical publication info, comma before page number. |
Harvard Format Research Paper Example
Harvard format is most common at UK and Australian universities and at some US graduate programs. It uses author-date in-text citations and a reference list at the end, similar to APA but with stylistic differences in punctuation and capitalization.
Key Harvard rules at a glance:
- Author-date in-text citations: (Smith, 2023, p. 42)
- Reference list at the end, alphabetized by author last name, with year in parentheses immediately after the author name
- Title-case capitalization for book and journal titles, sentence-case for article titles
- 1-inch margins, double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman is typical
Example excerpt from the Harvard sample, introduction paragraph: "The relationship between minimum wage policy and youth employment has been one of the most contested questions in labour economics for over thirty years. Card and Krueger's (1994) study of fast-food employment in New Jersey and Pennsylvania found no evidence that a minimum wage increase reduced employment, contradicting the prevailing economic consensus. Subsequent re-analyses by Neumark and Wascher (2000, p. 1362) using payroll data rather than telephone surveys reached the opposite conclusion. The disagreement persists because the two studies disagree on what counts as evidence, not on what the evidence shows." Notice three Harvard-specific moves. In-text citations use author and year together "(Card and Krueger, 1994)" with the page number added when quoting or paraphrasing a specific passage. The comma between author and year is required (this is one of the small differences from APA, which uses the same comma but with different reference-list conventions). Author names within prose ("Card and Krueger's study") don't need a year-only parenthetical immediately after if the year is clear from context, but most institutions prefer one. Copy the punctuation: a comma between the author and year, a comma before "p." when including a page number. |
Still flipping between formats and not sure which one your professor wants? If your assignment sheet does not say, default to APA. It is the most commonly required across US colleges. If you are working under a deadline and would rather skip straight to a finished paper that matches your assignment exactly, a research paper writing company can build the whole thing, formatted in your required style, the right length, with sources cited correctly, in 24 hours. Otherwise the field-specific examples below are organized by subject. |
Research Paper Examples by Subject
If your assignment is tied to a specific subject area, the conventions of that field shape what your paper looks like beyond just the format. The samples below show what a strong paper looks like in three of the most commonly assigned subjects.
Science Research Paper Example
Science papers follow IMRaD structure: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Each section answers a specific question.
- Introduction: What was the question, and why does it matter?
- Methods: what did you do, in enough detail that someone else could repeat it?
- Results: What did you find, with data presented neutrally?
- Discussion: What does it mean, and what are the limits?
The methods section is the part most students underwrite. If you want to model that section specifically, see our breakdown of the research paper methods section.
History Research Paper Example
History papers usually argue an interpretation rather than report findings. The thesis is contestable: another historian could disagree with it. The body builds the case from primary sources (documents from the period being studied) and secondary sources (other historians' work on the topic). Most history papers use Chicago notes-bibliography format, though some courses use MLA.
If you have not picked a topic yet, start with our list of history research paper topics.
Psychology Research Paper Example
Psychology papers use APA format and IMRaD structure. Empirical psychology papers follow the same Methods, Results, Discussion arc as science papers, with an emphasis on operational definitions of variables and proper handling of statistics in the results section. Literature review papers in psychology drop the methods and results sections and instead synthesize what the existing research says.
For topic ideas, see our list of psychology research paper topics.
Research Paper Examples by Length
The page count your professor assigns affects how much ground your paper can cover. Here is what each common length looks like in practice.
Short Research Paper Example (3 to 4 pages)
A 3-to-4-page paper covers one focused argument with three to four sources. There is no room for a literature review. The introduction is one paragraph, the body is two or three paragraphs, the conclusion is one paragraph. Most first-year college courses and high school papers fall in this range.
Standard Research Paper Example (5 to 8 pages)
A 5-to-8-page paper is the most commonly assigned length in college. The structure expands to an introduction, two or three substantial body sections (each with multiple supporting paragraphs), and a conclusion. You can engage five to eight sources comfortably and have room for one or two counterarguments.
10-Page Research Paper Example
A 10-page paper allows for a fuller treatment: a brief literature review, three or four major body sections, and a developed conclusion that opens onto implications. Typical for upper-division and major-elective courses. Plan on 8 to 12 sources.
Long-Form Research Paper Example (12 to 15 pages)
A 12-to-15-page paper is capstone, honors, and senior-seminar territory. It supports a full literature review, a clearly stated methodology (even in non-empirical disciplines), substantial body argumentation across four or five major sections, and a conclusion that reads like a contribution to the field. Plan on 15 or more sources.
Research Paper Examples by Academic Level
Research Paper Example for High School Students
High school research papers focus on building the foundational skills: identifying credible sources, taking notes that distinguish a quote from a paraphrase, citing properly, and structuring an argument with a clear thesis. Most run 3 to 5 pages and use MLA format.
Research Paper Example for College Students
College-level research papers expect original analysis, not just a summary of sources. Your professor is reading for whether you can synthesize, not whether you can repeat. Most college research papers run 5 to 10 pages and use APA or MLA format.
Examples of Specific Research Paper Sections
If you have a working draft and you are stuck on one specific section, these targeted examples will help more than reading another full paper.
- The introduction. The opening hook, the context paragraph, and the thesis statement are all moves you can study individually. See examples in our guide to the research paper introduction.
- The thesis statement. A weak thesis is the single most common reason a research paper falls apart. See our breakdown of research paper thesis statements.
- The outline. Before drafting any of the above, the structure should be locked.
- The methods section (for science and empirical psychology papers).
- The results section (for empirical papers). See the results section examples.
- The conclusion. The conclusion is where most students lose easy points. They restate the thesis verbatim and stop. A strong conclusion does more.
How to Use Research Paper Examples
Read the example that matches your assignment all the way through once before drafting your own. As you read, mark four things: where the thesis lands (usually the last sentence of the introduction), how each source is introduced before the citation (the pattern is claim, evidence, citation, interpretation), how transitions link sections rather than jumping between them, and how the conclusion returns to the thesis rather than just restating it.
Every example below is downloadable as a free PDF. None requires an account. Save the one closest to your assignment and use it as a model while you draft. For the writing process itself, outlining, drafting, and threading citations through paragraphs cleanly, see the parent guide on how to write a research paper.
Pick a Research Paper Sample by Length
If your professor gave you a page count, jump straight to a sample at that length:
- 3 to 4 pages: Short Research Paper Sample (PDF). Best for first-year intro courses.
- 5 to 8 pages: Standard Research Paper Sample (PDF). Most common assignment length.
- 10 pages: 10-Page Research Paper Sample (PDF). Typical for upper-division coursework.
- 12 to 15 pages: Long-Form Research Paper Sample (PDF). Capstone, senior seminar, honors.
If your professor gave you a word count instead, the rough conversion is 250 words per double-spaced page. A 5-page paper is around 1,250 words. A 10-page paper is around 2,500 words.
You now have a working model: same format your professor wants, roughly the length your assignment calls for, in your subject area. The harder part starts when you sit down to write yours: finding sources that are not already cited everywhere, structuring an argument that holds up across 8 to 10 pages, and threading citations cleanly through every paragraph without breaking the flow. If the writing is the part you would rather not do, our CollegeEssay.org team of research paper writers handles the entire paper end to end: topic-locked, formatted in APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard, sourced, and delivered within your deadline window.
Common Research Paper Mistakes: The Examples Will Help You Avoid
After reading any of the samples above, watch your own draft for these patterns. Each is a recurring problem in student papers, and each is something the samples avoid.
- Patchwriting. This is paraphrasing that sticks too close to the original wording, swapping in synonyms but keeping the sentence structure. It still counts as plagiarism. The fix is to read the source, close it, and write the idea in your own words from memory, then add the citation.
- Quote stuffing. Building paragraphs around long quotes from sources, with your own voice reduced to a connector between them. Aim for paraphrasing as the default and direct quotation only when the original wording matters.
- Floating citations. A parenthetical citation at the end of a sentence with no signal that the source is being used. Better: introduce the source by author or by their argument before the citation.
- The five paragraph essay carries over. High school five-paragraph structure does not scale to college research papers. A college research paper has multi-paragraph sections, not single-paragraph "body points."
- Concluding by restating the thesis verbatim. The conclusion should return to the thesis with whatever the paper has earned along the way. A reader who skips to the conclusion should learn something they could not have learned from the introduction alone.
What Comes After You Have Your Research Paper Sample
If you are doing the writing yourself, the next step is the outline. Once you have a topic and a working thesis, lock the structure before you draft. Use our research paper outline guide to get the bones in place, then come back to the example you downloaded above and use it as a model for the prose.
Get a Polished Research Paper Without the Writing Stress
You have got working examples now, across formats, levels, lengths, and subjects, and a clear sense of what a finished research paper actually looks like. The work that is left is yours: pick your topic, pull your sources, and start drafting. If you would rather skip the writing and get straight to a polished paper, send us your assignment sheet (topic, length, format, deadline, any specific source requirements), and we will have a research paper writer build it from scratch. Most papers come back inside 24 to 48 hours, fully formatted and ready to submit.
