Highlights
Guidelines
What are APA Style JARS?
APA Style Journal Article Reporting Standards (APA Style jars) are a set of standards designed for journal authors, reviewers, and editors to enhance scientific rigor in peer-reviewed journal articles. Educators and students can use APA Style jars as teaching and learning tools for conducting high quality research and determining what information to report in scholarly papers.
The standards include information on what should be included in all manuscript sections for:
- Quantitative research (jars–Quant)
- Qualitative research (jars–Qual)
- Mixed methods research (jars–Mixed)
Additionally, the APA Style Journal Article Reporting Standards for Race, Ethnicity, and Culture (jars–rec) provide guidance on how to discuss race, ethnicity, and culture in scientific manuscripts. jars–rec should be applied to all research, whether it is quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. The use of jars–rec is one of recommendations offered in the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Toolkit for Journal Editors.
Using these standards will make your research clearer and more accurate as well as more transparent for readers. For quantitative research, using the standards will increase the reproducibility of science. For qualitative research, using the standards will increase the methodological integrity of research.
jars–Quant should be used in research where findings are reported numerically (quantitative research). jars–Qual should be used in research where findings are reported using nonnumerical descriptive data (qualitative research). jars–Mixed should be applied to research that includes both quantitative and qualitative research (mixed methods research). jars–rec should be applied to all research, whether it is quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods.
For more information on APA Style jars:
- Read Editorial: Journal Article Reporting Standards
- View an infographic (PDF, 453KB) to learn about the benefits of jars and how they are relevant to you
- Listen to a podcast with Drs. Harris Cooper and David Frost discussing jars and implications for research in psychology
Many aspects of research methodology warrant a close look, and journal editors can promote better methods if we encourage authors to take responsibility to report their work in clear, understandable ways.
Watch a video about JARS–REC
This video describes and discusses the APA Journal Article Reporting Standards for Race, Ethnicity, and Culture.
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Questions / feedback
Email an APA Style Expert if you have questions, feedback, or suggestions for modules to be included in future JARS updates.
