ap research academic paper rubric 2023

AP Research

Learn all about the course and assessment. Already enrolled? Join your class in My AP.

Not a Student?

Go to AP Central for resources for teachers, administrators, and coordinators.

About the Assessment

There is no end-of-course written exam for AP Research. Instead, you’ll be assessed on performance tasks you complete that are based on your yearlong research project: an academic paper (which you’ll submit online for scoring through the AP Digital Portfolio), a presentation, and an oral defense of your research. These components all contribute to your final AP score on a scale of 1–5.

Updates to AP Research Performance Task

Given the implications of ChatGPT and other similar generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools on the AP Research performance task components, we’ve updated the guidance  regarding the use of these tools. These guidelines require your teacher to attest to the authenticity of your work in order for you to receive a score on the associated performance task. Review the  AP Research Course and Exam Description for the full policy and details.

Assessment Date

Wed, Apr 30, 2025

11:59 PM ET

AP Research Performance Task Due Date

Submit your AP Research performance task as final in the AP Digital Portfolio by this date.

Assessment Components

Academic paper.

75% of Score

The academic paper should be 4,000–5,000 words long. You’ll be evaluated on the content, structure, format, and conclusions of the paper as well as your ability to properly and accurately cite sources.

Presentation and Oral Defense

25% of Score

The culminating event of the AP Research course will be a presentation of your research question, research methodology, and findings, including an oral defense that addresses a set of questions about your research inquiry. The presentation and defense take 15–20 minutes. You will also be required to answer 3–4 questions from a panel of trained evaluators and your AP Research teacher.

• AP Research teachers use a scoring rubric designed by the AP Program.
• AP Research teachers also take part in mandatory training from the AP Program in how to score these components.

How We Score Your Work

Teacher Scored Components

Your in-class presentation and oral defense is scored by your AP Research teacher.

Here’s how we make sure that scoring by AP Research teachers is standardized:

College Board Scored Components

After you submit your academic paper online through the AP Digital Portfolio, it is scored by trained, experienced educators called AP readers.

Assessment Essentials

Assessment preparation, ap daily videos.

Once you join your AP class section online, you’ll be able to access AP Daily videos in AP Classroom. AP Daily videos cover every proficiency and skill outlined in the AP Research Course and Exam Description. Sign in to access them.

Performance Task Sample Student Responses and Scoring Information

Go to the Academic Paper Samples and Scoring Information section of the AP Research assessment page on AP Central to review the latest scoring information and sample student responses for the performance tasks.

Past Performance Task Samples and Scoring Information

Go to AP Central to review student samples of the academic paper, as well as scoring information for both performance tasks, from past years.

AP Research Course and Exam Description

This is the core document for the course. It clearly lays out the course content and describes the assessment and the AP Program in general.

Services for Students with Disabilities

Students with documented disabilities may be eligible for accommodations for the through-course assessment and the end-of-course exam. If you’re using assistive technology and need help accessing the PDFs in this section in another format, contact Services for Students with Disabilities at 212-713-8333 or by email at [email protected] . For information about taking AP Exams, or other College Board assessments, with accommodations, visit the Services for Students with Disabilities website.

Guidance for Artificial Intelligence Tools and Other Services

Learn more about the AP Program’s policy on generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT).

Credit and Placement

Search AP Credit Policies

Find colleges that grant credit and/or placement for AP Exam scores in this and other AP courses.

Additional Information

AP ® Research Syllabus

9 pacing guide, 9.1 unit 1: introduction.

July/August : Develop research ideas/topics and formulate focused research questions. [CR1a] [CR1b]

Use Workbook (pp. 18–26) as a guide to turn a problem statement in your field of inquiry into a focused research question. [CR1a]

E-mail your teacher with your proposed research topic and focused research question. You may submit multiple topics/questions if you have not decided on just one. [CR1g]

• focused: narrowing in scope
• valuable: contributes to a new understanding in the field
• feasible: replicable method that can be completed in a few months in time for the final paper deadline

August/September : Conduct preliminary research on a research topic. Begin annotated bibliography. Refine research question and begin research proposals. Gain familiarity with the academic paper rubric. [CR1b] [CR1c] [CR1d]

Refer to Workbook (pp. 6–9) to explore different ways of knowing across disciplines. [CR1c]

• In your PREP, reflect on how your chosen discipline engages in research using your collected sources as examples. [CR1f] [CR4a]

Use Workbook (pp. 64–81) as a guide to begin your annotated bibliography. Focus on the following points:

• Select a discipline-specific style (e.g., MLA, APA, or Chicago) used in your field of inquiry. Refer to Workbook (p. 65) and Purdue OWL for detailed documentation on citation styles.
• Select and use a reference management software such as Mendeley to organize your sources and integrate your bibliography into Microsoft Word or LaTeX.
• Go through the process of SMARTER searches to ensure that sources are situated in your topic of inquiry from multiple perspectives, relevant to your research question, and integrated into the broader field of knowledge (Workbook, pp. 75–76). [CR1c] [CR1d]
• Begin your annotated bibliography with 5–10 sources. Add 5–10 sources every week to your annotated bibliography until you have enough sources to develop a literature review. Refer to Workbook (pp. 77-81) for sample annotated bibliography entries.
• When finding sources, you should use the PAARC test to assess credibility, validity, and relevance (Workbook, pp. 82–83).

Go through previous AP Research sample papers . Annotate sample papers using the new AP Research paper rubic .

9.2 Unit 2: Topic to Proposal

October/November : Complete research proposals for approval. Synthesize annotated bibliography into literature review. [CR1d] [CR3]

As a class, we will go over important ethical pratices in research, including the following:

• AP Capstone Policy on Plagiarism and Falsification or Fabrication of Information [CR2b]
• IRB process for research involving human subjects [CR2a]
• Consent forms for research participants [CR2a]
• Parental permission for research participants under age 18 [CR2a]

Do a dry run of an inquiry method using the Health Halos Experiment (Workbook, pp. 148–153). As a class, use this topic to fill out an inquiry proposal form as a sample.

With you own research topic, complete an initial draft of the inquiry proposal form. [CR3]

Use p. 77 of the Workbook as a reference to develop a brief elevator speech with an informal poster containing the following elements: [CR5]

• Proposal title
• Problem statement & research question
• Definitions, hypotheses, and importance of study
• Proposed research methods
• List of sources
• Develop slides to present elements of the inquiry proposal form for peer review. [CR1e] [CR1g] [CR5]

Revise inquiry proposal form to reflect peer review comments. [CR1e] [CR1f]

Submit inquiry proposal form to teacher for approval. If applicable, you should include IRB forms and identify potential expert advisors. You may not begin conducting research until your teacher approves your inquiry proposal form. [CR2a] [CR3]

• Store your PREP on a cloud server and share a password-protected URL link with your teacher for weekly progress check-ups.
• Create a folder in your PREP to document reflections on peer review comments as well as feedback from your teacher and expert advisors. [CR1f]

9.3 Unit 3: Research Methods

November/December : Learn and implement replicable research methods to address research question. [CR3]

Review Chapter 3 of Gray et al. (2007, pp. 33–56) for an overview on research design.

• Learn more about your research design and the specific research methods you will employ to conduct your research.
• As a starting point, establish if you will use qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods. Reference “6. The Methodology” tab in USC Libraries Research Guides before you embark on more specific methods.

Review Chapters 8, 9, and 10 in Creswell (2009, pp. 145–225) for quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods, respectively.

Create a research blueprint poster and present your proposed research design/methods to the class for peer review. [CR1e] [CR1g]

• Research question and hypothesis
• Literature review
• Continue to build more sources into annotated bibliography.
• Synthesize annotated bibliography into an initial literature review draft for the research proposal. [CR1d]
• Align research question with literature review and research methods. By the time you begin applying your research methods, your research question should no longer shift to ensure that you are not trying to make the data fit your question.
• Demonstrate that you are learning enough about your research methods to apply them properly in your own research. Create a separate folder in your PREP to document your learning process on research methods. [CR1f] [CR4a]

9.4 Unit 4: Academic Paper Drafts & Peer Review

January/February : Complete implementation of research methods. Undergo peer review of academic paper drafts. [CR3] [CR1e]

Finish conducting your research and documenting your results in your PREP. [CR4a]

Adapt your research proposal into the first draft of your academic paper. Refine the methods section of your paper to reflect findings from your research. Include a new section that analyzes and evaluates your results. Your conclusion should include limitations of the study and directions for future studies. [CR3]

• Submit your initial draft for peer review.
• File the peer review comments from your classmates into your PREP.

Develop slides on your research method and findings. Present results to the class for peer review. [CR1e] [CR1g]

9.5 Unit 5: Final Academic Paper, Presentation, and Oral Defense

March/April : Complete and submit final academic paper. Conduct 20-minute presentation with oral defense. [CR3] [CR5]

Incorporate peer review feedback into the second draft of the paper. [CR1e]

• Submit your second draft for a final round of peer review.

Refer to pages 58–59 of the AP Research Course and Exam Description for the list of oral defense questions. You will receive one question per section for a total of three questions and possibly some follow-up questions. [CR5]

• In your PREP, outline some responses to these questions as preparation for your oral defense. You will not know ahead of time which questions the panel will ask, so do not try to memorize responses.

Finalize academic paper and submit it to AP Digital Portfolio. Your teacher will dedicate class time for students to upload their final papers a few days before the official deadline. [CR3]

Sign up for a 20-minute time slot to present and orally defend your research. Prior to the presentations, we will go over the presentation and oral defense rubric . The presentations and oral defense will be recorded. [CR5]

9.6 Unit 6: Beyond AP Research

May/June : Finalize PREP and begin introduction to research tools necessary for research at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Finalize your PREP with the following points in mind: [CR4a]

Include a readme file that documents the contents and purpose of each folder and file in your PREP. Anyone who reads through your readme file should be able to understand how to navigate your PREP without ever having worked with you during the research process.

Finalize data documentation that includes metadata (i.e., data about the data) and step-by-step instructions that show how you used the data in your research methods to arrive at your results. Anyone with your PREP should be able to locate the data documentation file from your readme file descriptions and follow your instructions to replicate your results.

Explore current best practices of reproducible research.

• R (using RStudio)
• LaTeX (using TeXStudio)
• R Sweave (Rnw files = R + LaTeX)
• R Markdown (R + Markdown to produce HTML, Word, LaTeX, and PDF outputs)
• Instead of saving multiple versions of the same file with version numbers appended to the file name, you can use just one file and commit changes to a repository, which will store metadata about each version of the file.

Develop a basic static website to showcase your research for college applications and future employment.

• We will use the R blogdown package to develop a basic static website with Hugo, an open-source website generator. Hosting the site is completely optional.
• Research portfolio
• Research blog posts
• Publication section

• Link to facebook
• Link to linkedin
• Link to twitter
• Link to youtube
• Writing Tips

A Guide to the Advanced Placement Research Paper Rubric

6-minute read

• 18th July 2023

It’s that time of year again! Soon, students will pick up their pencils and books (or more likely, their laptops) and start another academic year. In the US, many high school students will enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) courses . The AP program enables students to take rigorous, college-level courses while still in high school. If you take an AP course, you’ll start earning college credits before you’ve even graduated from high school. One of these courses is the AP Research project .

What Is AP Research?

AP Research follows AP Seminar in the two-year AP Capstone program, which focuses on building skills you can use in any discipline. When doing an AP Research project, you’ll dive deeply into an academic topic, problem, or issue you are personally interested in. During the year-long process, you’ll design, plan, and conduct a research-based investigation. At the end of this process, you’ll write an academic paper of 4,000–5,000 words detailing your research and give an oral presentation summarizing it.

How Is the Research Project Graded?

Both your paper and your presentation count toward your project grade, with 75% of the grade coming from the paper and 25% of the grade coming from the oral presentation. The paper and the oral presentation each have their own grading rubrics.

How Does the Research Paper Rubric Work?

For the paper, you’re given a score of 1–5 (1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest) on 6 different aspects of your paper. The aspects are your topic, your literature review, your method, your results and analysis, your communication, and your citations .

Let’s break each of these components down.

Choosing your topic is the first and arguably most important part of your project. You know what interests you – the hard part is narrowing it down to a single topic. You’ll want to find one specific aspect to pursue – in other words, one specific question to ask – and focus on that throughout the entire project.

Problems occur when your topic is overly broad; either you try to answer too many questions, or the questions you ask can’t be answered within the scope of the required 4,000–5,000 words. Problems can also arise when your research gets off track. Your topic should be the entire focus of your paper from the introduction to the very last line.

Your Literature Review

To plan your research, you need to know what research has already been done. Your topic needs to focus on a gap in that research. In other words, ask a question that nobody else has answered yet. The only way to know what questions have already been asked (and answered) is to collect and review the literature that already exists. You’ll need a wide variety of scholarly sources that explore all aspects of your topic.

To truly study an issue, you need to understand both sides of it, and you’ll need to collect sources that give varying perspectives.

Finally, you’ll need to explain how there’s a gap in these sources (that’s the question that you’re trying to answer) and draw a clear line between the knowledge that already exists and your topic of inquiry.

Your Method

In research, your method consists of the specific tools and procedures you use to collect and analyze data. If you’re doing scientific or primary research, this might be the steps of your experiment. With secondary research, this might be a meta-analysis or content analysis.

Provide clear documentation of your method so that anyone reading your paper will be able to reproduce what you’ve done. You’ll also need to demonstrate how your method was used to collect and analyze data directly relating to your topic of inquiry. If your method is vague, non-replicable, or only questionably related to your topic of inquiry, you’ll have points deducted.

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Your Results and Analysis

Here it is – the whole purpose of your research. This is, in simplest terms, the answer to the question your paper asked.

Make sure that your results present new data – don’t just summarize or repeat existing knowledge. Avoid making your analysis section a repeat of your literature review. You must convey a new understanding or conclusion and ensure you can make a reasoned argument for that understanding based on your data. You should also avoid making grand, overreaching conclusions based on limited data. Your conclusion should flow logically from your literature review through your method and results.

Your Communication

This is where you polish your paper. You don’t want typos, spelling mistakes , grammar errors , and formatting issues to distract your audience from the awesome job you’ve done researching. If you have an amazing project but your paper is not well organized, your audience is going to have a hard time seeing it. Take some time to go through the fine details to make sure all your points are laid out clearly without any errors to sidetrack your audience.

Your Citations

Remember all that literature you reviewed at the beginning of your project? This is where you let your audience know what sources you used. Make sure to cite your sources both in the paper and at the end in a bibliography. You’ll need a citation style guide appropriate to your particular discipline, and you’ll need to follow it. There are a lot of fine details involved in citing sources, so go through your citations with a fine-tooth comb and make sure the formatting is right.

So, who’s grading these papers?

The College Board (the organization that administers the AP program) scores your research paper. Your teacher scores your oral presentation.

Are there examples of previous papers to follow?

Yes. The AP research website offers sample papers in several disciplines. This is particularly helpful since they include the score of each paper and a comment on why that score was given.

A Word of Caution

The AP Research program takes plagiarism very seriously. Students are prohibited from using any AI tools or essay-writing services in any part of their research paper. While AI can be useful for certain academic pursuits, AP Research is not one of them. The AP Research paper is all about your research and what you’ve learned conducting it.

In Conclusion

The AP Research project is a chance to dive into a topic that you’re passionate about. When the proper steps are followed and the rubric is properly applied, that passion will shine through in your paper for everyone to see.

Need some helpful tips for putting your paper together? Check out our Writing Tips and Academic Writing Tips blogs.

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Class Information

Parent Letter

Course Detailed Syllabus    AP Course Description / Standards

Course and Exam Description.pdf (from CollegeBoard)

AP Research Summer Work

Research Paper Rubric.pdf (2018-present)

Course Proficiencies Rubric Outline.pdf (2017-present)

Presentation and Oral Defense Rubric.pdf (2017-present)

Oral Defense Questions.pdf (UPDATED)

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com

Cambridge Core: https://www.cambridge.org/core

Oxford Journals: http://www.oxfordjournals.org/en

Springer: http://link.springer.com

ERIC: https://eric.ed.gov/?advanced

Wilson Center: http://wilsoncenter.org

National Center for Biotechnology Information: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

100 Search Engines For Academic Research .pdf

Research Design Textbook.pdf

Research Website Guides

USC Libraries Research Guides: http://libguides.usc.edu

Purdue OWL Research: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/research

Social Science Statistics Home Page: http://www.socscistatistics.com

Citation Style by Discipline

University Library: American University

USC Libraries: Citation Guide

Subject-Specific Resources: Purdue Online Writing Lab

Types of Educational Research: Website

Statistics (Videos)

Annenberg Learner Website: Against All Odds: Inside Statistics

AP Central - AP Research Course Home Page: http://bit.ly/2aPAqsi

TED Talks: https://www.ted.com

Educational TED Talks: http://ed.ted.com

Types of Methods.pdf

http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/stat_t.php

Harry Potter Example Paper.pdf

T-Test Link #1    T-Test Link #2

Class Readings and Handouts

Why so many people sleep in McDonald's in Hong Kong - CNN.pdf

Greenland Has The World's Highest Suicide Rate...: NPR.pdf    weblink: http://n.pr/1TkUCT5

Time trend by region of suicides and suicidal thoughts among Greenland Inuit.pdf

Facing History webpage for Race and Membership Book (scroll to the bottom of the page)

AP Research Topics for 2016.xlsx

Vaccines and Autism Article.pdf

Jenny McCarthy Article    YouTube Video

Do these sources work with PAARC? Which one is best source?

• Why do Koreans prefer apartments over private houses?    PDF Version

• Why dream of a high-rise apartment?    PDF Version

• After Decades of Economic Growth, South Korea is the Land of Apartments    PDF Version

Beginning Your Research.pdf

Understanding the IRB.pdf

Inquiry Proposal Form.docx    Inquiry Proposal Form.pdf

Training Sample Papers

Training Sample 1.pdf

Training Sample 2.pdf

Training Sample 3.pdf

Training Sample 4.pdf

Training Sample 5.pdf

Student Research Paper Samples

Student Sample #1.pdf                         Sample #1 2017.pdf

Student Sample #2.pdf                         Sample #2 2017.pdf

Student Sample #3.pdf                         Sample #3 2017.pdf

Student Sample #4.pdf                         Sample #4 2017.pdf

Student Sample #5.pdf                         Sample #5 2017.pdf

Student Sample #6.pdf                         Sample #6 2017.pdf

Student Sample #7.pdf

Student Sample #8.pdf

HHS Research Paper Samples

NOTE: Your name is never on the paper when it is submitted. On the title page is only your title and word count .

1- High School Foreign Language Education.pdf (survey example)

2- Food Deserts.pdf (content analysis, defining)

3- ADHD and Comorbidity.pdf (content analysis)

4-.Speech,Gender,Politicspdf.pdf (content analysis, and video research)

AP Digital Portfolio Student User Guide for AP Capstone