Practical examples of multiple appendices in research papers

Real-world style examples of multiple appendices in research papers

Instead of starting with abstract definitions, let’s jump straight into how multiple appendices actually show up in real student and professional papers. When you look at strong examples of multiple appendices in research papers, you’ll notice a pattern: each appendix has a clear purpose and a clean label.

Here are a few realistic scenarios you might recognize from your own work.

Example of multiple appendices in a psychology research paper

Imagine a psychology honors thesis testing how sleep quality affects test performance in college students. The main paper focuses on the theory, literature review, methods, and results. The student doesn’t want to overload the methods section with pages of instruments and raw data, so they use several appendices:

• Appendix A – Survey Instrument: Full text of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the custom demographic questionnaire.
• Appendix B – Recruitment Materials: Email invitation, flyer text, and social media recruitment post.
• Appendix C – Detailed Statistical Output: Full SPSS or R output tables that would clutter the results section.
• Appendix D – Consent Form: IRB-approved informed consent form.

If you’re hunting for examples of multiple appendices in research papers in psychology, this is a classic setup: instruments in one appendix, recruitment and consent in another, and technical stats in a separate section.

Nursing or public health paper: examples include protocols and checklists

Now picture a nursing capstone project evaluating a fall-prevention program on a hospital unit. The main text describes the intervention and summarizes key findings. The appendices carry the operational details:

• Appendix A – Fall Risk Assessment Tool: The exact screening form used by nurses.
• Appendix B – Staff Training Materials: PowerPoint outline or handout text used during training.
• Appendix C – Data Collection Sheets: Sample of the daily log nurses completed.
• Appendix D – Policy Excerpt: The hospital’s fall-prevention policy section referenced in the discussion.

Professional reports from agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) often follow a similar pattern, with technical instruments and tools placed in appendices rather than the main body. You can see this style in many CDC reports at cdc.gov.

Education research: best examples of multiple appendices for classroom studies

Education research is full of examples of multiple appendices in research papers, because classroom studies produce a lot of artifacts. Imagine a master’s thesis on a reading intervention in 4th grade classrooms:

• Appendix A – Lesson Plans: Day-by-day plans for the four-week intervention.
• Appendix B – Student Worksheets: Sample worksheets and reading passages.
• Appendix C – Pre- and Post-Test Forms: The exact assessments used to measure reading gains.
• Appendix D – Parent Permission Letter: The letter sent home to parents.
• Appendix E – Coding Scheme: Rubric for scoring open-ended responses.

This kind of structure is very common in education theses hosted in university repositories (for example, many at Harvard Graduate School of Education and other .edu archives). The best examples keep each appendix focused on one type of material, so readers can quickly find what they need.

Engineering or computer science: multiple appendices for technical detail

Technical fields often generate code, diagrams, and calculations that don’t fit neatly into the main narrative. Consider a computer science project developing a new algorithm for scheduling tasks on a server cluster:

• Appendix A – Algorithm Pseudocode: Clear, formatted pseudocode for the main algorithm.
• Appendix B – Configuration Details: Server specs, software versions, and configuration files.
• Appendix C – Additional Benchmark Results: Extended tables and plots not included in the main results section.
• Appendix D – User Documentation Excerpt: The quick-start guide given to test users.

When you look for examples of multiple appendices in research papers in engineering or CS, you’ll often see this separation between conceptual explanation (in the main text) and raw technical detail (in the appendices).

Mixed-methods dissertation: a rich example of multiple appendices

Mixed-methods projects are some of the best examples because they naturally produce a lot of varied data.

Imagine a PhD dissertation studying telehealth satisfaction among rural patients using both surveys and interviews:

• Appendix A – Survey Questionnaire: All survey items, scales, and response options.
• Appendix B – Interview Guide: Semi-structured interview questions.
• Appendix C – Sample Interview Transcripts: De-identified excerpts used to illustrate coding.
• Appendix D – Codebook: Thematic codes, definitions, and examples.
• Appendix E – Ethics Approval: Excerpt of IRB approval letter.
• Appendix F – Recruitment Script: Phone script used to invite participants.

This style mirrors many dissertations available through university libraries and databases like ProQuest. You’ll often see dissertations in health fields referencing NIH or telehealth guidance, such as materials from the National Institutes of Health, then placing all the practical tools and scripts in multiple appendices.

Policy or public administration paper: examples include legislation and templates

In public policy or public administration, examples of multiple appendices in research papers often center on supporting documents:

• Appendix A – Policy Text: Key sections of a law or regulation being analyzed.
• Appendix B – Interview Protocols: Questions used when interviewing policymakers or agency staff.
• Appendix C – Data Dictionary: Definitions for variables in large administrative datasets.
• Appendix D – Sample Forms: Application or reporting forms used by agencies.

These appendices keep the paper readable while still letting readers inspect the exact materials behind the analysis.

Health sciences: tying appendices to clinical research standards

In medical and health research, appendices are often used to show that the study followed accepted standards or used validated tools. For instance, a clinical research paper on a new diabetes education program might include:

• Appendix A – Educational Materials: Handouts or slide content given to patients.
• Appendix B – Measurement Scales: Validated scales for self-efficacy or quality of life.
• Appendix C – Detailed Protocol: Step-by-step description of the intervention schedule.

If you browse patient education and clinical research materials from organizations like the Mayo Clinic (mayoclinic.org) or MedlinePlus/NIH (medlineplus.gov), you’ll see a similar separation between main explanations and supporting tools.

How to label and organize multiple appendices so they don’t confuse readers

Once you’ve seen several examples of multiple appendices in research papers, the next question is: how do you set yours up so they look just as polished?

The usual approach is to label them Appendix A, Appendix B, Appendix C, and so on. Each appendix starts on a new page, with a clear title at the top, such as:

Appendix A
Survey Instrument

Then in your main text, you refer to each appendix by its label and title:

• “The full survey instrument is provided in Appendix A.”
• “See Appendix B for recruitment materials.”
• “Detailed regression output is available in Appendix C.”

Most style guides (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) agree on this basic structure, though the exact formatting may differ. For academic work in psychology, education, and many social sciences, the APA Style guidelines are especially common; you can find current guidance on appendices at apastyle.apa.org.

A helpful rule of thumb: if you’re wondering whether something belongs in an appendix or in the main text, ask yourself, “Does my reader need this to understand my argument, or only to verify or replicate it?” If it’s about verification or replication, it often belongs in an appendix.

Deciding what deserves its own appendix (with real examples)

Looking back at our examples of multiple appendices in research papers, notice how each appendix gathers similar types of content together. That’s intentional. You want each appendix to answer a specific kind of question for the reader.

Here are some common categories that often become separate appendices:

• Instruments and tools: Surveys, interview guides, observation checklists, rubrics.
• Ethics and permissions: Consent forms, IRB approval letters, permission emails.
• Supplementary data: Extended tables, full correlation matrices, raw or semi-processed data.
• Procedures and protocols: Detailed step-by-step procedures, scripts, training outlines.
• Supporting documents: Policy excerpts, sample forms, templates, instructions.

For example, in a 2024 education thesis on online learning engagement, you might see:

• Appendix A – Student Engagement Survey
• Appendix B – Instructor Interview Guide
• Appendix C – LMS Log Variable Definitions
• Appendix D – Parent Consent and Student Assent Forms

Each appendix answers a different question:

• What exactly did you ask students? → Appendix A
• How did you talk to instructors? → Appendix B
• What do your data variables actually mean? → Appendix C
• Did you get permission? → Appendix D

This kind of clarity is what makes the best examples stand out.

Trends for 2024–2025: data, transparency, and digital appendices

Recent years have pushed research in a more transparent and data-sharing direction, and that affects how multiple appendices are used.

Some current trends you’ll see in newer examples of multiple appendices in research papers include:

• Bigger focus on reproducibility: Researchers increasingly use appendices (or online supplements) to share code, data dictionaries, and detailed analysis steps. This is especially visible in psychology, economics, and health sciences.
• Digital and online appendices: Journals and universities often host large datasets and code online, while the paper itself includes a shorter set of appendices for instruments and key materials.
• Clearer ethics documentation: Post-2020, many health and social science projects are more explicit about informed consent, data privacy, and remote data collection methods. These details frequently appear in appendices.

For instance, a 2025 public health paper on long COVID might:

• Summarize methods in the main article.
• Include survey instruments and consent forms in appendices.
• Provide full de-identified datasets and code in an online repository linked from the paper.

Organizations like the National Institutes of Health (nih.gov) strongly encourage data sharing and transparent methods, which naturally increases the use of multiple appendices and supplementary files.

Common mistakes to avoid when creating multiple appendices

After looking at many examples of multiple appendices in research papers, a few recurring problems show up again and again:

Overstuffing one giant appendix
Some writers throw everything into one long appendix labeled “Appendix A.” That defeats the purpose. It’s much easier for readers if you separate materials into logical chunks.

Inconsistent labeling
If you call something “Appendix A” in the text but the heading says “Appendix 1” on the page, readers get confused. Pick one labeling system (letters are most common) and stick with it.

No references in the main text
Readers won’t magically know what’s in your appendices. Be explicit: “See Appendix C for the full codebook.” Good examples of multiple appendices in research papers always cross-reference clearly.

Appendices that introduce new results
Appendices are for supporting material, not for hiding surprise findings. Any major result or argument should appear in the main body, even if the detailed tables live in an appendix.

Sensitive data in full raw form
In fields like health, education, or social work, you must be careful with identifiable information. De-identify or aggregate data before including it, and follow your institution’s ethics guidelines.

Quick FAQ about multiple appendices

What’s an example of good appendix labeling in a student paper?

A clean example of good labeling might look like this in a psychology thesis:

• Appendix A – Participant Survey
• Appendix B – Interview Protocol
• Appendix C – SPSS Output
• Appendix D – Informed Consent Form

Each label is used consistently in the text, and each appendix starts on a new page.

How many appendices are too many?

There’s no hard limit. Some of the best examples of multiple appendices in research papers have only two or three, while large dissertations might have eight or more. The key is whether each appendix serves a clear purpose and is referenced in the main text. If an appendix doesn’t help your reader understand, verify, or replicate your work, you probably don’t need it.

Do all appendices have to be the same type of content?

Not at all. Many examples of multiple appendices in research papers mix content types: instruments, ethics documents, data tables, and policy excerpts. What matters is grouping similar items together and labeling them clearly.

Should appendices appear in the table of contents?

For theses and dissertations, yes, they usually appear in the table of contents, listed as “Appendix A,” “Appendix B,” and so on, with page numbers. For journal articles, it depends on the journal’s style; some list them, some don’t.

Can I include online materials instead of long appendices?

Many journals and some universities now allow or even prefer online supplements for very large datasets or code. You might still include key instruments or summaries as appendices and then link to a repository (such as an institutional repository or an open science platform) for the full materials. When you look at recent examples of multiple appendices in research papers, you’ll often see this hybrid approach.

If you keep these patterns in mind and study a few real examples of multiple appendices in research papers from your discipline—especially recent theses and articles from reputable universities—you’ll quickly get a feel for what belongs where. Think of your appendices as the well-organized “back room” of your research: everything important is there, neatly labeled, ready for anyone who wants to look a little deeper.