Examples of Creating Figures in APA Style: 3 Practical Examples That Actually Help

Instead of starting with rules, let’s start with what you actually need: concrete, real examples of creating figures in APA style: 3 practical examples you can copy, tweak, and reuse.

We’ll build three core figure types you see over and over in student and professional papers:

• A bar graph showing survey responses
• A line graph showing change over time
• A conceptual diagram showing relationships between variables

As we go, I’ll point out the APA 7th edition rules in plain language and show how to turn messy data into clean, readable figures.

Example 1: Bar Graph of Survey Results (Most Common Student Figure)

Think about a basic intro psych project: you ask 60 students how many hours per week they study and break them into three groups—low, moderate, and high study time. You want a figure that shows average exam scores for each group.

This is one of the best examples of creating figures in APA style because variations of this bar graph show up in thousands of student papers every semester.

Imagine your data look like this:

• Low study (0–4 hours/week): M = 72, SD = 8, n = 20
• Moderate study (5–9 hours/week): M = 81, SD = 7, n = 20
• High study (10+ hours/week): M = 88, SD = 6, n = 20

You create a vertical bar graph with three bars, one for each group, with error bars showing the standard deviation.

How this bar graph should look in APA style

Figure number and title go above the figure, in bold, left aligned:

Figure 1
Mean Exam Scores by Weekly Study Time Group

APA likes short, clear, sentence-case titles. No need for fancy wording.

Under the figure, you add a figure note. This is where a lot of students get lost, so here’s a clean example of creating a figure note in APA style:

Note. Error bars represent ±1 SD. Low study = 0–4 hr/week, moderate study = 5–9 hr/week, high study = 10+ hr/week.

That’s it. You’ve just created one of the most common examples of creating figures in APA style: 3 practical examples often start with a simple bar graph like this because it teaches you:

• How to label axes (e.g., x-axis: Study time group; y-axis: Exam score)
• How to use a clear, bold title
• How to write a short, informative note

If you’re reporting health or behavioral data (say, average stress levels by sleep category), the structure is exactly the same. Sites like the CDC often publish bar graphs that follow similar clarity principles, even if they’re not strictly APA formatted.

Example 2: Line Graph Showing Change Over Time

Now picture a small experiment: you’re tracking average anxiety scores for two groups of participants over four weeks. One group receives a mindfulness intervention, the other does not.

You measure anxiety each week using a standardized scale (for example, something like the GAD-7 scale used in clinical research; you can read more about anxiety measures at the National Institute of Mental Health).

Your data might look like this:

• Mindfulness group (n = 25): anxiety scores drop from Week 1 to Week 4
• Control group (n = 25): anxiety scores stay relatively stable

You decide to create a line graph with time on the x-axis (Week 1–Week 4) and mean anxiety score on the y-axis, with one line for each group.

APA-style formatting for the line graph

Above the graph:

Figure 2
Mean Anxiety Scores Over 4 Weeks by Intervention Group

Below the graph, your note might read:

Note. Higher scores indicate greater anxiety. Mindfulness group received weekly 60-min mindfulness sessions; control group received no intervention. Error bars represent ±1 SE.

This is another strong example of creating figures in APA style because it shows how to:

• Present repeated measures over time
• Differentiate groups with line style or color (solid vs dashed)
• Clarify what the scale means in the note (higher = more anxiety)

If you want to see how professionals do this with large datasets, browse line graphs in reports from NIH or major health organizations. While they don’t always follow APA exactly, the clarity and labeling strategies are similar.

Example 3: Conceptual Diagram (Variables and Relationships)

Not every figure is a graph. Sometimes you’re not showing data—you’re showing ideas.

Imagine you’re writing a paper on academic performance. You propose that sleep quality and study habits both predict GPA, and that stress weakens the relationship between study habits and GPA.

You decide to create a conceptual diagram with arrows:

• Sleep quality → GPA
• Study habits → GPA
• Stress moderates the link between study habits and GPA

How to format a conceptual figure in APA style

Above the diagram:

Figure 3
Proposed Model of Sleep, Study Habits, Stress, and GPA

Below the diagram, your note might say:

Note. Arrows represent hypothesized directional relationships. Stress is expected to weaken the positive association between study habits and GPA.

This is one of the best examples of creating figures in APA style when you’re working with theory, models, or path diagrams. You’re not reporting numbers; you’re helping the reader visualize your thinking.

If you’re in psychology or education, you’ll see real examples of conceptual figures in journal articles all the time. Many of them follow APA-style conventions even if the journal has its own small tweaks.

More Real Examples You Can Adapt Quickly

The three core figures above cover most classroom assignments, but you’ll often need variations. Here are additional real examples of creating figures in APA style you can build from the same patterns:

• A stacked bar graph showing the percentage of participants in each BMI category by gender in a health study
• A scatterplot showing the relationship between hours of sleep and reaction time in a driving-simulation experiment
• A box plot comparing distributions of depression scores across three treatment conditions
• A flow diagram showing how participants moved through your study (invited → consented → excluded → analyzed)
• A timeline figure showing when different interventions or assessments occurred across a semester

Each of these follows the same core APA structure:

• Figure number and title above, bold and left aligned
• Figure itself centered on the page
• Figure note below, explaining abbreviations, symbols, and anything that might confuse the reader

When you’re stuck, ask yourself: Which of these examples of creating figures in APA style: 3 practical examples is closest to what I need? Then copy the structure, not the exact content.

Anatomy of a Good APA Figure (Using Our 3 Practical Examples)

Let’s pull the patterns together using the three main examples.

Across all of them, strong APA figures share the same backbone:

1. Clear, short title
All three examples use titles that:

• Describe what is shown (mean scores, proposed model)
• Mention the key variables (study time, anxiety, sleep, stress, GPA)
• Avoid extra words, abbreviations, and jargon

2. Logical axis labels and scales
In the bar and line graph examples, the x-axis and y-axis are labeled in plain language. No one should need to guess what a number or category means.

3. Simple visual design
In all three examples of creating figures in APA style, the visuals avoid decoration:

• Minimal gridlines
• No 3D effects
• Limited colors, used only to distinguish groups
• Consistent font and size (usually the same as the paper text or slightly smaller)

4. Informative figure note
The note is where you quietly answer questions before the reader has to ask them. In our three practical examples, the notes explain:

• What the error bars represent (SD or SE)
• What higher or lower scores mean
• How categories are defined
• What arrows represent in the conceptual diagram

Once you understand this anatomy, you can create dozens of variations that still feel clean and APA-friendly.

Step-by-Step: Turning Raw Data Into an APA Figure

Let’s walk through one more concrete example using the bar graph, since that’s where most students practice first.

Imagine you ran a quick online survey on social media use and mood with 120 college students. You grouped them into:

• Light users (0–1 hour/day)
• Moderate users (1–3 hours/day)
• Heavy users (3+ hours/day)

You measured mood on a 1–10 scale, where higher scores mean better mood.

You find:

• Light users: M = 7.8, SD = 1.2
• Moderate users: M = 7.1, SD = 1.4
• Heavy users: M = 6.3, SD = 1.6

Here’s how you’d build an APA-style figure from that.

First, choose a simple vertical bar graph with three bars.
Second, label your axes clearly:

• X-axis: Social media use (hr/day)
• Y-axis: Mean mood score (1–10)

Third, write your title and note:

Figure 4
Mean Mood Scores by Daily Social Media Use

Note. Higher scores indicate better mood. Light use = 0–1 hr/day, moderate use = 1–3 hr/day, heavy use = 3+ hr/day. Error bars represent ±1 SD.

This gives you another one of those real examples of creating figures in APA style that you can adapt for different topics—exercise, sleep, study time, screen time, anything you can group.

If you’re ever unsure how to interpret or present a scale, checking how major health organizations like Mayo Clinic or WebMD explain scores and ranges can help you phrase your notes clearly.

Common Mistakes (And How Our 3 Examples Avoid Them)

Looking back at our three main examples of creating figures in APA style: 3 practical examples, notice how they quietly dodge a bunch of common student errors:

• No figure titles like “Graph 1” or “Results.” Instead, they use specific, informative titles.
• No unexplained abbreviations. Any abbreviations are explained in the note.
• No clutter. The figures show only what’s needed to understand the result or model.
• No mismatched text. The font style and size are consistent with the paper.
• No missing units. Hours, weeks, and scale ranges are always labeled.

When in doubt, compare your draft figure to one of these best examples of creating figures in APA style. Ask: Would a reader who skipped the methods section still understand what this figure is showing? If the answer is yes, you’re in good shape.

Quick FAQ About APA Figures

How many examples of creating figures in APA style should I include in one paper?
Only as many as you need to tell the story of your data. Some short papers have no figures at all; others might have two or three. If a figure repeats what’s already clear in a table or in text, you probably don’t need it.

Can I reuse the same format from these examples of creating figures in APA style for my thesis?
Yes. The bar graph, line graph, and conceptual diagram examples include formats that work well for theses, dissertations, and journal submissions. Just adjust the titles, labels, and notes to match your variables and scales.

What is one good example of an APA figure note?
Something like: Note. Error bars represent ±1 SE. Higher scores indicate greater depressive symptoms. This explains the statistics and the meaning of the numbers in one short sentence.

Do I have to follow APA rules even if I’m using Excel, SPSS, or R to make figures?
Yes. The software will give you a starting point, but you’ll usually need to adjust fonts, remove extra gridlines, and rewrite default titles to match APA expectations.

Where can I see more real examples of APA figures?
The official source is the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.) and the free APA Style website. You can also skim recent articles in psychology or education journals through your university library to see how professional authors apply the same principles.

If you keep these examples of creating figures in APA style: 3 practical examples in mind—a bar graph, a line graph, and a conceptual diagram—you’ll have a reliable toolkit for almost any assignment. Start simple, label everything clearly, and let the figure do what it’s meant to do: help your reader understand your work at a glance.