AP Research

What the course covers

7 units

1. Unit 1

   Launching an Inquiry

   Free
   From curiosity to an approved proposal: choosing a topic, testing what you already assume, naming the purpose of the inquiry, drafting and revising a focused research question or project goal, planning a year that ends on April 30, and starting the process and reflection portfolio (PREP) that the paper's score depends on.
   6 topics

   1. 1.1CChoosing a Topic of Inquiry
   2. 1.2AUsing and Questioning Prior Knowledge
   3. 1.1DPurpose and Significance of Scholarly Inquiry
   4. 1.1EDeveloping a Research Question or Project Goal
   5. 1.5CPlanning, Persistence, and Expert Advisers
   6. 5.3AReflection and the Process and Reflection Portfolio

2. Unit 2

   Finding and Evaluating Sources
   Building the source base a literature review stands on: searching databases with real strategy, managing sources, telling scholarly from non-scholarly work, judging credibility and relevance for your specific inquiry, and taking apart other scholars' reasoning, evidence, and validity.
   5 topics

   1. 1.3ASearching for and Managing Information
   2. 1.4ARelevance and Credibility of Sources
   3. 2.2AAnalyzing a Line of Reasoning
   4. 2.2BEvaluating Evidence
   5. 2.2CJudging the Validity of an Argument

3. Unit 3

   The Literature Review and the Gap
   Turning sources into an argument for your study: putting scholars in conversation by theme, weighing competing perspectives and your own bias, tracing the implications and limits of existing conclusions, demonstrating (not asserting) a gap in the literature, and attributing every idea accurately. This is the Introduction and Literature Review of the paper and the step that most separates a 3 from a 4 or 5.
   5 topics

   1. 3.1AMapping Multiple Perspectives
   2. 3.2AEvaluating Competing Perspectives
   3. 2.3AImplications of Scholarly Claims
   4. 2.3BEstablishing the Gap
   5. 4.3AAttribution and Citation

4. Unit 4

   Research Design, Method, and Ethics
   Choosing how you will answer the question: reading other studies for how their methods fit their purposes, designing an aligned and replicable method with a defensible sample and analysis plan, working within the conventions of a discipline, and protecting participants, materials, and yourself. This is the Method, Process, or Approach section and the most common reason papers stall at a 3.
   4 topics

   1. 2.2DCritiquing Studies and Their Methods
   2. 1.5BDesigning an Aligned Method
   3. 4.1BDisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Approaches
   4. 1.5DEthical Research Practices

5. Unit 5

   Analyzing Evidence and Building the Argument
   Turning results into a new understanding: analyzing qualitative and quantitative data correctly, writing commentary that explains what evidence means, building a qualified line of reasoning, showing how the new understanding answers the gap, and explaining limitations and implications without hyperbole. This is the Results, Discussion, and Conclusion of the paper, where the difference between a 4 and a 5 lives.
   5 topics

   1. 4.2AInterpreting and Synthesizing Data
   2. 4.2BCommentary That Links Evidence to Claims
   3. 4.1ABuilding a Well-Reasoned Argument
   4. 4.4AReaching a New Understanding
   5. 4.5AConclusions, Limitations, and Implications

6. Unit 6

   Writing the Academic Paper
   Assembling and revising the paper itself: the required elements in a discipline-appropriate structure, alignment from question to conclusion, the 4,000 to 5,000 word limit and what counts toward it, precise prose for an educated non-expert, original and labeled data displays, and structured peer review before the April 30 submission.
   5 topics

   1. 5.1AStructuring the Academic Paper
   2. 5.1BConventions, Style, and Precision
   3. 5.1CDesign Elements and Data Displays
   4. 5.4AGiving Peer Review
   5. 5.4BUsing Feedback and Revising

7. Unit 7

   Presentation and Oral Defense
   Distilling a year of work into about 15 minutes for educated non-experts, delivering it with intent, and defending your choices, findings, and growth in answers to three panel questions. Maps directly onto the seven rows of the 24-point presentation and oral defense rubric.
   4 topics

   1. 5.1DAdapting the Argument for the Audience
   2. 5.1EDelivery and Presentation Design
   3. 5.1FDefending Inquiry Choices
   4. 5.3CReflecting on Significance and Growth

How the portfolio is scored

• Academic Paper

  Questions

  1

  Time

  Untimed

  Weight

  75%

  Format details

  Task types: Academic Paper, Paper Section

  Untimed (minutes 0 means untimed). One 4,000 to 5,000 word paper written across the year and submitted as final in the AP Digital Portfolio by April 30, 2027, 11:59 p.m. ET. Scored by College Board readers on a holistic 1 to 5 scale; readers stop at 5,500 words. Paper Section items are platform practice drafts of one required element, scored on the same five-level scale.

• Presentation and Oral Defense

  Questions

  4

  Time

  20 min

  Weight

  25%

  Format details

  Task types: Presentation and Oral Defense, Presentation Script, Oral Defense Question

  A presentation of about 15 minutes followed by three required defense questions (one research or inquiry process question, one depth of understanding question, one reflection question), with at most one extra clarifying question; only the first 20 minutes are scored. Scored by the AP Research teacher on a 24-point, 7-row rubric and submitted by May 10, 2027. A mock draws one Presentation Script plus one Oral Defense Question from each of the three categories.

Skills the exam scores

• ESAEstablish Argument

  Produce Scholarly Work. Show why your research matters by explaining the reasoning behind each choice in the research process and connecting your findings logically to your conclusion or new understanding.

• SUESelect and Use Evidence

  Produce Scholarly Work. Judge how significant your findings, results, or product are for the purpose of the inquiry, and choose the evidence that most effectively supports each claim.

• REDResearch Design

  Employ Research Practices. Narrow the focus of the inquiry and choose or design an ethical, feasible method that is aligned with the research question or project goal.

• UAAUnderstand and Analyze Argument

  Analyze Sources and Evidence. Analyze what is already known about the topic, including the arguments and evidence of other scholars, to narrow the focus and situate your research question or project goal.

• ESEEvaluate Sources and Evidence

  Analyze Sources and Evidence. Evaluate the credibility, relevance, and significance of sources and evidence for the choices you make during the inquiry.

• UACUnderstand and Analyze Context

  Understand Context and Perspective. Place the purpose and significance of your topic within a broader field or discipline and its scholarly conversation.

• ENAEngage Audience

  Communicate. Choose and use written and oral communication techniques suited to the audience, context, and purpose to convey and defend your conclusion or new understanding.

• APCApply Conventions

  Communicate. Choose an appropriate discipline-specific citation style and apply it consistently, along with the conventions of grammar, usage, style, and mechanics.

• REFReflect

  Communicate. Identify the challenges, successes, and moments of insight in your inquiry that changed your own thinking and reasoning.