How to report a correlation in APA 7
A Pearson correlation is usually reported as r(df) = value, followed by the exact p value. For a standard bivariate Pearson correlation, df equals N − 2; the formatter calculates it automatically from the sample size. A Spearman correlation is distinguished with a subscript, commonly rs. The coefficient, r, p, N, and df are Latin-letter statistical symbols and are italicized in formatted output.
Correlation coefficients and probabilities cannot exceed 1 in absolute value, so omit their leading zeros: write r = .360 and p = .004, not 0.360 and 0.004. This formatter uses three decimals for correlations and probabilities, keeping precision consistent across the result. Never report p = .000; use p < .001. Common omissions include the degrees of freedom and the direction sign on a negative coefficient. The consistency check converts r to a t statistic and recomputes p. Use the one-tailed toggle if your directional hypothesis was specified before analysis.
Worked example
For 64 participants, study time and exam performance correlated at .360. The degrees of freedom are 64 − 2 = 62, and the two-tailed probability is .004.
r(62) = .360, p = .004.