APA format or American Psychological Association was created to standardize
the research based write-ups such as thesis or dissertation. It includes
following basic structuring

12pt. Times new roman font

Page header at the top of every page with a
page number

Four main sections:

Title page

Abstract

Main body

References

(The placement of the heading and page header
varies in different volumes of APA Format)

Well a basic research paper should have the
following sections:

Title page

Abstract

Body

References

Appendixes

Footnotes

Tables

Figure Captions

Figures

Except this you should be incorporating the format
that is been asked by your instructor, it could be APA style sheet or something else depends on your evaluator.