APA Style

• American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. • Second printing (copyright 2010)

• APA Tutorial:• http://www.apastyle.org/learn/tutorials/basics-

tutorial.aspx

APA Publication Manual • First introduced in 1929 as an article to codify scientific writing

to increase reading comprehension• Locate important information in articles (key points and

findings)• To allow for a uniform methods of reporting information• More rigorous rules for research• Also used by nursing, education, social work, and business,

and other behavioral and social sciences

Title Page – Page 1• Running Head (only on title page):• Left justified

• Page number:• Right justified

• Title of paper, author, institutional affiliation:• Middle center

• Title• Concise• Identify the variables or theoretical issues and the relationship

between them • The length of the title should not exceed 12 words

Abstract – Page 2• Running head (without the words “running head”):• Left justified• Page 2:• Right justified• The word “Abstract”: • Centered above text• What is it? • Brief comprehensive summary of the ENTIRE report• Should include:• Problem, participants, essential features of method, basic

findings, conclusions. • Be concise! Be non-evaluative! Be coherent! Be accurate!

Introduction – Page 3

Why?• Tells reader what the study is about and why it’s

important.• Summarizes past research, with strengths and

weaknesses.• Introduces current research in a way that the reader can

see the rationale in. • Presents explicit purpose and research questions.

Relevant scholarship• After the introduction and purpose.• Provide a summary of the most relevant research • Avoid lengthy discussion. Present the study this way:• What did they study?• How did they study it?• What did they find?• Strengths and weaknesses of the article?

• Put this in logical order! Think about why you are ordering the studies in the way you are.

• Do not forget to CITE!!!

Scientific Voice

Use past tense or present perfect in the Introduction:• Past tense: “Mitchell (2003) found…” MOSTLY• Present perfect: “Researchers (Smith, 2003; Furey, 1989) have

found…”• For more advice on writing style, refer to:• APA Manual, Chapter 3 “Writing Clearly and concisely”• APA Manual, Chapter 4 “The Mechanics of Style”• McCloskey, D.N. (2000). Economical Writing• Strunk, W., & White, E.B. (2000) The Elements of Style

Active vs. Passive language• Always speak actively, meaning…• The researchers have done the work, so give THEM credit, not

the study. • Do

• We conducted the survey in a controlled setting. • Do Not

• The survey was conducted in a controlled setting. • Research has shown… • The study revealed…

When to Cite? Always!• Cite the work of those individuals whose ideas, theories, or

research have directly influenced your work.

• Citing an article implies that you have personally read it.

• Provide documentation for all facts and figures that are not common knowledge.

Cite often• Cite when paraphrasing, quoting the author directly, or

describing an idea that influenced your work.

• Avoid using direct quotes (Do not quote!)• Instead, paraphrase past research in your own words, then cite.

• Notice how often authors cite other work in published articles.

• Citing is a good thing! It means you have done your reading and are not just giving your opinions.

How to cite?

Some examples…Citing a scholarly article:

Asch (1946) explored the cognitive processes used to form an impression of others, finding…

In their study, Best and Addison (2000) found…

Another theory of impression formation states that some characteristics are more influential than others (Hock, 2002).

Citing a book:In the book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell (2005) described the power

of first impressions.

Method Check list

• Subsections:I. Participants informationII. Materials (survey)III. Procedure

Participants• Describe the sample as specifically as possible• Details of the participants

• Why? This description will help determine the generalizability of the study.

• Describe the procedure to select participants• Describe the setting and location were the data was located• Mention the agreements and payments made to participants

(if any) – Compensation.

Measures• Information that provides definition about primary and

secondary outcome measures• Method used to gather data (e.g. interview, questionnaire,

observation, etc.)• Provide information on the instruments used

Procedure• Include:• The manipulation• How participants were assigned to this conditions

• Why do we need to be as specific as possible?• Reader can clearly comprehend the process of the study• Near replication of the study can be done

Results• Summarize the specific conclusions that can be reached on the

basis of the analyses, but save interpretation and elaboration on these conclusions for a Discussion section. For example,

• Example: “The results support the conclusion that manipulation of the descriptors ‘warm’ and ‘cold’ effect impression formation for a hypothetical individual.”

Discussion• Start the discussion with a clear statement of the support or

nonsupport for your original hypothesis.

• Tell the reader about the main findings without using statistical terminology.

•Discuss the implications of the results. Whatever was found needs to be discussed.

•How the results relate to the literature you cited in the introduction. • Emphasize any theoretical consequences of the results.• State the similarities and differences between your

results and the results of others

Discussion

• This section should contain an absolute minimum of four paragraphs: • non-technical summary, • discussion of the results and their implications,• limitations of the current research/future research suggestions, • and the concluding paragraph.

Discussion • Acknowledge the limitations of your research:• Address alternative explanations of your results• Suggestions for future research in this section.

• End the discussion section with:• A final summary statement of the conclusions you

have drawn, • A Reasoned and justifiable commentary on the

importance of your findings.

References

• Format• Start on a new page. • Center the word References at the top.• As usual, double space.

• Any citations made in the manuscript must be presented in this section and vice versa.• If something is not cited in the text, it should not appear in

this section.

• Whenever you say something like ”studies have shown” you must provide a citation.

References Cont.• This section tells the reader where they can find these

citations.

• Alphabetized by last name (of the first author involved in the study).• Asch, S. E. (1946).• Best, J. B., & Addison, W. E. (2000).• Kelley, H. H. (1950).

References Cont.• A hanging indent is employed for each reference, that is, the

first line is not indented and the rest are five-space indented.

• For each author, give the last name followed by a comma and the first (and middle) initials followed by periods.

• Separate multiple authors with commas and the last author with the ampersand ('&') rather than the word "and".

• After the author(s) comes the year (in parentheses and followed by a period).

References Cont.• For a journal reference, italicize the title of the journal and the

volume number. Also, capitalize the important words of the journal title.• Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 111-122.

• For a book reference, just italicize the title. Only capitalize the first word of the title. Do include the city, state (as a two-letter abbreviation without periods), and the publisher's name.

Journal Reference Example

Anderson, A. K., Christoff, K., Panitz, D., De Rosa E., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2003). Neural correlates of the automatic processing of threat facial signals. Journal of Neuroscience, 23, 5627–5633.