PSYC 200WEEK #6

APA Editorial Style Continued &The Main Parts of a Manuscript

Agenda Roll call Collect and discuss graded assignments APA Editorial Style (continued) Manuscript components Plan for next week / Announcements

Assignments Gramlich ch 9 rewriting assignment Extra Credit – dual article summary Single Article Summary assignment

Missing 6…please consult

APA Editorial Style (continued)

What is editorial style? The collection of rules and methods for

presenting written information that go beyond the typical rules of written English.PunctuationSpellingCapitalizationItalicsAbbreviationsNumbersMetricationStatistical & Math

Spelling – Preferred Spelling Use the dictionary!! Use the APA Dictionary of Psychology

(VandenBos, 2007) for psychological terms. Watch your plurals! Possessives

Add 's to make singular possessive (Walk’s, student’s)

Add ' after s on plurals (the Walks’ house, the students’ grades)

Spelling – Hyphenation For standard compound words, use the

dictionary as a guide For temporary compounds:

If the word precedes the word it modifies, it may need hyphenation○ The first-year students needed extra support.

If the word comes after the word it modifies, it usually doesn’t need hyphenation.○ The students were in their first year.

Spelling – Hyphenation (2) General Principle 1: If the compound can

be misread, use a hyphen. General Principle 2: If a temporary

compound is used as adjective before noun, use hyphen if the term expresses a single thought (all words modify the noun)Heavy-truck trafficHeavy truck traffic t-test results

Spelling – Hyphenation (3) General Principle 3: If the compound FOLLOWS the

term is describes or modifies, do not need hyphen (usually)The traffic had a lot of heavy trucks.The results from the t test

General Principle 4: Write most words formed with prefixes as one word (see p 100 for exceptions, e.g., self-)

General Principle 5: When 2 or more compounds have same base, drop base and keep hyphen until last compound givenThe 2-, 5-, and 7-year-olds were…

Capitalization – Complete Sentence Always capitalize the 1st word in a

complete sentence. Capitalize the 1st word after a colon that

begins a complete sentence.There is one thing to remember in this class:

Always revise your papers before turning them in.

Capitalization – Titles Major words of titles in the body References to section names in the

same paper Headings in your paper (levels 1 & 2 are

Title Caps; 3-5 are sentence caps)

Capitalization – Names Proper nouns and adjectives University department and class names

(not generic names)Psychology 200psychology classes

DO NOT CAPITALIZE laws, theories, models, statistical procedures, or hypotheses.

Capitalization – More Rules Nouns followed by numerals or letters

that denote a specific place in a numbered series. (e.g., Table 2, Chapter 3, Experiment 1)

Titles of Psychological Tests Variable, Factor, and Effect Names:

Only caps variables and effects when appear with multiplication signs (interactions)

Italics Titles of book, periodicals, etc. (not

article/chapter titles) Introduction of new, key term (1st time

only) Linguistic examples (e.g., the word word) Misread words (e.g., the small group) Scale anchors NOT USED FOR EMPHASIS

Abbreviations - General Use sparingly For non-commonplace abbreviations:

Introduce full term 1st

Then include abbreviationContinue to use abbreviation thereafter

Use abbreviations only if:The reader is more familiar with the

abbreviation than the wordConsiderable space can be saved and

cumbersome repetition avoided

Abbreviations - Scientific Units of measurement (see p 109)

Use abbreviations if accompanied by numeric values (e.g., 3 cm… measured in centimeters)

Units of timeDo not abbreviate day, week, month, yearDo: hr, min, ms, ns, s

Do not add s to make plural

Numbers – when to use numerals Numbers 10 and above Numbers in abstract Numbers immediately before unit of measurement

(5 cm) Numbers that represent stats or math functions,

ratios, percentages, etc. Times, dates, ages, scores and points on scales,

exact sums of money HOWEVER, approximations should be words Numbers that denote specific place in numbered

series

Numbers – when to use words Numbers at beginning of sentence, title,

heading, etc. Common fractions (one-half) Any number less than 10 (unless other

rules for numeral use apply)

Numbers – when to use both numerals and words Back-to-back numbers

24 twelfth-gradersTen 7-point scales

Numbers – decimals Use 0 before decimal (e.g., 0.4) only

when value of number can exceed 1What kind of numbers cannot exceed 1?

When reporting probability values, use exact value to 2-3 decimal places (e.g., p = .023)…NO LONGER USE p < .05, p < .01, etc.

except for p < .001

Numbers – using commas Use commas to separate groups of 3

digits in number > 1,000. Exceptions:

PagesBinarySerial numbersTemperaturesFrequency (acoustics)Degrees of Freedom, F(2, 2003) = 2.39

Statistics, etc. Be aware, but not memorize that there

are specific rules for presenting statistical analyses beginning p. 116

Use this section when you’re writing your own papers!!

A note about tables Chapter 5 is ALL about tables and

figures When writing own reports, read carefully

Parts of APA Manuscript

The parts of an APA manuscript Title Page Abstract Body

Literature reviewMethodResultsDiscussion

References Appendices Tables Figures

The Title Page - Review Title

Purpose: Quickly identify the purpose/content of your article

Formatting: Centered in upper half of page Title Caps Line break at logical point if > 1 line long

Content: 10-12 words Stand alone: major variables/issues and their

relationships

Abstract Purpose:

Quickly summarize the contents / findings of the article Formatting:

Next page after title page Center word “Abstract” at top of page Double-space and begin typing abstract (no indent)

Content: Cover all major sections of article 150 words Stand alone

Body Purpose:

The “meat” of your article. You want to share your experiences, knowledge, opinions with the world.

Formatting: Title centered at top of first page Double space, indent, and begin your text

Content: Discuss all necessary aspects of your topic {see next slide}

Body – Experimental / Research Paper Introduction

Purpose: Identify previous work in the field relating to your

topic / study Formatting:

NO heading (e.g., “Introduction”) to start May use headings to separate sections

Body – Experimental / Research Paper Introduction (cont’d)

Content Lit review

Cite previous scientific work related to your article Logical (usually not chronological) order

Purpose of study What are you trying to accomplish / investigate?

Body – Experimental / Research Paper Introduction (cont’d)

Content (cont’d) Theoretical issues

How does your article impact the field? How has previous work in the field influenced your article?

Definitions of variables What do you mean by, “depression” or “efficient time use”?

Statement of hypotheses What do you expect to find, given the previous work in the

field and your own personal twist?

Body – Literature Review Paper Introduction

Content Theoretical issues

What previous work has been done in this topic? Is there any controversy / disagreement about this topic? What are the opposing view points?

Definitions of variables What do you mean by, “depression” or “efficient time use”?

Body – Experimental / Research Paper Other Components of the Body

Method Section Results Section Discussion Section

Body – Method Section Purpose:

To relate the procedures conducted and used to gather that data for the current study

Allows for replication of your work Content

Participants / SubjectsMaterials, Appartus, and MeasuresProcedures

Body – Results Section Purpose

To relate the findings of your researchBe succinct, concise, no imagination

GuidelinesReport results of hypotheses tests in orderDescribe size and direction of significant

resultsInclude all necessary stats to support

conclusions (no RAW data)Report any ad-hoc tests as such

Body – Discussion Section Purpose

To summarize findings and discuss hypotheses (both supported and unsupported)

Place your findings in the larger context of the field. Content

Assessment of hypotheses resultsCompare / contrast, connect with theory,

acknowledge alternative interpretations, applications, future research

Limitations of study

APA Style Practice Test #2

In Conclusion… Next week:

APA Style Mastery Test (yes, we will also have class content)○ Open manual, open notes○ Worth 50 points

Readings: Stan, ch 1 – 6 … READ IT!!!