A Quick Guide to APA 6th Edition Elements of the APA Paper

Elements to an APA paper Title Page Abstract Introduction/literature review Methods (participants, measures, procedure) Results Discussion/Conclusion References Table and/or Graph

Basic Style Double-spaced One-inch margins on all sides Times New Roman, 12 pt. Page Numbers on right in Header, every page Running Head, on left in Header, every page The words “Running Head” only appearing on the title page, but the running head content should appear on every page Sample Papers begin on pg.41 of APA manual

The Tone of an APA Paper This is a SCIENCE paper Never use first person (some might disagree here, and you might read articles that use first person, but please, don’t do it) Professional and dry Present the information as it is, do not beef it up, make implications that weren’t made originally, etc.

Tips to Improve Writing Style Be concise, do not repeat yourself The paper, especially the introduction, should FLOW from paragraph to paragraph Present the information as it is, always tie it in with your study Use the active voice, avoid the expression “was” Literature review in past tense (the authors have already done the studies!)

Things to Avoid in Writing Style Everything you learned in English and Creative writing Metaphors, alliteration, rhyming, poetic sentences Do not attach “labels” to any aspect of your paper, especially participants “the elderly” or “college students” could be taken in a derogatory manner by the reader Remember: do good/do no harm! Prefer if you did not use quotes in your paper Quotes make it look like you can’t put the information in your own words

Title Page Format Title appears ¼ of the way down the page, centered Author follows, centered First M. Last Author Affiliation follows, centered Radford University Running Head appears “flush left” in Header Page Number appears “flush right” in Header “flush” just means where it begins, however “flush” is the terminology you will see in the APA literature

So, What’s this Running Head Thing? A shortened title that appears at the top of every page of the APA paper Appears on the top left of each page Title page includes “Running Head:”, the rest of the paper does not contain this Content of the RH is CAPITALIZED throughout

Formatting the Running Head and Page Number in Word 2007 Since the RH is different on the title page than the rest of the paper, this takes some special formatting, also, Word 2007 is picky with its page numbers… Header >> select “Blank” >> make sure it is left justified >> type the content of the running head >> insert page number immediately after the text >> use TAB to justify it properly In Design tab, select “Different First Page” so that the “Running Head” portion will only appear on the Title Page

How to Create a Title DO’s Summarize main point of paper Be concise Identify variables that are investigated Should be able to “stand alone” Be able to be shortened to the running head Be approximately 12 words, give or take

How to Create a Title DON’Ts Contain filler words/unnecessary words Contain abbreviations (#, %, &, ADHD, etc) Begin with “A Study of…” or “An Experiment of…” Too short, or too long

Abstract A synopsis of the main points of the paper Important because this will be the first thing the reader will see Think about PsycInfo Just a statement of the paper, do not evaluate Approximately one page long

Abstract Format Begins on new page Running Head and Page Number at the top The words “Abstract” centered after the RH and Page Number Begin the content of the abstract Do not indent the paragraph! Include “Keywords” after the last sentence New line, indented, and “Keywords” is italicized

Tips to Writing an Abstract Write it last! Summarize key points of the paper; take a sentence or two from each section and tie it together Don’t add information here that doesn’t appear in the paper

Introduction Format Begins on new page RH and Page Number appear at the top Title of the paper appears after the RH and Page Number, centered Content of paper follows, no extra spacing necessary No set length for the literature review, but the longer it is, the more work it appears you have put into this

How to Breakdown the Literature Review Introduce the topic Explain the importance Why do we care? Present the past literature Should reflect why you are investigating this topic The basis for the experiment Introduce the present study, in a paragraph or so

Literature Review Continued Should present the past literature that is related to your topic How does your work build on the previous work? What are the shortcomings of the previous literature? How will the present study make up for the previous literatures’ faults? Note the similarities/differences of the previous literature with the current study

Structure of Literature Review Should be divided into TOPICS/VARIABLES, not be divided by each article With the first paper, this is partially already done for you Use multiple references to talk about the same constructs With the first paper, tie the two articles together per topic

Methods The section on how the study was conducted Three subheadings in this section, at least: Participants Measures/Apparatus Procedure These sections should be described in enough detail so that someone reading this paper could replicate the study

Methods Format Immediately follows the introduction, does NOT begin on a new page “Method” is centered and Bold since it is a Level One Heading “Participants” “Materials/Measures” and “Procedure” are also Bold and flush left, since they are a Level Two Heading

Participants Subsection Include all relevant demographics of participants, and total number of participants “Forty-five percent of participants were female, the remaining fifty-five percent were male…” Represent the participants in percentages, not raw numbers Include percentages of participants in each group that you are measuring Do not include information that is not relevant to your study include where the participants were sampled

Measures Subsection Include what scale of measurement was used, or what test was used in your study “The Beck Depression Index was used…” Do not say “A pen, paper, and SPSS” this is not enough information! REMEMBER: include all information so that the study can be replicated

Procedure Subsection Explain how the participants were selected, how and where the data was collected, and over what period of time Should be in enough detail so that the study can be replicated!!

Results Format Immediately follows the Methods section Level One Heading: centered and Bold This section will be around a page long, depending on the analysis used

Results State type of statistical analysis used State variables to be tested/the research question State what was found (significant or not) Report the “statistical sentence” which includes various things, depending on the statistic used Report all results, even the non-significant ones! Omission of results is bad science Something that is “not significant” statistically can still be significant to the field; now we know that these variables do not need to be tested further This section is very dry; just report the results, do not say what it means, yet

Discussion Format Immediately follows the Results section Level One Heading: centered and Bold

Discussion Restate the results in words So now, what does this mean? Does this comply with your hypotheses? If not, now what should be done? If so, now what should be done? Basically, what are the IMPLICATIONS to your findings Go back to literature review and make connections with previous works

Discussion Section Continued Point out your flaws! Where did you possibly go wrong? What could be changed about this study to make it better? Threats to validity Finish with the larger implications of the study, beyond just this point

References This is where you list all the articles you used in your paper References page is very specific with rules and guidelines, along with the rest of the paper… It is necessary to do this section properly, to avoid plagiarism, and so that the reader can properly find the articles if necessary

References Alphabetical order by first author’s last name Hanging indent Begins on new page “References” appears at the top of the page, centered and Bold Follows guidelines of each type of work (book chapter, journal article, etc etc) List authors in order in which they appear in the original publication

How to Reference a Journal Article With Two Authors Last, F. M., & Last, F. M. (year). Title of article. Title of Publication, Volume Number, page-page. Smith, A. B., Johnson, J. K., Parker, L. M., & Martin, U. M. (2009). Depression and anxiety in the work environment. Depression Monthly, 24, 209-215.

Journal Article Continued Notes: only use the initials of the first name and middle name of the authors, do not include full names. The title of the article’s first word is capitalized, and nothing else. The publication is italicized with capitalization throughout. Use this method with up to seven authors

How to Reference a Journal Article with More than Seven Authors Cite the first six authors’ names Use a “…” after the first six authors, then list the very last author’s name. Everything else stays the same

How to Reference a Book Including textbooks Last, F. M. (year). Title of work. Location: Publisher. Thomas, A. E. (2004). Introductory Psychology. New York: NY Publishing.

Textbook References Continued This should be used as secondary information, to provide definitions for constructs that you are studying “Working memory can be defined as…” “Depression can be conceptualized as...” These should be all you need to use in your papers in this class, if you need to cite other documents please refer to your APA manual

In-Text Citation (page 177) While you are writing your literature review, you have to cite where you got your information from (i.e. the articles you have found) This is vital, because if you make a statement, you must back it up with evidence…evidence is the article(s) Information included are the author(s) last name and year of publication First citation will be different from subsequent citations

In-Text Citation: How Is It Done? The citation can either appear at the beginning of the sentence, or at the end of the sentence, the choice is up to you “Johnson (1998) tested the effects…” …antidepressants were found to decrease anxiety (Johnson, 1998) Stylistically, change it up! Begin some citations at the beginning of the sentence, begin some citations in parentheses at the end of the sentence

In-Text Citations: Beginning of Sentences Works with up to five authors: First citation: list all authors, followed by the year of publication in parentheses Johnson, Martin, Lopez, Roberts, and Walker (2005) Subsequent citations: list all authors if work has up to TWO authors, if more than two authors, use “et al.” Johnson et al. (2005), or if only two authors, Johnson and Martin (2005). Works with more than six authors Use “et al.” in first citation and subsequent citations

In-Text Citations: Parentheses, End of Sentence Works with up to five authors First citation: list all authors, followed by the year (Johnson, Martin, Lopez, Roberts, & Walker, 2005). Subsequent citations: with more than two authors, use “et al.” again (Johnson et al., 2005). Works with more than six authors Use et al. in both first and subsequent citations NOTE: this form of citation appears AT THE END OF A SENTENCE, NEVER IN THE MIDDLE

Resources APA Manual Sample papers available through Dr. Pierce’s website Links to tutorials on how to write in APA, sample papers, and much more If you have questions, just ask The sixth edition is new to everyone, and we’re all learning together!