Introduction

Formatting the Introduction

1. Use 12-point, Times New Roman font for all text.

2. Include a running head and the page number in the header of each page.

Tip: Not sure how to create headers? Watch this video for step-by-step instructions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx6JBKWRf04.

3. Center the title of the paper at the top of the page. Don’t make it bold or italicize it.

Tip: Titles should be brief but informative. Try to communicate your research topic and primary variables of interest to your readers in 12 words or less.

4. Use double-spacing, but don’t include extra spaces between paragraphs.

5. Begin each new paragraph with an indentation.

6. Follow APA-style formatting guidelines for other relevant parts of your introduction. Review the assigned APA-Style reading and the sample APA-formatted paper from Purdue OWL (available under the Helpful Resources link on Canvas) for specific information.

Writing the Introduction

Reminder: Plagiarism of any kind is a violation of the University’s Academic Integrity Policy. Plagiarized submissions will receive a grade of 0 for the assignment, and the violation will be reported to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities.

Before you begin writing, review the following materials (provided on Canvas) for guidelines and tips for writing the introduction section of your research proposal:

‐ the assigned readings Scientific Writing and APA-Style;

‐ the PowerPoint slides and your notes from the Scientific Writing: Introductions lecture

This draft of your introduction should incorporate relevant information from at least seven (7) peer-reviewed sources (not including the articles assigned by your instructor and posted on Canvas).

The submissions with the highest scores will be the ones that do the following:

‐ inform the reader by providing a clear discussion of relevant research literature;

‐ provide clear, reasonable, and thorough justification for the research question and hypothesis using appropriate empirical evidence;

‐ appropriately cite all sources using in-text citations and in the reference page;

‐ adhere to APA-formatting guidelines.

Tip: Keep in mind that the introduction is where you demonstrate why your research question is important and build an argument for why your hypothesis (i.e., prediction) makes sense. Use these questions as a guide to help you achieve those goals:

‐ Why is your research question important?

‐ How does your proposed research study fit with previous theories and research? What gap would your proposed study fill? Explain how your study reinforces, differs from, or builds on previous work.

‐ How did you arrive at your hypothesis? What evidence from previous research supports your arguments?