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2018SP_PSYC_WritingAssignmentInstructionandTemplate.docxAPA DOCUMENT TEMPLATE 4
Assignment Title
Signature Assignment – Research Paper, Submitted By:
Name of Student
El Centro College
PSYC 23__, Section 51___, Fall 2018
Running head: APA DOCUMENT TEMPLATE 1
Abstract
The abstract is written AFTER you have completed the entire paper, as it is a summary of what you have written. Beginning on the following page, please note that the words Introduction, Literature Review, and Critical Analysis are on the left margins and are in bold print. This is the one time you ARE allowed to use font effects (i.e., bolds), as in this instance you are using American Psychological Association (APA) (2010) style to call attention to section titles within the paper, the only section titles allowed for your paper are Introduction, Summary, and Critical Analysis, and those section titles must be in your narrative. Follow the directions under each section as to what information belongs in that location. Note that the Abstract is the ONLY paragraph in the entire document that is NOT first-line indented. Your Abstract paragraph is flush with the left margin of your page. Other than the title page and the title on page 3, and major headings, nothing in the paper is centered. Your paper must have three to five good APA psychology references from the past 5 years. Magazines and internet content are not good references for this paper. You must follow the template exactly.
Assignment Title (Same as on Page 1)
Introduction
The introduction to your paper is a minimum of a full page explaining the topic of your research, how it is important, and what were the objectives of your research. You should paraphrase and cite materials from your research that indicate the importance of the topic. Remember, citations must be last names of authors and dates, do not refer to authors by first names at all because this creates the possibility of gender bias. There are two types of citations, parentheticals and nonparentheticals. Parentheticals are in parentheses and are not a part of the sentence, but refer to the sentence. These are very common in research publications, they include the names of the author or authors, and the publication year. An example of a parenthetical citations is as follows: A good deal of work has illustrated some of the tenets of building effective academic programs (Borden, Richardson, & Meyer, 2012). Non parenthetical citations, are a part of the sentence and are not in parentheses, an example is: The work of Borden, Richardson, and Meyer (2012) established some of the important tenets in building effective academic programs. Note the key differences. Note that the parenthetical occurs before the period at the end of the sentence, the nonparenthetical could occur anywhere within the sentence as any noun would. Any material you use in your work that is not your own original thought MUST be paraphrased, and cited. Do not use quotes, quotation marks, first or second person pronouns anywhere in your paper. Put everything in your own words. The introduction should be interesting, causing the reader to want to read the rest of the paper.
Literature Review
Your literature review should be written in focused paragraphs, it can help to create a separate outline to show what you wish to discuss in each paragraph, then write your paper.
Critical Analysis
The critical analysis is an explanation of your opinion of what you found in the literature. This is your chance to explain what you believe based on the evidence you found. The critical analysis should be at least one page long, and should be a well written wrap-up to your paper in your own point of view.
This section does solicit your opinion, but your opinion should be stated in third person with good grammar. You may include some of the information in a minimum of one page length analysis, do not do question and answer formatting, just discuss the topic in good, solid sentences.
· Were you satisfied with the researchers' findings?
· Are there additional questions you would like to have seen them address in their hypotheses?
· Did the findings leave you more or less interested in this topic?
· Would you like to see this train of research – perhaps with additional questions (hypotheses) – addressed in future research efforts?
This is your rare opportunity to actually criticise what a research psychologist has done, so make the most of it. If you disagree with how the research was conducted, say so, and TELL ME WHY BASED ON THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD as discussed in lecture and your textbook.
· Did the researchers violate the principles of scientific methodology in any way?
· Did they fail to obtain proper consent?
· Were scientific principles appropriately followed?
Such comments on your part show me that you have actually thought about the article you have read.
Do not write in bullet statements or question and answer format, your writing must be a narrative, and should flow in paragraphs from point to point.
If your assignment is a homework assignment or mini-paper, you will be reporting on what you have read in preparation for your assignment and responding to a series of questions based specifically on what you have read or reviewed. In this event, you will NOT use the subheadings – Summary, Review, and Comments – required when you do a critiqué. You will be writing what is termed a review of the literature on the topic assigned, and you simply tell me what you learned from your reading by answering the questions posed to you. ALWAYS cite your sources within the context of your narrative AND on your References page. NoodleTools as discussed in the lecture by Ms. Linda Baker will help you with these requirements. Failure to cite appropriately constitutes plagiarism, and you do NOT want to fall in to that trap. Remember that any citation in the context of your narrative MUST be documented on your References page(s), and any citation on your References page(s) MUST be supported by a citation within the context of your narrative. That means there is a one-to-one correlation between within context citations and the citations on your References page(s). The critical analysis should be at least a page long.
The last page of your assignment will be the References page. Go to the next page to see how that is presented. ALL work in APA Style is double-spaced. Section Headings are flush with the left margin and underlined. Your paper should be left justified, i.e., I do NOT want to see the paper with straight, right-hand margins such as you find in books, journals, or newspapers. Paragraphs are indented at the 0.5” level. If you utilise this template as instructed, all requisite formatting has been done for you, and your work will be in the correct APA style. Your assignments should not exceed ten (10) pages, and that includes (1) the cover sheet, (2) the Abstract page, (3) your narrative, 4 to 5 full pages. (4) your References page(s). Eight pages is the average length of the entire paper for this assignment. In response to the oft-asked question, “How long does my assignment have to be,” the answer is quite simple. “It must be as long as it takes you to adequately address the requirements of the assignment.”
References
Borden, C., Richardson, P., & Meyer, S. J. (2012). Establishing successful postsecondary academic programs: A practical guide. Journal of Correctional Education, 63(2), 6-26. doi:10.1177/1540796917698831
COMMENTS:
The reference page is a page to itself, you should do a page break before the heading to make sure it is on a page by itself. Please note that the citations listed above are examples that would need to be cited within your paper. All citations must appear on the reference page, all must have been read by you and used in your paper, all references must be cited somewhere in the paper. References are listed alphabetically according to each article’s first author’s last name.
Hanging indentations are required on references: to get a hanging indentation, select the text of the reference, right click, select paragraph, under special using the drop down arrow select hanging, and make sure 0.5” appears in the box to the right.
