Psychology-Summarize a Research Article

Journal Article Review (Review of Research Paper)

Do this part early:

Find a research article using the library’s research databases: Click on “Social Sciences” and then “Academic Search Complete” (which leads you to the EBSCO search engine. As you search, specify the following:

Full article

Language = English

PEER-REVIEWED articles only

restrict the search to recent research (past 10 years)

The article must be at least 4 pages in length and must describe a research study that the authors conducted in an area of PSYCHOLOGY. Look for sections entitled Methods, Results and Discussion within the article. You MAY NOT choose an article from a magazine or other popular literature. The article must be from a scholarly refereed (or peer reviewed) journal. Abstracts and brief reports are not appropriate.

Review the article -- quickly. Avoid getting overwhelmed. As you read, keep some of the points below in mind:

Summary of research (abstract) - usually a paragraph under the title

Review of literature - presents a summary of others' study of the topic in order to justify the research

Hypothesis of the authors - what do they believe they will find?

Subjects - how many? ages? from where? random or select group (all men, all ADHD, etc.)?

Method - what did they do?

measures used - tests, observations, survey, etc.

was there treatment involved - what amount of time? who gave the treatment?

Results - what statistic was used? what were the authors' conclusions?

Read again - more slowly, with more focus – do some underlining.

Read again - find relevant information, take notes – read for understanding.

Read critically - as you read, critique the research. Were too many variables left uncontrolled? Were they findings valuable? Why?

Look up APA Format. This is the format in which you will need to write your citations and references. The documentation style used by the American Psychological Association (APA) is widely used in psychology and the social sciences (anthropology, education and sociology). The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is available on the Reference shelves REF BF 76.7.P82 and there are brief descriptions of APA Style on the web. The best source is Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (O.W.L.). I suggest you use this for help in how to format your references and in-text citations.

PLEASE NOTE: Follow the format below (including headings) for the PAPER. You only need to use APA CITATION FORMAT for your in-text citations (when you quote directly from the article or when you use their ideas).

Prepare to write a review of the article (see format, below). Use the grading rubric as a guide.

Consider using the grit-check or the “now what” assessments. You’ll need to use these for at least one assignment this semester.

General Information:

The paper MUST be double-spaced, typewritten and printed legibly in a standard 12-point font. Electronic copies in MSWord, rtf or pdf format are acceptable for DL students; NO OTHER ELECTRONIC FORMAT IS ACCEPTABLE.

Use 12-point font and 1-inch margins on all sides of the page.

Length: approximately 3 pages.

If you refer to any source, including the Internet, you must include an appropriate reference, using APA citation format. That is, if you use an idea from somewhere else, whether or not it is a direct quote, give that person, book, magazine, journal, newspaper, website, etc. CREDIT for their idea by giving the reader information about the source at the end of the paper. Failure to do so is plagiarism.

Yes, spelling and grammar count. This is a college course; therefore, college-level work is expected. Use a spell-checker, proofread and make sure what you've written makes sense!

Include a copy of your article with your review.

I’ve written this sample paper for you to use as a guide.

FORM FOR REVIEW OF JOURNAL ARTICLE (JAR paper)

The written review, which you are to hand in, must contain the following information in this format:

NAME

(Your name)

DATE OF SUBMISSION

(The date you are completing your paper)

JOURNAL REFERENCE

Follow APA Style: Author. (date). Title of article. Name of Publication, volume number, page numbers.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Relate/summarize the article's content IN YOUR OWN WORDS, but in a formal style. This section should be about 2 pages. A verbatim copying or paraphrasing of the published summary given with some articles is NOT acceptable. Include the following:

the hypothesis or question being researched

who the subjects were

how the research was conducted

identify the statistical analysis used

the researchers' conclusions

DISCUSSION

What implications does this research have upon:

the science of psychology

you, as an individual

This portion is written in the first person and answers the questions: Why is this important? Why are you interested? Any limitations of the study should be included here. This section should be about half a page.

Grading Rubric: I will use the following rubric to grade the papers

Category

Criteria

Exemplary

(3 points)

Satisfactory

(2 points)

Missed the mark

(1 point)

Unsatisfactory (0 points)

Organization

Information is very

organized with well-constructed paragraphs and subheadings.

Information is organized with well-constructed paragraphs.

Information is organized, but paragraphs are not well-constructed.

The information appears to be disorganized. Paragraphing structure was not clear.

Amount of Information

All topics are addressed: The hypothesis is clearly stated. The remaining topics (subjects, research methods, analysis, conclusions) are summarized with at least 2 sentences about each. The discussion addresses all of the

questions with at least 1 sentence about each.

All topics are addressed and summarized with at least 1 sentence about each. The discussion addresses all of the questions with at least 1 sentence about each.

One or two summary topics or discussion questions were not addressed. The topics and questions that were addressed and summarized had at least 1 sentence about each.

Three or more summary topics or discussion questions were not addressed.

Quality of Information

Information clearly relates to the article. The summary is clear and most of the details and/or examples are given in the student's own words. The

discussion presents a clear understanding of the relevance of the research.

Information clearly relates to the article. The summary is clear and most of the details and/or examples are given in the student's own words. The discussion attempts to describe the relevance of the research.

Information clearly relates to the article. The summary is clear and some details and/or examples are given in the student's own words.

Information has little or nothing to do with the article's content. The summary is not clear and/or relies heavily on quotes from the article.

Sources

All references and

citations are accurately

in APA format without

any errors.

The citations are in APA format, but there are minor errors in the journal reference.

The journal reference has errors and/or citations are not in APA format in 2-3 instances.

The journal reference and citations are not in correct APA format in more than 3 instances. ANY evidence of plagiarism will earn a ZERO for this category

Mechanics

No errors: Used full sentences, proper

grammar, correct spelling, neat formatting.

Almost no (1 or 2) grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.

A few (3 or 4) grammatical spelling, or punctuation errors.

Many (more than 5) grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors