Psychology Scientific Journal Article Critique

SEMESTER PAPER CHECKLIST

FORMAT

 2-3 pages of text plus the coversheet and reference page.

 12 point font

 Times New Roman or Arial font

 Double space

 Indent paragraphs

 Blank ink on white paper

 Quotes – you do not have to have any quotes but if you do you there is a limit of 2 quotes

with 10 words each for the entire paper. You MUST cite immediately following the quote.

Failure to adhere to any of these instructions will result in several points being deducted.

Example: the researchers had an interesting conclusion that stated “…90% of patients with

DID have suffered childhood trauma” (Smith, 2016, pg. 202).

COVER SHEET

 Page number at top right hand corner

 Running head

Your own title (do not copy the author’s title … capitalize this as any other title would be)

Your name

San Jacinto College – North

Date

FIRST PARAGRAPH (worth 15% of your grade):

Purpose: to fully inform the reader of your topic:

 Define the disorder or situation

 You may use 1 or 2 additional sources to discuss this area (these additional sources must be

from a .org, .gov, or .edu … no Wikipedia)

 How many suffer with this (numbers or percentages)?

 Which gender does this affect?

 What age(s)

 What are the symptoms of the disorder? If it is a situation - like homelessness – describe

what the day-to-day things look like for the homeless.

 What are the causes of the disorder or event?

 What are the treatments (if a disorder)? If your topic is a situation, how can the situation be

remedied?

 ONLY include information from a valid source – no opinions or personal experiences. This is

professional and requires an expert.

 Be thorough in your discussion!

 You must cite this paragraph or receive a zero

 If you use a quote, citation must follow immediately after the quote.

Centered top to bottom AND

side to side

 If you quote you must follow the rules listed above (and remember, only 2 quotes for the

entire paper).

SECOND PARAGRAPH (worth 10% of your grade)

Purpose: to introduce the researchers & their research

 Who are the researchers?

 When did the research take place?

 Where did the research take place?

 How long did the research go on?

 What are they trying to discover?

 Be thorough in your discussion!

 You must cite or receive a zero for this section. Remember, citation is a little different for

quotes than for paraphrased information.

The first time you cite (at the end of the paragraph), you must use all the authors name (up

to 5).

Example of non-quote: There are always new treatments developing to help those who

suffer with depression (Smith, Cline, Jones, Rafe & Philips, 2016).

If there are more than 5, list only the first 5 and then add “et al”

Example of non-quote: There are always new treatments developing to help those who

suffer with depression (Smith, Cline, Jones, Rafe, Philips et al, 2016).

THIRD PARAGRAPH (worth 15% of your grade)

Purpose: To discuss the participants

 How did researchers find participants?

 How many people participated in this study?

 What are their ages?

 What genders were included

 What was the inclusion criteria?

 What diagnosis (if any) was given?

 Be thorough in your discussion!

 You must cite or receive a zero for this section.

FOURTH PARAGRAPH (20% of your grade)

Purpose: To discuss the testing (methods)

 Explain what the researchers did to the participants.

 If they administered a test/quiz, what was the name and fully explain what the testing was

supposed to show. If more than one you must discuss them all at length.

 What was the duration of the testing?

 Be very careful here! Do not use language that you do not understand!

 Be thorough in your discussion!

 You must cite or receive a zero for this section.

FIFTH PARAGRAPH (20% of your grade)

Purpose: To discuss their findings

 FULLY discuss what the results show? Be very careful here! Do not use language that you do

not understand!

 If there were many results, you must discuss them all.

 Be thorough in your discussion!

 You must cite or receive a zero for this section.

SIXTH PARAGRAPH (20% of your grade)

Purpose: To give thoughtful answers to the following questions:

 What do you think the researchers did correctly (this must be part of their procedures and

not something like “I think their results were right”). What procedure do you think helped to

make this a good research and why do you think that procedure was a good one to use?

 What could be done to improve the research (what would you add to their research) and how

would this make the research better?

 How might the research findings impact society?

 How did learning about this research impact you?

 Be thorough in your answers!

 No citation necessary (these are your own additions, not that of another researcher).

Reference Page

 Use correct APA format for your 2-3 sources

How can I fail this paper?

 Don’t follow instructions

 Use the researcher’s wording instead of your own

 Don’t cite

 Don’t answer each of the above pieces of information

Additional notes to help you.

 To avoid accidentally copying the author’s wording, don’t type your paper with the article in

front of you. Instead create a list of important facts from the article (do NOT use sentences).

Example:

Paragraph 1

Define: always sad hopeless feeling lasts 2 weeks or more

Who? 9% of population more females than males Symptoms sleeps a lot bad hygiene lack of interest

 To avoid grammar and sentence structure issues, have someone else read your work (you

“know what you mean” but your wording may not translate to the reader). We have a

tutoring center in the Library that would be happy to help!

 Refer to the student paper written by Oliver Perrett after you have completed your paper –

does the formatting look similar?

 As always, you can ask me for help.