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Psy110DLInstruxforResearchPaperSpring2018.docxINTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
PSY 110, CRN 10615
Spring 2018
RESEARCH PAPER ASSIGNMENT
Purposes:
1. To learn more about a specific topic in Psychology that interests you
2. To learn how to research and write a research paper
3. To demonstrate critical thinking about a topic in Psychology
Points: 80 points maximum
Late policy: 10% off for each day late, beginning with due date
Length: 5-6 pages plus a Title page and a References page
Assigned: September 30
Optional Draft Due: Before 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, April 8
Final Paper Due: Before 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, April 22
How to Submit Your Paper: You will need to upload a Word file version of your paper to TurnItIn.com,
a plagiarizing-checking service, by the due date. Instructions on uploading will be provided at a later date.
All COM students have access to Word in Office 365 through the MyCOM portal.
You will NOT need to submit a printed copy of your paper
PLEASE NOTE: This must be an original paper, written by you for this course only. Papers written for other courses, including courses taken at other schools, are NOT acceptable.
OVERVIEW OF PAPER
In this paper, you will research, analyze and write about some question or controversy in psychology that you find personally interesting.
You should choose a psychology-related topic from our text, class discussions, psychological journals or psychology-related websites. Come up with a specific question that you have, or a controversy that you find interesting. Then research that question or controversy using library resources, lectures, assignments, our text and other scholarly resources.
Next, write a 5-6 page paper discussing the question or controversy. Describe the question or controversy. Include an analysis and summary of the research you have found. You may briefly describe one or two personal experiences that relate to the topic. In your paper, be sure to cite your references. End the paper with your conclusions or a summary. Include a references page at the end, where you list in APA format the references cited in your paper.
If you choose a question about some concept as the basis for your paper, your paper should include:
· A clear, obvious statement of your research question (this statement should appear in your paper, though it may also appear in the title of your paper);
· Your evaluations, critical analyses, and, if applicable, a brief mention of your personal experience with your topic;
· A summary of your research, and the answer to your question;
· In-text citations in your paper to the scholarly, academic references listed at the end;
· A References page listing at least 5 references (other than our textbook). See below for a guide to acceptable and unacceptable references.
If you choose a controversy as the basis for your paper, your paper should include:
· A clear statement of the controversy addressed in your paper (this statement should appear in your paper, though it may also appear in the title of your paper);
· Your evaluations, critical analyses, and, if applicable, a brief mention of your personal experience with your topic;
· Your conclusion about the controversy, and a summary of why you chose that conclusion;
· In-text citations in your paper to the scholarly, academic references listed at the end;
· A References page listing at least 5 references (other than our textbook). See below for a guide to acceptable and unacceptable references.
INSTRUCTIONS REGARDING RESEARCH RESOURCES
You need to have at least 5 different sources, other than our textbook, listed on your References page.
Your research sources MUST include:
· Three articles from peer-reviewed journals
· Two other sources, which must be either two books (by psychologists or other academics), two articles from peer-reviewed journals, or one book (by a psychologist or other academic) and one article from a peer-reviewed journal
In addition to the above five research sources, your sources MAY also include the following extra sources:
· Our textbook – but you may only cite the textbook ONCE in your paper
· One encyclopedia – but you may only cite the encyclopedia ONCE in your paper
· Additional articles from peer-reviewed journals
· Additional books by psychologists or other academics
Sources that ARE NOT ALLOWED as research sources:
· Other textbooks
· Newspapers
· Popular magazines such as Psychology Today, Prevention, Time, Newsweek, etc.
· Internet websites, including Wikipedia
· Video sources
· Recorded interviews
If in doubt about whether a source is acceptable or not, please ask me!
THINGS TO INCLUDE IN THE PAPER
Your paper should include the following sections, but please do not use them as headings :
Title page – This page should be separate and not numbered. It goes at the beginning, and should contain only the title of your paper, your name, our class (Psy 110) and the date.
Introduction, describing the question or controversy you are writing about. This should be one or more paragraphs. You should briefly describe why you chose this topic (in one paragraph, maximum).
In-Text Citations. When you discuss information from an article in your paper, you have to state where the information came, in APA citation format. (You must also list each source on your References page, in APA format.)
Discussion, including what you learned from your research. This should be the bulk of your paper.
Conclusion. This should be a paragraph or more that sums up what you have learned or decided about the topic or controversy you researched.
References – This page lists, in APA format, the sources (citations) you used in your paper. The page should be separate and should go at the very end. Each reference should be cited in the appropriate places in your paper.
THINGS NOT TO INCLUDE IN THE PAPER
Your paper should not include the following things:
Images of any kind – This includes graphs, charts, photos, etc.
A lengthy description of your own personal experience. You may include a very brief description of one personal experience you’ve had that relate to the topic, but the total description should not exceed 1-2 paragraphs. The focus of the paper should be on the research you find, not on your personal experience.
Long quotes from any source. You may include a few very brief quotes from your research sources, but most of the information you take from your research sources should be paraphrased (put into your own words and summarized) rather than quoted directly.
FORMAT OF THE PAPER
Please follow these guidelines for the format of your paper. You will need to convert your document into Word format before uploading it to TurnItIn.com. Be aware that if you create your document in GoogleDocs, the margin settings and page count may change when you convert it into Word. Be sure that the Word document has 1” margins and is 5-6 pages (not counting the cover page and the References page).
1. Type and double-space your paper in Word.
2. Use a 1-inch margin at the top, bottom, left and right sides of your paper.
3. Use Times New Roman 12 font.
4. Use left justification for your paragraphs, not full justification.
5. Show the page number in the upper right-hand side of every page except for the Title page and page 1.
6. Use APA format for your citations and references.
7. You can use any standard format for the rest of the paper (Note that you SHOULD NOT use APA format for the rest of the paper – that is, you don’t need a running header, headings, etc.)
8. When you save your document in Word, name the file “YourLastName_YourFirstName_Psy110Paper” (for example, “McCoy_Bob_Psy110Paper”). If you submit a draft, name the draft “YourLastName_YourFirstName_Psy110Paper_Draft.”
THINGS NOT TO DO IN YOUR PAPER
· Don’t include a lot of description of your personal experiences. This is a research paper, and should be mostly about your research question and what you discovered in your research sources. You may briefly mention one or two personal experiences that relate to the topic, but please avoid extended descriptions of your personal experiences. The purpose of this paper is to learn through research, not to describe and analyze your own experiences.
· Don’t pick a topic and write everything you can find about the topic. That’s a report, not a research paper. Instead, your research paper should be built around a specific question for which you want to find the answer. You should clearly identify your research question early in the paper.
· Don’t assume that your research question is obvious from the title of your paper. Instead, include a very clear statement of your research question early on in your paper.
· Don’t use non-academic sources! If in doubt about a source, ask me.
· Don’t include in-text citations without also listing the source on your References page. Instead, be sure each in-text citation has a corresponding entry on the References page.
· Don’t list sources on your References page that aren’t included as in-text citations somewhere in your paper. Instead, be sure each of your References is actually cited somewhere in your paper.
· Don’t include long quotations from your sources in your paper. A few short quotes are acceptable, but you should rely more on paraphrasing information from your sources than on directly quoting from them.
· Don’t violate COM’s code of academic honesty. See the last page in this document for a list of things that are considered violations of academic honesty.
· Don’t plagiarize! If you don’t know what plagiarism is, go to the COM library’s main page and click the link to Plagiarism (under the heading Getting Help on the left side of the page or get there directly by going to this page http://libguides.marin.edu/friendly.php?s=plagiarism
How to Submit Your Paper
After writing your paper, please complete the Paper Checklist. You do NOT have to submit the Checklist, but by completing it, you will ensure that your paper is complete and correct.
To submit the final version (deadline: midnight of Sunday, April 22) : Please upload the paper as a Word document to the area Final Paper area in the Research Paper Preparation Week Module. For instructions on how to upload your paper to the Draft Paper area, please read How to Submit a TurnItIn Assignment in the module Resources for Our Course. Note that you do not need to submit your Paper Checklist.
HOW I WILL GRADE YOUR PAPER
I will use a set of guidelines called a “rubric” to grade your paper. This rubric is on our class website under Research Preparation Week.
I have also provided a checklist you can use to be sure you’ve included everything required in your paper. You should not submit this checklist; just use it before you submit your paper to be sure you’ve done everything you should. The checklist is on our class website under Research Preparation Week.
5
Except From College of Marin Catalog,
2014-2015, p. 41:
Student Conduct Regarding Academic
Honesty
The following conduct is considered academic
dishonesty, will not be tolerated, and
shall constitute good cause for discipline,
including, but not limited to, removal, suspension
or expulsion of a student. Cheating,
plagiarism (including plagiarism in a student
publication), or knowingly engaging in other
forms of academic dishonesty, including, but
not limited to:
• Copying, in part or whole, from someone
else’s quiz, examination, or work. For
purpose of this item, “examination”
includes quizzes, tests, and other graded
or evaluated exercise.
• Submitting work presented previously in
another course, if contrary to the rules of
either course.
...
• Committing other acts which defraud or
misrepresent one’s own academic work.
• Incorporating sentences, paragraphs, or
parts of another person’s writing, without
giving appropriate credit, and representing
the product as one’s own work.
• Representing another’s artistic/scholarly
works (such as musical compositions,
computer programs, photographs,
paintings, drawings, or sculptures) as
one’s own.
• Submitting an academic assignment
purchased from a research/term paper
service, or written by another individual;
or work obtained electronically (e.g. via
the internet) and representing it as own
work.
…
• Giving your homework, term paper, or
other academic work to another student
to plagiarize.
• Having another person fraudulently
submit any work in your name.
• Lying to an instructor or District official
to improve your grade.
…
