Psych APA style paper due in 30 hrs

I would just like to give you a few pointers on the APA assignments that you will be submitting. The first of which is APA Writing Assignment #1. In this essay, the main focus is writing in APA style. You will produce a four-page document which will include the cover page, the abstract page, the third page (which includes the running head, page number, full title, and the three words "Summary," "Review" and "Comments" each on their own line) and the final page which will be the Reference page.

Please review the APA sample and template to assist you in writing in APA style. One other important note is the The Summary section (page 3) for your APA Writing Assignment #1 will be a summary of the article, not a summary of the subject matter. The other two headings will be blank, please see the sample paper available to you.

You will be graded on the content, APA formatting, of course spelling and grammatical errors, and also content flow and critical thinking. 

I have provided a web links for your assistance in the APA writing. Other resources include the additional book Writing in Psychology, the writing sample, and the template.

For APA Writing Assignment #1, I will primarily be looking at your APA style, the Reference section and the content of the Summary section.  I will give you feedback on your errors to help you produce a better APA Writing Assignment #2. However, I will not provide feedback if you wait to the last minute to turn in the assignment or if you submit the assignment in a format other than Microsoft Word. 

Lastly, and most importantly, plagiarism will not be tolerated. Authors of these articles spend months or even years to prepare these articles and stealing their work will not be tolerated. Plagiarism is simply not giving credit to someone else for their work. And example of plagiarism would be paraphrasing someone else's work and not citing them as the original author. Of course, quoting someone and not giving them credit is additionally called plagiarism. In essence, every single sentence that you write should be cited if you are paraphrasing or quoting someone else's work.

On the other hand, you do NOT want to turn in an assignment that is just a paraphrase of someone else's work either. (Remember, critical thinking is crucial in psychology; I want to read your thoughts.) So, how do you not have one paraphrase after another in your essay? You simply read the article, then begin your summary/abstract with your thoughts and add cited paraphrases/quotes to help fill in between your sentences. But please be aware, plagiarism will not be tolerated. If you have even a single sentence that is plagiarized, which means that it is not cited, that may result in a grade of zero. 

Here are a few small additional tips for professional writing....

· PROOF READ before submitting!!!!! Have something else read your paper. Read your paper aloud. Step away from your paper for a while and reread it. But please proofread.

· Do not use first person (YOU, me, I, we), unless that is what you are intending to say. Do not write something like "You know when you go to the store next to your house..."  That is poor academic writing. Our focus is to lead you to professional writing. Instead, writing something like, "When a person visits a store next to his or her home..."

· Write in 3rd person (he, she, them, they, their...).

· Spell numbers less than 10 (e.g. four, three) and use numerics for numbers 10 and above (e.g. 35, 11).

· Do not try to get fancy with APA style; just use what is given in the sample and template. For example, do not write in bold unless it is appropriate to APA style.

· PROOF READ BEFORE submitting

· Use the full title of the article when you are writing the title.

· Read about the running head in APA format: This is important! The running head should not be more than 50 characters in length. It should be placed in the header with the page number and the words "Running head:" only appear on the first page. The actual running head is typed in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.

· Abstract section is to be left justified and not indented, but the word Abstract is centered.

· Content on page three is indented.

· On the Reference page, pay close attention to the details. For example, the first line of the reference is NOT indented but other lines are. Also pay attention to the year (do not use month) and author's name (do not use first names). The title of resources are specially capitalized (Alcoholism and work: A study in....). The journal name and volume number are in italics. Page numbers are identified last (e.g. pp. 123-185). Watch the details.

· PROOF READ BEFORE submitting

· Do NOT cite any work you have not read. You can say "The author cites previous research in the article that suggests.... (Shifron & Reysen, 2011)." where Shifron and Reysen are the authors of the article you have read.

· USE SPELL CHECK!!!!!

· The Summary section of the Critique assignment is to be an 11 line (approximately) summary of the article. The Review is a one or more page review of the article, and the Comments section is to be YOUR COLLEGIATE level feedback, not opinions, about the authors' research/article.

Let me say it again: PROOF READ before submitting!!!!!  

I hope this is helpful,

Amy K.

 

For this assignment, you will:

1. Choose from one of the five articles that can be found in a tab below. There is either a PDF or Internet link option to view each article in its entirety.

2. Read your chosen article.

3. Review the rubric before beginning the assignment. This assignment is worth as many as 40 points. You can find the rubric in a tab below. You will prepare an APA formatted paper which will include all four (4) required pages. Information on how to use APA style can be found under the Resources tab below.

4. Submit your paper via Blackboard.

There are three parts of this ONE assignment that will define your grade:

1. APA style formatting

a. A well-developed Summary section that meets the required word limit of 150 to 250 words. 

b. In-text citations clearly lead to the correct sources in the References page. 

c. Summary section, including citations, and other required pages

d. Formatted in accordance with APA 6th edition standards.

2. Content on your Summary section

a. Are your statements clearly understood, grammatically correct, accurate and comprehensive. (A statement can be clear but not accurate, as in "Most dogs are over 300 pounds in weight.”)

b. Did you use spell check and review your grammar?

3. Your reference formatting - References should be formulated correctly according to the APA 6th edition standards.