APA Style Quick Reference for Paper 1:
The following guide will be used to grade your APA style papers. Overall, your paper will be worth 150 points. Point totals for each section are listed by each section's name.
I. Title Page (5 points)
A. Title is informative (accurately reflects what the experiment is studying)
B. Authors and affiliation are listed
C. Running head is listed at top center and header at top right
II. Abstract (15 points)
A. Abstract is self-contained (define abbreviations and unique terms) and is an accurate reflection of the content of the paper.
B. Should mention the problem investigated, the subjects (who or what they were), the method, the results, and any conclusions.
C. no longer than 120 words
III. Introduction (25 points)
A. Introduce the problem
1. Should begin with a statement that even a layperson can understand
2. Terms should be defined, examples given where appropriate
3. The importance of or reason for interest in the problem should be established.
B. Review the history of research on the problem
1. Relevant literature should be cited, but without giving an exhaustive review
2. Fit your study in the context of previous research
i. Begin to establish the relation between your work and previous work
ii. Describe earlier studies in sufficient detail (e.g. don't just cite an author's conclusion, cite the reason for the conclusions, perhaps including a description of how that author's study was carried out).
iii. At the same time, present only the relevant details of previous studies.
iv. For any article that you use as background, you should discuss the Methods & Results of that article you are citing. Do NOT pull additional citations from their introduction. If you have not read an article yourself you cannot cite it.
3. Summarize any relevant theories, including any controversies (e.g. theory A predicts one thing, theory B another).
C. State and explain the hypothesis or purpose
1. State the purpose or hypothesis
2. Show the reasoning that led to the hypothesis. That is, explain why you are testing the hypothesis.
3. Briefly summarize how your study tests the hypothesis or achieves that purpose.
4. Do not mention any results yet.
IV. Method (25 points)
Note that a method section may not include all of the following sections per se, but they should include the information listed under each heading wherever relevant. For example, if the materials were ordinary and need only brief description, they might be described in the procedure section instead of in a separate materials section.
Also remember that the details that should be included in the methods section vary from study to study. The ultimate goal is that the reader should be able to replicate your study. Your grade will depend on whether you include al relevant details, even if they are not specifically listed below. The list below is means to be illustrative, not exhaustive.
A. Subjects
1. Describe how the subjects were selected and compensated (if they were)
2. Describe relevant characteristics of the subjects (age, sex, etc. for humans; species, age, feeding schedules, etc. for animals)
3. Describe how many participated and how many dropped out of the study.
B. Materials
1. Describe any special materials used including how and why they were selected
2. Examples include words or pictures used as stimuli, questionnaires, or psychometric tests or special data recording forms used by observers.
C. Apparatus
1. Describe any apparatus used in the study, including such things as Skinner boxes, apparati for displaying/presenting stimuli (e.g. headphones), or computers used to control experiments.
D. Design and Procedure
1. Describe any independent variables, including the levels of each
2. Describe any dependent variables, and the operational definitions of each
3. Describe any controls, such as counterbalancing of stimuli, random selection, or random assignment of subjects, etc.
4. Describe, step by step, what happened during the course of the study.
5. Include such details as instructions, scripts followed by confederates of the experiment, etc.
V. Results (20 points)
A. Describe how the raw data were handled
1. Describe how observations were converted to a form that could be analyzed
2. Describe any data reduction (e.g. the mean of each subject's scores was figured)
3. Describe any data loss (e.g. due to equipment malfunction, etc.)
B. Describe the results of the study
1. Present the data in tables and/or figures where useful (being sure to refer the reader to the table or the figure at the appropriate point in the text). Tables and Figures are not imbedded in the text, but are always put at the end of the paper.
2. Describe the pattern of results for the reader. The description of what happened in the study should be the main focus of the results section.
C. Present any inferential statistics
1. Describe what test was used to analyze the data
2. The inferential statistics should support the description of the study, but should not be the main focus of the results section.
VI. Discussion (20 points)
A. Summarize the findings, and identify replicated findings vs. new findings.
B. Discuss how your results fit in with previous research
C. State possible implications of the results
1. But also deal with possible alternative explanations for the results
D. Evaluate how your results support or contradict relevant theories
E. Consider possible applications of your results
F. Consider unanswered questions and possible directions for future research.
G. End with a broad statement of the wider implications of your research (this should complement your broad opening statement)
VII. APA format (20 points)
A. Citations should be included where appropriate and references should be typed and organized according to format at the end of the paper.
B. Tables and figures should be formatted correctly and in their proper locations at the end of the paper.
C. Headings should be logically ordered and formatted properly.
D. Margins and spacing
1. All margins are 1.5 inches on all pages (except figures)
2. Manuscript is double spaced throughout (with no extra spaces before or after headings)
E. Other
1. Short title and page number appear on every page on the top right corner (except figures pages)
2. New pages start in appropriate, and only in appropriate places: abstract, introduction, references, footnotes, author notes, each table, figure caption page, each figure, appendices.
3. Use of past tense throughout the paper. Exceptions are made in the discussion section when talking about implications and future experiments.
VIII. Grammar and Style (20 points)
A. Spelling
B. Appropriate choice of words (e.g. don't confuse infer and imply, effect and affect, there and their, etc.)
C. Sentence construction
1. No run-on sentences
2. No incomplete sentences
3. Avoid awkward constructions
4. Noun-verb agreement
5. Tense agreement
6. other grammatical errors
D. Paragraph construction
1. Paragraphs should have a topic sentence
2. Transitions between paragraphs should be smooth
E. Style
1. Be direct and concise with your writing. The goal is to clearly convey your experiment and findings. The writing should not be poetic or dramatic, since these styles do not make a point quickly. Scientific writing is basic and straightforward.