Preface to the Third Edition
Preface to the Second Edition
Preface to the First Edition
1 Writing in Psychology
Writing in Psychology
How Does Psychological Writing Differ from Other Kinds of Writing?
Using APA Style
Making a Credible Argument
Different Types of Communication
Written Communication
Oral Communication
Poster Presentations
Internet Publishing
Effective Communication
How to Begin
Part I Organizing and Developing Your Ideas and Writing
2 Formulating Your Ideas
Identifying Your Focal Question
Locating Relevant Sources
Recognizing Multiple Viewpoints
Ethical Writing
Scholarly Excerpt
Attempted Paraphrase
Paraphrase Rewrite
3 Assessing Your Sources
The Difference between Primary and Secondary Literature
The Difference between Popular and Scholarly Sources
Who is the Author?
Who is the Audience?
In what Kind of Journal did your Source Appear?
What Additional Features Does the Source Have?
Evaluating Sources
Evaluating Internet Sources
4 How to Conduct a Literature Search
Understanding Library Resources
Using Search Engines
Academic Journals
Library Books
Other Library Resources
Using Article Databases
Using the Internet
Using Sources to Find Sources
5 How to Read and Summarize a Journal Article
An Overview of the Research—the Abstract
Identifying the Issues—Introduction Section
Understanding What Was Done—Method Section
Subjects and Participants
Apparatus and Materials
Procedure
What Happened—Results Section
What It Means—Discussion Section
Where the Ideas Originated—References Section
Figuring Out What It Means
6 Organizing a Paper
Organization
Using the Work of Others to Support Your Argument
Sources: Credibility and Tone
Sources: Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
Editing and Revising
Focus
Development and Support
Organization
Mechanics
7 Elements of Style
Recognizing the Importance of Grammar and Style
Choosing Effective Wording
Using Inclusive and Appropriate Language
Deciding on the Use of Technical Language
Avoiding Common Problems
Apostrophe Use
Pronoun Use
Verb Forms
Spelling
Specific Word Use
8 Communicating Statistics
Why Do We Use Statistics?
What Point Are You Trying to Make?
Understanding Your Numbers
Helping Readers Understand Your Statistics
Differentiating Results and Interpretation
Part II Preparing APA-Style Papers
9 Writing a Thesis or a Term Paper
Developing Your Idea
Filling a gap
Building on a Particular Study or Studies
Exploring Competing Theories
Reviewing Published Work
Organizing Your Paper Around the Central Questions
Finding Different Perspectives About Your Idea
Developing the Logic of Your Argument
10 The Introduction Section
Introducing the Topic
Different Approaches to Starting the Introduction
Identifying the Scope, Success, and Limitations of Previous Research
Citing an Actual Event
Creating a Fictional Scenario
Presenting a Statistic
Citing a Quotation
Describing Common Occurrences
How to Begin
Reviewing What Others Have Done
Reasons for Reviewing the Literature
Clarifying Terms in the Research
Introducing Your Research: Generating a Hypothesis
11 The Method Section
Participants and Subjects
Human Participants
Confidentiality of Participants
Nonhuman subjects
Attrition
Materials and Apparatus
Procedure
Design
12 The Results Section
Your Hypotheses
Deciding What to Present
Reporting Significant and Nonsignificant Results
Marginally Significant Effects
APA Style and Presentation of Your Results
Creating Tables
Creating Figures
The Connection between the Text and the Tables and Figures
The Difference between Results and Discussion Sections
Some Final Points About Presenting Results
13 The Discussion Section
Summarizing Your Results
Connecting Different Aspects of Your Results
Dealing with Nonsignificant Results
Comparing Your Results with Those of Others
Stating the Importance and Implications of Your Results
Acknowledging the Limitations of Your Study
14 References Citations in the Text and the Reference List
Citing References in the Text
Citing One or Two Authors
Citing Sources with More Than Two Authors
Citing Personal Communications
Citing Multiple Sources within Parentheses
Order of Citations in the Reference List
Using Your Word Processing Program to Create the Citation
Examples of How Different Types of References Should Be Laid Out in a Reference List
Examples of Different Types of Citations in the Reference List
Articles in Periodicals
References Involving Books
Online Content
Website with No Author
Online Encyclopedia Entry
Online Book
News Outlet
Blog Post
Presentations
15 Final Touches: The Abstract and Formatting Details
The Abstract
Formatting Details
Part III Communicating Beyond the Research Paper
16 Creating Poster Presentations
Differentiating Visual and Written Communication
Reducing the Amount of Information
Visual Style
Your Behavior: The Ethic of a Poster Session
Attire
Covering Your Poste
Creating Your Poster Using PowerPoint®
17 Giving Oral Presentations
The Difference between Oral and Written English
Adapting APA Style to Oral Presentations
Preparing for Your Presentation
Creating Graphics for Your Presentation
Giving the Presentation
18 Presenting Your Work on the Internet
New Capabilities with Internet Publication
Using a Word Processor to Create Manuscripts for the Internet
Inserting Images
Advantages of Internet Publishing Software
Publishing Your Poster on the Internet
Uploading Your Manuscript to the Internet
19 Submitting Your Plan to an Ethics Committee
Ethical Standards in Research
Writing a Proposal for an Institutional Review Board for Research
with Human Subjects
What the Participants Will Actually Do
Description of Subject Participation
Risks and How You Will Deal With Them
Risk-Benefit Analysis
Benefits of the Study
Informed Consent
Writing a Proposal for the Institutional Animal Care and
Use Committee (IACUC) for Animal Research
Appendix A Example of APA-Style Manuscript with Common Errors
Appendix B Corrected APA-Style Manuscript
References
Author Index
Subject Index