Writing a Research Paper in APA Format: Tips and Guidelines | Exams Statistics

Tips for Writing a Research Paper in APA format:

Basics:

 A research paper (especially one that requires APA style) is different than a term

paper, a creative writing paper, a composition-style paper, or a thought paper.

 A research paper requires you to leave out any personal information (both as

content or in your writing style – see below) and to focus on research findings that

have been put forth previously (the Intro section), that you have looked at and

how (the Purpose (hypothesis), and Method section), and what your findings were

(the Results and Discussion section).

 Research papers although generally similar may have different requirements

depending on the course (and more specifically the instructor). This is not meant

to confuse or frustrate students, rather it comes out of the requirements for

publication that vary among fields (e.g., the type of information and the way it is

presented has different requirements for behavioral journals than for social

psychology journals). Best advice is to follow your instructor’s guidelines!

 APA style, although similar, may change over the course of time – information

such as how to write the reference section has been changed from edition to

edition in the APA Publication Manual

General Tips on Writing Style:

 Impersonal style – as a guideline minimize using first person (e.g., “this study was

conducted…” rather than “we conducted this study…”) although there are

exceptions; see the APA Publication Manual for any questions about this

 Do not include any personal statements or anecdotes (e.g., “I was interested in

studying eating disorders because my sister was diagnosed with…” does not

belong in a research paper!)

 Verb tense – as a guideline use past tense (e.g., “the results indicated” rather than

“the results indicate”) although there are exceptions; see the APA Publication

Manual for any questions about this

 Contractions – do not use contractions! (e.g., “it does not follow” rather than “it

doesn’t follow”)

 Biased language– keep up to date with appropriate terms, especially if you are

writing a paper that involves gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. The

APA Manual includes information about terms that are deemed appropriate for

use in research papers

 Citations – be sure to cite your sources. Try to paraphrase as much as possible (as

opposed to quoting)…a couple of ways to do this:

1. State a fact or make a claim in the text; then cite your source in parentheses within

the same sentence: “It has been demonstrated that immediate recall is extremely

limited for 5-year-old children (Jones, 1998).” OR “Previous research has shown

that response to an auditory stimulus is much faster than response to a visual

stimulus (Smith & Jones, 2003).”

2. Can use source as the subject of your sentence: “In a related study, Jones (2005)

found that…” OR “In a similar study, Jones and Smith (1999) found that…”

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Tips for Writing a Research Paper in APA format :

Basics :

 A research paper (especially one that requires APA style) is different than a term

paper, a creative writing paper, a composition-style paper, or a thought paper.

 A research paper requires you to leave out any personal information (both as

content or in your writing style – see below) and to focus on research findings that

have been put forth previously (the Intro section), that you have looked at and

how (the Purpose (hypothesis), and Method section), and what your findings were

(the Results and Discussion section).

 Research papers although generally similar may have different requirements

depending on the course (and more specifically the instructor). This is not meant

to confuse or frustrate students, rather it comes out of the requirements for

publication that vary among fields (e.g., the type of information and the way it is

presented has different requirements for behavioral journals than for social

psychology journals). Best advice is to follow your instructor’s guidelines!

 APA style, although similar, may change over the course of time – information

such as how to write the reference section has been changed from edition to

edition in the APA Publication Manual

General Tips on Writing Style :

 Impersonal style – as a guideline minimize using first person (e.g., “this study was

conducted…” rather than “we conducted this study…”) although there are

exceptions; see the APA Publication Manual for any questions about this

 Do not include any personal statements or anecdotes (e.g., “I was interested in

studying eating disorders because my sister was diagnosed with…” does not

belong in a research paper!)

 Verb tense – as a guideline use past tense (e.g., “the results indicat ed ” rather than

“the results indicate”) although there are exceptions; see the APA Publication

Manual for any questions about this

 Contractions – do not use contractions! (e.g., “it does not follow” rather than “it

doesn’t follow”)

 Biased language– keep up to date with appropriate terms, especially if you are

writing a paper that involves gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. The

APA Manual includes information about terms that are deemed appropriate for

use in research papers

 Citations – be sure to cite your sources. Try to paraphrase as much as possible (as

opposed to quoting)…a couple of ways to do this:

1. State a fact or make a claim in the text; then cite your source in parentheses within

the same sentence: “It has been demonstrated that immediate recall is extremely

limited for 5-year-old children (Jones, 1998).” OR “Previous research has shown

that response to an auditory stimulus is much faster than response to a visual

stimulus (Smith & Jones, 2003).”

2. Can use source as the subject of your sentence: “In a related study, Jones (2005)

found that…” OR “In a similar study, Jones and Smith (1999) found that…”

Sections of an APA formatted research paper:

Title Page

 Should include a running head (an abbreviated title, no more than 50

characters long and is in all capital letters) and page number, title, author

name(s), and affiliation – all double-spaced (should not include instructor’s

name, name of the course, etc.)

 Title – centered about half-way down page

o Ex: “Correctly Using APA Format in a Research Paper”

 Name – centered under titled

o Ex: “Jane Smith”

 Affiliation – school you are attending; centered under name(s)

o Ex: “University of North Dakota”

The running head is an abbreviated version of your title, normally the first your (^4) title or (^5) (Note: words the of use of “Running head:” is only, for notresearch for lit papers reviews, experimental papers, or meta‐analyses) The title of the paper, author, name and of the affiliation should be centered both vertically horizontally and on the page, and double spaced

Page numbers are always in the upper right hand corner

Another an in‐text example citation: of (Bandura, 1978)

Page are always numbers in the hand upper corner right

Listing keywords help researchers find your article in databases.

Introduction – Should include:

 Clear and explicit introduction of the construct being investigated

 All constructs should be accurately and clearly defined

 Literature review conveys what is known about the construct under investigation

 Literature used in review is appropriate (i.e., from a professional journal)

 Literature used in review is accurate in ideas

 Logical presentation of ideas (i.e., no illogical jumps or omissions)

 Research proposed is discussed in the context of what is already known

 Hypotheses are stated

 Should look like:

Title of your paper is centered and not bold

Sub‐headings are bold and left justified

Page numbers are always in the upper right hand corner

Listing keywords help researchers find your article in databases.

In‐text citation: Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1963)

Method

Should provide sufficient information to allow reader to easily replicate study, including:

 Participants

o Describe how many (N=), gender, race/ethnicity, mean age, etc. (any

demographic information that may be relevant to the study) as well as how

participants were recruited

 Materials

o Describe measures or apparatus used, include information about the scale

of any measures as well as validity and reliability if available

 Procedure

o Describe the process of conducting the study (e.g., signing of informed

consent, the order of procedures – or questionnaires, if or how participants

were compensated for their time, any debriefing procedure, etc.)

 Should look like:

Page numbers are the alwaysupper rightin hand corner

Listing keywords help researchers find your article in databases.

Method wherever starts the introduction ends

Describe participants

Describe (questionnaires, materials used vignettes, ect.)

Explain the study the process of

Bold and centered

Discussion – Should include:

 A clear statement of support or nonsupport of the original hypotheses

 An exploration of the similarities and differences between the present findings

and the work of others, including relating findings to applicable theory

 A description of limitations and alternative explanations

 Commentary on the importance and implications of the findings

 Should look like:

Page numbers are the alwaysupper rightin hand corner

Restate hypothesis Restate results

Relate findings to previous research

Discuss of your (^) studylimitations and potential future research

Discuss implications of your study

Bold and centered

Writing a Research Paper in APA Format: Tips and Guidelines, Exams of Statistics

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Partial preview of the text

Download Writing a Research Paper in APA Format: Tips and Guidelines and more Exams Statistics in PDF only on Docsity!

Tips for Writing a Research Paper in APA format :

Basics :

 A research paper (especially one that requires APA style) is different than a term

paper, a creative writing paper, a composition-style paper, or a thought paper.

 A research paper requires you to leave out any personal information (both as

content or in your writing style – see below) and to focus on research findings that

have been put forth previously (the Intro section), that you have looked at and

how (the Purpose (hypothesis), and Method section), and what your findings were

(the Results and Discussion section).

 Research papers although generally similar may have different requirements

depending on the course (and more specifically the instructor). This is not meant

to confuse or frustrate students, rather it comes out of the requirements for

publication that vary among fields (e.g., the type of information and the way it is

presented has different requirements for behavioral journals than for social

psychology journals). Best advice is to follow your instructor’s guidelines!

 APA style, although similar, may change over the course of time – information

such as how to write the reference section has been changed from edition to

edition in the APA Publication Manual

General Tips on Writing Style :

 Impersonal style – as a guideline minimize using first person (e.g., “this study was

conducted…” rather than “we conducted this study…”) although there are

exceptions; see the APA Publication Manual for any questions about this

 Do not include any personal statements or anecdotes (e.g., “I was interested in

studying eating disorders because my sister was diagnosed with…” does not

belong in a research paper!)

 Verb tense – as a guideline use past tense (e.g., “the results indicat ed ” rather than

“the results indicate”) although there are exceptions; see the APA Publication

Manual for any questions about this

 Contractions – do not use contractions! (e.g., “it does not follow” rather than “it

doesn’t follow”)

 Biased language– keep up to date with appropriate terms, especially if you are

writing a paper that involves gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. The

APA Manual includes information about terms that are deemed appropriate for

use in research papers

 Citations – be sure to cite your sources. Try to paraphrase as much as possible (as

opposed to quoting)…a couple of ways to do this:

1. State a fact or make a claim in the text; then cite your source in parentheses within

the same sentence: “It has been demonstrated that immediate recall is extremely

limited for 5-year-old children (Jones, 1998).” OR “Previous research has shown

that response to an auditory stimulus is much faster than response to a visual

stimulus (Smith & Jones, 2003).”

2. Can use source as the subject of your sentence: “In a related study, Jones (2005)

found that…” OR “In a similar study, Jones and Smith (1999) found that…”

Sections of an APA formatted research paper:

Title Page

 Should include a running head (an abbreviated title, no more than 50

characters long and is in all capital letters) and page number, title, author

name(s), and affiliation – all double-spaced (should not include instructor’s

name, name of the course, etc.)

 Title – centered about half-way down page

o Ex: “Correctly Using APA Format in a Research Paper”

 Name – centered under titled

o Ex: “Jane Smith”

 Affiliation – school you are attending; centered under name(s)

o Ex: “University of North Dakota”

Introduction – Should include:

 Clear and explicit introduction of the construct being investigated

 All constructs should be accurately and clearly defined

 Literature review conveys what is known about the construct under investigation

 Literature used in review is appropriate (i.e., from a professional journal)

 Literature used in review is accurate in ideas

 Logical presentation of ideas (i.e., no illogical jumps or omissions)

 Research proposed is discussed in the context of what is already known

 Hypotheses are stated

 Should look like:

Method

Should provide sufficient information to allow reader to easily replicate study, including:

 Participants

o Describe how many (N=), gender, race/ethnicity, mean age, etc. (any

demographic information that may be relevant to the study) as well as how

participants were recruited

 Materials

o Describe measures or apparatus used, include information about the scale

of any measures as well as validity and reliability if available

 Procedure

o Describe the process of conducting the study (e.g., signing of informed