Contents and Format of APA Papers

Who is your audience? Your audience is a group of colleagues. Write your paper so that it could be understood by students in a research methods class at another university. They will not have the exact background information that you do. But, with sufficient explanation, they should be able to understand what you did and why.

Basics 12 pt Times Roman OR 12 pt Courier Double-space everything 1” margins on all sides Do not justify lines

“Content” sections Abstract Introduction Methods Results Discussion

Title Page CONTENT SECTIONS References Tables, if any Figures, if any Order of Sections

What goes on the Title Page Title Name(s) of author(s) Affiliation - e.g. North Seattle Community College Running Head Short Title/Page # (in header, on all pages)

Title of the Paper 10 to 12 words needs to summarize main idea of paper (3 types) – DESCRIPTIVE: Effect of Alcohol on Decision Making – NATURE OF QUESTION: Does Alcohol Affect Decision Making? – INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS: The Interfering Effect of Alcohol on Decision Making

Other Title Page Items Running head: abbreviated title, no more than 50 characters, CAPITALIZED – The words “Running head:” must precede and are NOT capitalized Short Title: 2-3 words, shorter than running head, appears in header of each page (except figures) Page number in upper right, 5 spaces from short title, appears in header of each page

Abstract Gets its very own page Does not need to be very long (150 words max) Does not need to have too much detail Should include summary of: – Goal of experiment – Method – Result – Tie into theory

The Body of the Paper Broad general statements Progressively narrows to specifics of study Broadens out to general considerations …can be described as an hourglass

Introduction answers the following questions: What is the point of the study? What are the theoretical hypotheses, and how were they derived? What are the theoretical implications of the study, and how does the study relate to previous work in the area? How do the hypothesis and the experimental design relate to the problem?

Introduction- Mechanics & Style Begins on a new page (page 3) The word “Introduction” never appears Title appears on top of first page (centered) Remember to summarize, be careful not to PLAGIARIZE Cite relevant research Create transitions between topics of research.

Method Starts right after Introduction (not on a new page) Uses appropriate details so that others can replicate and evaluate the experiment. 6 possible sub-sections: Participants, Materials, Stimuli, Apparatus, Design, & Procedures Sometimes sub-sections can be combined e.g. Stimuli & Apparatus only use sub-headings relevant to your study

Results Continues right after Method (not on own page) Overall – If any data were removed and why Descriptive Statistics (TREND) – comparison of means to show trends in data – Use at least one figure/table, refer to it here Inferential Statistics (RELIABILITY) – Tell the reader which test you used – Give BOTH the test value and EXACT p-value rounded to the nearest thousandth (when possible)

Results Section... summarizes results in English includes descriptive statistics uses graphs and tables to get information across starts with central findings and then moves on to peripheral findings

Example: Statistics the difference was significant, t(28) = 4.1, p <.001. no difference was found, F(1, 28) = 4.3, p =.318.

Tables and Figures Mention Figures and Tables in consecutive order in text (Table 1, Table 2, Figure 1, etc) – NOTE: Always capitalize them. ‘Figure 1 shows the means for…’, ‘Mean RT was higher in the masked condition (see Table 1)..’ All the figures and tables should be attached AFTER the REFERENCES all figures and tables NEED to be on SEPARATE pages (will be at end of paper) Give titles, label & mark axes, indicate units

Discussion Continues after Results (not on own page) Refer back to your results and give evaluations such as: – “the results are consistent with the hypothesis that….” – “there was a trend in the direction of” - if the differences were not significant Connections between your results and your hypotheses: What do the results tell you? – Does your theory best fit the data? – Do other people’s theory fit best?/Other related findings? – Do you have a new theory?

Discussion can include suggestions and improvements What should be done to get further support for your theory? What could be changed to improve your experiment? – improve your materials – change conditions (e.g. within to between subjects) Future directions of inquiry? Use your artistic license

References Alphabetical order by first author Chronological order for different papers from one author Same author & same year: use a,b,c... after year

In Text Citations The standard journal format permits you to cite authors in two ways.

Citations: Format 1 Enclose their last names and the year of publication in parentheses Example: Consent to perform a small favor increases a respondent’s susceptibility to perform a relatively large favor (Freedman & Fraser, 1966).

Citations: Format 2 By using their names in the sentence itself Example: Despite empirical evidence suggesting other dimensions, Brown and Levinson (1984) persist in their claim that power, social distance, and imposition are the only dimensions affecting politeness

Don’t just randomly alternate between them. In general, the first format is the most common and appropriate. The second format is used when you want to focus specifically on the authors or researcher, or go into more detail on their study. Citations: When to use which format?

Citations After citing authors in one paragraph, you don’t need to give the date again in the same paragraph More than 6 authors cite first author ‘et al.’ 3-5 authors, cite all first, then subsequently can cite first author ‘et al.’