Publication Process

Writing the manuscript

When to start writing?

• Phases 1 through 4 are iterative• Can go on forever because of moderators, mediators, new

measures, new manipulations, new participants, etc.• If 1 study: “short report”, follow-up study, descriptive,

conclusive after one study, moderate importance• If 2+ studies: common research question? complimentary

strengths and weaknesses? conclusive after two or more?

Writing a journal article

• Overall Structure– Title – Abstract

(telling a story)– Introduction - Hypotheses: past and present

– Method - How hypotheses operationalized

– Results - If hypotheses confirmed or not

– Discussion - Hypotheses: implications and future

– References – Figures/Tables – Appendices

Writing a journal article

• (1) Introduction– Prior Research– Present Research– Hypotheses

• (2) Method– Design– Participants– Materials– Procedures

• (3) Results– Evaluate participants– Evaluate materials– Evaluate procedures

• (4) Discussion– Restate results– Interpret results– Implications– Limitations of study– Future Research

• Write Method first– As you are collecting data, can write method section

describing blueprint for study

• Write Results second– As you are analyzing data, can write each part of the

Results section

• Write Introduction third– Need to analyze results before writing Introduction

because you need to know what “story” you are going to tell in Introduction

• Write Discussion fourth– Write Discussion section after the others because it is

restatements and summary of prior sections

• Write Abstract last– Can only summarize in Abstract after you have locked in

place what you need to summarize

Writing a journal article

What is “APA format”

• APA style officially refers to The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, which is a style manual of over 430 pages now in its fifth edition.

• Millions of copies sold; thousands of rules and guidelines; dozens of professions

(such as psychology, sociology, business, economics, nursing, social work, justice administration, and other disciplines).

Basic Formatting Rules

• There is a common set of formatting for all pages:– Paper – 8.5 x 11 inches– Margins – 1 inch on all sides– Page numbers – top right – Major Headings – centered, capitalize words– Spacing – double-spaced throughout paper– Font size – 12-point font– Font Type – Time Roman– Indentation – Indent when starting new paragraph

• Here are some websites that provide a concise overview of essential formatting rules:

– http://www.vanguard.edu/faculty/ddegelman/index.aspx?doc_id=796– http://www.wooster.edu/psychology/apa-crib.html– http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Predetermined order of pages

Title page

Body

References

• The formatting is different for each “type” of reference, such as journal article, book, etc.

• Here are some websites that provide a concise overview of how to format each type of reference– http://www.library.ubc.ca/home/about/instruct/apastyle.html

– http://healthlinks.washington.edu/hsl/styleguides/apa.html

– http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/05/

– Here is a website that formats the reference for you:• http://citationmachine.net/index.php?new_style=2&reset=1#here

How to format references

• “Guide to publishing in Psychology Journals”, edited by Sternberg– Part 1 and 2 of the book are about how to write each

section of a psychology article.

• “The Psychologist’s Companion”, written by Sternberg– Many good chapters on how to write a psychology

article, including common misconceptions, using APA format, and how to write different sections.

Advanced Sources