Writing in APA Style

Your instructor may require you to write the research paper in APA style, which is governed by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edition, 2001. This style has gained wide acceptance in the social sciences, and versions similar to it are used in the biological sciences, business, and earth sciences. Research is paramount in the sciences; in fact, the APA style guide says, “No amount of skill in writing can disguise research that is poorly designed or managed.” Thus, you will need to execute your project with precision.

Writing in APA Style

• In the sciences you may choose between three types of articles, or your instructor will specify one of these:

1. Theoretical articles

2. Reports of empirical studies

3. Review articles

Theoretical Article• The Theoretical article draws upon existing

research to examine a topic. This type of paper is the one you will most likely write as an underclassman. You will trace the development of a theory or compare theories. Your theoretical analysis will examine the literature to arrive at the current thinking about topics, such as autism, criminal behavior, dysfunctional families, learning disorders, and so forth. It generally accomplishes four things:

Theoretical Article (2)• 1. Identifies a problem or hypothesis that has

historical implications in the scientific community.• 2. Traces the development and history of the

evolution of the theory.• 3. Provides a systematic analysis of the articles

that have explored the problem.• 4. Arrives at a judgment and discussion of the

prevailing

Report of an Empirical Study• When you conduct field research and perform

laboratory testing, you will need to report the details of your original research. The report accomplishes these four things:

1. Introduces the problem or hypothesis under investigation and explains the purpose of work.

2. Describes the method used to conduct the research.3. Reports the results and the basic findings.4. Discusses, interprets and explores the implications of

the findings.You will need to work closely with your instructor to accomplish each of these stages.

Review Article

• You may be required to write a critical evaluation of a published article or book, or a set of articles on a common topic. Its purpose is to examine the state of current research and to determine if additional work might be in order. It does several things:

1. Defines the problem to clarify the hypothesis.2. Summarises the article or book under review.3. Analyses the literature to discover strengths and possible

weaknesses or inconsistencies in the research.4. Recommends additional research that might grow

logically from the work under review.

FURTHER DISCUSSION• Further discussion on Writing in APA Style will include:1. Writing in the Proper Tense2. Using In-text Citations3. Preparing a Student Paper or Thesis4. Preparing the References List5. Variations on the APA Style for Other Disciplines in the

Social Sciences6. Formatting an APA Paper7. Writing the Abstract

For detailed discussion of the above issues, please refer to your books WRITING RESEARCH PAPERS (pp. 302 – 325) and PRINCIPLES OF WRITING RESEARCH PAPERS (pp. 202 – 231)