An EasyGuide to APA Style / Edition 3

by Beth M. Schwartz, R. Eric Landrum, Regan A. R. Gurung

Overview

Written by experienced psychology instructors Beth M. Schwartz, R. Eric Landrum, and Regan A. R. Gurung, all active and respected members of the American Psychological Association (APA) Society for the Teaching of Psychology, the updated Third Edition of An Easy Guide to APA Style provides a reader-friendly guide for mastering APA style and covers all sections of an APA-style paper. Clear, conversational, and humorous, the book presents easy-to-understand explanations of how to write research papers, term papers, and lab reports, and cite references following APA style and format. The authors focus on the most essential elements of APA style and format, offering useful advice, tips, and visual representations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781483383231
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	03/10/2016
Series:	EasyGuide Series
Edition description:	Third Edition
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Beth M. Schwartz is the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, and Professor of Psychology at Heidelberg University, in Tiffin, Ohio. She was on the faculty at Randolph College, in Lynchburg, VA for 24 years, where she was the William E. and Catherine Ehrman Thoresen ‘23 Professor of Psychology and Assistant Dean of the College. She received a BA at Colby College (Maine) and a Ph D in cognitive psychology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her scholarship focuses on two areas of interest: (a) children’s memory development and how this applies to children’s eyewitness reports and (b) the scholarship of teaching and learning/pedagogical research. In addition to numerous professional presentations at conferences, she has published many book chapters and articles in a variety of scholarly journals, including the Journal of Higher Education, Ethics and Behavior, Law and Human Behavior, and Applied Developmental Science. She has also edited and coauthored books, including Child Abuse: A Global View (Schwartz, Mc Cauley, & Epstein, 2001), Optimizing Teaching and Learning (Gurung & Schwartz, 2012), and Evidence-Based Teaching for Higher Education (Schwartz & Gurung, 2012). She is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Psychological Society and is a Fellow of Division 2 of APA (Society for the Teaching of Psychology). She was an award-winning teacher at Randolph College, where she taught Introduction to Psychology, Research Methods, Cognitive Psychology, and the capstone course. She received the Award for Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring from the American Psych-Law Society, the Gillie A. Larew Award for Distinguished Teaching at Randolph College, the Katherine Graves Davidson Excellence in Scholarship Award from Randolph College, and the Distinguished Faculty Achievement Certificate from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

R. Eric Landrum is a professor of psychology at Boise State University, receiving his Ph D in cognitive psychology from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. His research interests center on the educational conditions that best facilitate student success as well as the use of scholarship of teaching and learning strategies to advance the efforts of scientist-educators. He has more than 375 professional presentations at conferences, published over 45 books/book chapters, and has published more than 90 professional articles in scholarly, peer-reviewed journals. He has worked with more than 300 undergraduate research assistants and taught more than 14,000 students in 23 years at Boise State. During Summer 2008, he led an American Psychological Association working group at the National Conference for Undergraduate Education in Psychology studying the desired results of an undergraduate psychology education. During the October 2014 Educational Leadership Conference in Washington, DC, Eric was presented with a Presidential Citation from then APA President Nadine Kaslow for his outstanding contributions to the teaching of psychology. Eric is the lead author of The Psychology Major: Career Options and Strategies for Success (5th ed., 2013) and has authored Undergraduate Writing in Psychology: Learning to Tell the Scientific Story (2nd ed., 2012) and Finding a Job With a Psychology Bachelor’s Degree: Expert Advice for Launching Your Career (2009). He coauthored You’ve Received Your Doctorate in Psychology—Now What? (2012), is the lead editor for Teaching Ethically—Challenges and Opportunities (2012), and coeditor of Assessing Teaching and Learning in Psychology: Current and Future Perspectives (2013). He and Regan Gurung are the inaugural coeditors of the APA journal Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology. He served as vice president for the Rocky Mountain region of Psi Chi (2009–2011). He is a member of the American Psychological Association, a fellow in APA’s Division Two (Society for the Teaching of Psychology or STP), served as STP secretary (2009–2011), and served as the 2014 STP president. He will serve as the 2015–2016 president of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association.

Regan A. R. Gurung is the Ben J. and Joyce Rosenberg Professor of Human Development and Psychology at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay (UWGB). He received a BA at Carleton College (Minnesota) and a Ph D at the University of Washington. He then spent 3 years at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has published articles in a variety of scholarly journals, including Psychological Review and Teaching of Psychology. He has a textbook, Health Psychology: A Cultural Approach (now in its third edition), and has coauthored/edited 12 other books, including Doing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (Gurung & Wilson, 2012); Exploring Signature Pedagogies: Approaches to Teaching Disciplinary Habits of Mind (Gurung, Chick, & Haynie, 2009); Getting Culture (Gurung & Prieto, 2009); and Optimizing Teaching and Learning (Gurung & Schwartz, 2012). He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and the Midwestern Psychological Association and a winner of the Founder’s Award for Excellence in Teaching as well as of the Founder’s Award for Scholarship at UWGB. He was also the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s Wisconsin Professor of the Year (2009) and the UW System Regents’ Teaching Excellence Award Winner. He is past president of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology. He is founding coeditor of the APA journal, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology.

Table of Contents

Section I: Overview
Chapter 1: Style Versus Format: Why It Matters to Your Audience and Why It Should Matter to You
What Is the Difference Between APA Style and APA Format?
Why APA Style Anyway? Wasn’t MLA Good Enough?
In the Long Run, Attention to Detail Matters (Including APA Style and Format)
Write for Your Specific Audience: Term Papers Versus Formal Research Papers
Chapter 2: Your Visual Table of Contents Quick Finder
The Sample Paper With Content and Page Numbers
Section II. Writing With (APA) Style: Big-Picture Items
Chapter 3: General Writing Tips Specific to APA Style: Bare-Bones Fundamentals
Clear and Succinct Writing: Using Your Scholarly Voice
Commonly Confused Words in Psychology and Beyond
Subject–Verb Agreement
Active Voice Versus Passive Voice in APA Style
Some (But Not Too Much) First-Person Usage
Avoiding Anthropomorphism
Chapter 4: A Quick Grammar Summary for APA-Style Writing
Parts of a Sentence
Parts of Speech
Common Grammar Mistakes to Avoid
Chapter 5: Plagiarism and How to Avoid It: Thou Shalt Not Steal (or Be Lazy)
But I Didn’t Know...
It Sounds Like a Bad Word
Quoting: More Than Just a Copy and Paste
Paraphrasing: In Your Own Words
An Author’s License (Yours): Modifying Source Material
But I Can Freely Use My Own Work, Right?
How About This for a Plagiarism Awareness Exercise?
Chapter 6: Avoiding Biased Language
The Fundamental Lesson: View People as Individuals First
Specific Recommendations for Reducing Bias: Nonsexist Language and Other Areas
Sexual Orientation
Racial and Ethnic Identity
Disabilities
Occupations
Gender and Pronouns: With an Indefinite Recommendation
Section III. Writing With (APA) Style: Getting Down to Business
Chapter 7: Writing Your Introduction: Tying the Story all Together
What to Include in Your Introduction
Formatting Your Introduction
Getting Your Introduction Started
Using an Outline: Organizing Your Literature Review
Common Mistakes to Avoid in your Introduction
Outline for the Sample Introduction Section Included
Sample Paper
Chapter 8: Writing Your Discussion: It’s a Wrap
Formatting Your Discussion Section
What to Include in Your Discussion Section
Getting Your Discussion Section Started
Organizing Your Discussion Section
Common Mistakes to Avoid in your Discussion Section
Outline for the Sample Discussion Section Included
Sample Paper
Chapter 9: Citing Sources in Text: Whodunit (or Said It)?
A Good Rule of Thumb
Ready, Cite, GO
In-Text Citation Basics
Some Curveballs
Chapter 10: A Step-by-Step Playbook of Your Method: How, What, When, Who, and Where?
Where in the Flow of Pages Do You Place the Method Section?
Where in the Method Section Does This Information Go?
Subjects/Participants
Materials and Apparatus
Procedure
Formatting Your Method Section
Chapter 11: Writing About Statistics and Associated Fun: How Did It All Turn Out?
Let Us Talk Statistics
Basics and Beyond
Formatting Your Results Paragraph
Including Effect Size and Power
Chapter 12: Everybody Needs References
A Helpful Note
Creating Your References Section
Using Abbreviations
The Basics
Basic References Section Formatting Rules
Some Not-So-Basic Rules You Might Need
Section IV. Presenting Your Work in APA Format
Chapter 13: The Numbers Game: How to Write Numbers (and When the Rules Change)
When You Use Numerals
When You Use Words
Using Both Numerals and Words
How to Use Decimal Points
Additional Rules for Including Numbers in Your Paper
Metrication
When Do You Use Abbreviations?
Chapter 14: Formatting: Organizing, Headings, and Making Your Work Look Good to Print
What Goes Where?
What Your Paper Should Look Like
Headings
Spelling Matters: Spelling and Capitalization Rules
Final Touches
Chapter 15: Table That Motion: The Special Challenges of Tables and Figures
What Is What
Getting the Look Down
A Note on “Notes”
Figuring It Out
Get Legendary (and Use Captions)
Where to Place Tables and Figures
But I Am Doing a Literature Review: Could I Use a Table or Figure?
Do Not Forget
Chapter 16: Make Microsoft Word 2013 Work for You: APA Formatting
Word 2013 Tabs and Drop-Down Menus
Setting the Margins
Line Spacing and Spacing Between Paragraphs
Page Headers (First Page and Subsequent Pages) and Page Numbering
Tabs, Centering, and the Ruler
References and the Hanging Indent
Preparing a Table (Rows, Columns, Lines, Centering)
Fonts and Font Variations (Italics, Bold, Superscript)
Page Breaks, Orphans, and Widows
Spell-Checker and Grammar Checker
Developing Good Habits: Autosaving, File Naming, File Storage, Frequent Backups
Section V. Some Nitty-Gritty Details
Chapter 17: Making a List, No Apps Required: Enumeration and Seriation
Why Bother?
Keeping Order at the Section Level
Order Within Paragraphs or Sentences
On a Related Note
Chapter 18: Abbreviations, Signs, Symbols, and Punctuation: The Devil Is in the Details
OMG: To Abbreviate or Not?
Blinding You With Science and Latin
Punctuation
Section VI. In Closing: Important Considerations
Chapter 19: Using Rubrics: Knowing What It Means to Write a Good Paper
Follow Rubrics When Provided
Example Rubric
Chapter 20: Proofreading the Entire Paper: Get It Right!
Sample Student Paper for Practicing Proofreading
Chapter 21: Complete Sample of an Experimental (Research) Paper: Samples, Anyone?
Sample Paper
Additional Resources on Writing
Chapter 22: How to Avoid the Most Common Mistakes: All Together Now
APA Style and Format Checklist
Be Aware of Professors’ Pet Peeves

Editorial Reviews

Throughout the book the authors have made good use of tables and other visual stimuli (where appropriate) to make it easier to understand what the APA format should look like. The text is on the whole clearly written and easy to read. The book is never going to provide the depth required for a postgraduate or professional writer but it should be a great resource for undergraduate students. This is one of the best ‘summaries’ of APA style that I have seen. It will indeed be a book that I will recommend to my own undergraduate students.

Cathrine V. Jansson-Boyd

This book is written in a conversational style which provides a nice relief from consulting the rather dry text of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association . The aim of the book is essentially to simplify or demystify some of the complexities of writing using APA style and format. It does this particularly well by providing precise examples of common mistakes and how these can be avoided. I particularly like the fact that, as well as describing correct APA style and format, the book also contains screenshots of sample papers, which provide quick visual guides on correct formatting, referencing and writing style.

Tom Merrill