Читать книгу Effective Writing in Psychology - Bernard C. Beins - Страница 16

A further difference between scientific or technical writing and less formal writing is that, in science, authors typically follow a specific format in preparing reports. In psychology, for instance, authors use guidelines that appear in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (American Psychological Association [APA], 2020), commonly just called APA Style. (Some other disciplines, such as sociology, education, and nursing, also use APA style.) Research reports usually include six sections, as described in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1 Typical Sections in an APA‐Style Research Report

Section of the report	What the section contains
Title page	The title of the paper, the names of authors, and the affiliations of the authors
Abstract	A brief overview of the entire project of about 150–250 words
Introduction	The background and logic of the study, including previous research that led to this project
Method	Minute details of how the study proceeded, including descriptions of participants, apparatus, and materials, and what researchers and participants actually did during the study
Results	A detailed statement of the statistics and other results of the study
Discussion	What the results tell us about thought and behavior
Reference	Where to find the work cited in the paper that relates to the present study

Most of the time, if a writer submits to a journal editor a manuscript that deviates from an expected style, the editor is not likely to reject the manuscript as unsuitable for publication. Instead, editors work with authors so that the final version of the manuscript is consistent with APA style (Brewer, Scherzer, Van Raalte, Petitpas, & Andersen, 2001). However, editors have commented that deviations from APA style often accompany problems with the content of a manuscript. So if you create a manuscript that fails to follow appropriate style, a reader who is familiar with (and used to) APA style may assume that you paid as little attention to your ideas as you did to the way you expressed them. In the workplace, employers have expressed similar sentiments, that poor writing reflects poor thought (College Board, 2004).

According to the research of Brewer et al. (2001) on the use and the importance of APA style, writers are likely to depart from APA style in their presentation of research results and in citing references. So you should pay particular attention to these facets of your writing. If you write a paper in APA style that does not involve empirical research and data analysis, APA style can still apply. The structure of your paper is likely to have elements in common with the Introduction, Discussion, and Reference sections of a research paper, which we discuss in later chapters. Once you learn the basics of APA style, writing an effective paper might be easier than you anticipated because you will have a good sense of what belongs in a paper and where it goes.

As you write for a professional audience, keep in mind that readers are willing to be convinced with persuasive arguments, but you have to convince them. Scientific writing entails presenting a series of logical arguments that follow from one another. At the end, your good logic is going to make a believer out of your reader. If we are going to accept the process of science, it means that when a writer offers a logical argument that is supported by good data, we should be willing to accept that argument.