General Information on Writing a Paper in Psychology
Getting
Started
1. Try to write a little every day, rather than the entire paper in
a single sitting. You will write a better
paper, learn more about improving your writing, and experience better mental
health if you start EARLY. Set
mini-deadlines for yourself for an outline, a rough-rough draft, a less-rough
draft, and your final product.
2. If you experience writer’s block, try making a list of what
information you could include in the paper (worry about ordering and
prioritizing the list later). Or try
FREE-WRITING. Spend 10 minutes writing everything you can think of about your
topic and assignment. Don’t worry about style, form, importance, etc.
Free-writing can help you loosen up as you sit down at the computer for a few
minutes of low-stakes writing.
3. Write the method section first.
It is much easier than the introduction. Also, I’d suggest leaving the opening paragraph of the
introduction for last.
4. ASK YOUR INSTRUCTOR FOR HELP.
Writing for psychology can be difficult. Your instructor will no doubt be happy to help with specific
questions and/or just be a sounding board as you try to articulate your
reasoning. He or she can also point you toward other sources for writing help.
5. No one writes glowing first drafts (or
second drafts....). Good writers are relentless revisers.
What is
considered good writing in psychology?
Top
Priority: Write Clearly and Fully Express your Reasoning
Your overall point in any given sentence,
paragraph or section of the paper must be communicated clearly. Getting out of
your own head to discern if it would be clear to someone else can be very
difficult. Reading your work aloud may help you “hear” what the paper “sounds
like” and find unclear passages.
Another important aspect to clarity
involves FULLY expressing your logic and stating your conclusions. It is
acceptable to assume your reader understands the basics of statistics and
methods (e.g., you do not have to explain p-values or what an independent
variable is). However, you cannot assume your reader is familiar with the
particular topic you are writing about. So, take the reader in small steps from
A to B to C to D...etc. Don’t leave any gaps in your reasoning, even if the
logic seems obvious.
Another Top Priority: Follow APA Standards for Organization and Expression
Much of what makes a paper a good one in
psychology is following the APA style guidelines for organization and
expression. These conventions are laid out in the APA Publication Manual. Your
psychology paper will be a good one if you can smoothly articulate your ideas
within the structure. The structure allows any psychologist to easily read any
psychological article. Also, a standard format helps hold all of psychological
literature to a high standard of scientific objectivity.
The
Ultimate Challenge: Balancing Structure
with Interesting Writing
Following APA style and organization
sometimes leads to dry, plodding writing.
The best writers balance all that restrictive structure with an engaging
writing style. Especially in the
introduction and discussion sections, it is possible to follow the formula and still articulate your ideas in an
interesting way. The best psychology
papers tell a story to an audience of educated adults who are seriously interested
in the research. Your story should be based on your research, however,
and should avoid emotional or flowery language, metaphors that stray too far
from the central topic, or personal accounts about your own life or some other
individual’s life.
General Tips/Common Problems (Check for these issues once you have a
completed draft.)
·Provide
the conceptual definition of your terms when you use them the first time.
For example, you shouldn’t be talking about the relationship of the Protestant
ethic to another variable if you haven’t discussed the conceptual definition of
Protestant ethic yet.
·Explain
your ideas fully. Be meticulous, even nit-picking, in saying
exactly what you mean.
·To
help maintain a consistent tone throughout the paper, avoid direct quotes. Only use quotes if there is something unique
and special conveyed by not just the author’s ideas, but the particular words used
to express those ideas.
·Any
idea that is not yours needs a
citation whether it is a direct quote or not. You don’t have to include a
citation in every sentence, but the reader needs to be clear where your
information came from. Note: each new paragraph, even if you are continuing to
cite from the same source, needs a citation.
·Avoid
using a psychological term or expression when you don’t mean it. Example to avoid: “The notion that people dislike inconsistent thoughts correlates with the need to behave
consistently with our attitudes.” Other
terms to be careful with: significant,
hypothesized.
·Avoid
absolutes and immodest expressions. The word ‘PROVE’ and all variations of it
are off limits (try using any of the following words instead: suggest, support,
show, indicate). Also avoid words like ‘completely’, ‘absolutely’, ‘always’,
etc. Avoid expressions like “These results conclusively demonstrate that
researchers have been all wrong in the past.” Try to be more moderate: “The
findings of the present research did not replicate past findings....”
·Work
on stating your ideas clearly the first time. If you find yourself starting a
sentence with the expression: “In other words,...” you probably need to rework
the previous sentence.
·Vary
your sentence structures. Don’t start
every sentence with “the” for example.
Also vary length - some sentences will be long (but see the next tip),
some short.
·Avoid
overly complex sentence structures. If you’ve started accumulating many
punctuation marks or clauses in a single sentence, your sentence is probably
too complex for the reader to understand easily.
·Work
on transitions between ideas. A good transition will lead the reader from one
idea to the next smoothly – the reader won’t have to wonder why you’ve switched
topics.
·Avoid
using an overly colloquial or chatty writing style. Absolutely avoid slang and do
not use contractions. Your overall tone needs to be formal (but your
paper shouldn’t sound like a computer program wrote it.)
·Passive
voice is accepted in psychological writing, but active voice is better where possible. E.g. passive: ‘The experiment was conducted by Smith; active: ‘Smith conducted the experiment.’
·Avoid
giving an object human qualities. Studies don’t want, people do. Cultures don’t seek…. etc.
·You
can use the 1st person from time to time (e.g. “I hypothesized
that....”), but try to avoid its overuse.
Before turning
your paper in...
It
helps to set the draft aside for a day or so and re-examine it with a fresh
eye. Be sure to:
1. Check for spelling,
grammar, APA style, and typos. Spell-check
AND proof-read.
2. Re-read the assignment and tip sheets to make sure you didn’t
forget anything.
3. Edit your paper one last time for clarity and fully articulated
reasoning.
Save your
paper and a back-up copy as you work.
Also save a final copy for your files.
*This page created by Connie Wolfe, modified from a handout distributed by the Writing Center at the University of Michigan.