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Bibliography entry:

• must be on p. 1
• Use only initials of first, middle names
• (2007), not (2007, June) – only write year in ( )
• Do not alphabetize names. Keep same order as on article
• See p. 6 of syllabus

Author Affiliations:  NOT JUST NAMES.  Tell where they are from; what is their profession/expertise?  Usually located right under the names, bottom of first page, sometimes at end of article, before the references. 

Purpose – Should be 1 – 3 sentences

            Note:  You are reporting on an article from a journal.  A journal is like a book that is a collection of individual articles.  That is why the journal title gets underlined in the bibliography entry.  Therefore,  you could say “The purpose of this article…”, or “The purpose of the study reported in this article is…, but NOT: “The purpose of this journal is…”.

Write simply and concisely IN YOUR OWN WORDS.  Be a reporter, NOT a novelist.

Avoid saying that the “results prove”; psychologists prefer “the results show, demonstrate or indicate…..it is hard to “prove” things in the social sciencesL

Don’t say “the fact is…”, unless it REALLY IS a FACT!  Reference the authors or the study rather than reporting the study findings as “facts”.

Using Acronyms:

• You must write out the entire title the first time used, with the abbreviation in ( ); thereafter, you may use just the abbreviation.
• CORRECT:  Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC_R)
• INCORRECT:  BDI (Beck Depression Inventory)

Avoid using numerals at beginning of sentences:

• WRONG:  27 boys were included…
• RIGHT:  Twenty-seven boys were included…or There were 27 boys in the study…

Tricky words:

• than vs. then
• their vs. there
• whether vs. weather
• definitely vs defiantly

Be careful using “they” – who are “they”?  Apronoun refers to the preceding noun.

Plurals vs possessives:

·         WRONG:  the researcher’s were trying to find…

·         RIGHT:   the researchers were trying to find…

·         RIGHT:  (one researcher) - the researcher’s hypothesis was…

·         RIGHT:  (>one researcher) – the researchers’ hypothesis was...

·         Plural of hypothesis is hypotheses; plural of diagnosis is diagnoses

Critique:  Writing a reaction is good, but full credit requires evaluation and/or suggestions - a critical analysis.