How to write an article?Suggestions based on APA manual

Marianne Junger

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[Mon13] A. L. Montoya Morales, M. Junger, and P. H. Hartel. How 'digital' is traditional crime? In European Intelligence and Security Informatics Conference (EISIC), Uppsala, Sweden, Aug 2013. IEEE Computer Society. http://eprints.eemcs.utwente.nl/23423/

Why are there standards?

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Goal APA guidelines

Standardize the description of research -> and the research itself!

To monitor quality For al sorts of articles For all behavioral sciences

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[APA08] APA Publications and Communications Board. Reporting standards for research in psychology: Why do we need them? what might they be? American Psychologist, 63(9):839-851, Dec 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.63.9.839[APA09] APA Publications and Communications Board. APPENDIX - journal article reporting standards (JARS), Meta-Analysis reporting standards (MARS), and flow of participants through each stage of an experiment or Quasi-Experiment. In Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, pages 245-253. American Psychological Association, Jul 2009. http://www.apastyle.org/manual/related/JARS-MARS.pdf

Think of it as a table

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Introduction Method Results Discussion

Background/problem

Sample that fits problem

Idea 1/H 1 Measures Table 1 Conclusion on H1

Idea 2/H 2 Measures Table 2 Conclusion on H2

Idea 3/H 3 Measures Table 3 Conclusion on H2

Structure manuscript – APA style

1. Title page2. Abstract3. Introduction – includes literature review4. Method5. Results6. Discussion7. References8. Appendices

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1. Title

Write a title in the same style as other titles for your chosen journal

Mistakes to avoid » Trendy and cutesy titles are soon dated and will be embarrassing to have

in your CV

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2. Abstract

This summarizes how you carried out your research and what you learned. » Consider structured abstracts (i.e., BMJ)

Mistakes to avoid » Don’t go beyond what you establish in your paper, no non-significant

results, no speculation, no telegraphic style, stay within the word count limit.

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3. Introduction Background, introduce problem Aim:

» Why is study important?» Why is it unique?

Describe solution/issue 1 from literature– Describe problems/omissions in (1).– Formulate goals study in relation to (1)

Describe solution/issue 2, etc …. Conclusion: goal study

• Emphasize originality

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3. Introduction

Minimum of four paragraphs » General introduction» Literature review» Connection of the present study to the literature » Explicit statement of purpose

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3. Introduction, literature review

The conflicting goals» Comprehensiveness versus brevity

Include all relevant citations » Methods, Procedures & Results

Mistakes to avoid: personal favorites

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4. METHOD

Goal: duplication your research with another sample Mistakes to avoid

Any suboptimal aspect of your methods should be followed by “see the Limitations section” and deal with it there.

Do not try to hide or disguise poor methods, experienced reviewers will pounce!

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4. METHOD

Design, sample, participants Sampling procedure

» or experimental procedure Measures

Dependent variables Independent variables Co-variates (sex, age, …)

Analyses

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5. RESULTS

Structure according to hypotheses Present findings, and only the findings Mistakes to avoid

» This section lends itself to over-writing & underwriting» To give undo weight to non-significant results

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6. Discussion - conclusion

Brief summary of problem & goal study Evaluate and interpret the results, especially with respect to

the original research question Implications of the results (policy) Limitations of study (design/method) Strong points of study Conclusion of main finding(s)

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7. References

According tot APA style or another system Try a reference manager, like Endnote

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Language

Objective writing style No sexist, racists language Impersonal style,

» no ‘We’ or “I’

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Most paragraphs have a three-part structure Claim: ’topic sentence’

» And other sentences that give background information or provide a transition

Evidence: This is how you support, or back up, your claims » Discusses the controlling idea, using facts, arguments, analysis,

examples, and other information» Evidence will help to "prove" each claim to the reader

Analysis/Concluding Observation» It should explain why the evidence supports your claim and why this

supports the main thesis in your paper» Summarizes connections between the information discussed in the body

of the paragraph and the paragraph’s controlling idea

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Check with this table

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Clear writing

Active voice: As a general rule, use the active voice rather than the passive voice» For example, use "We predicted that ..." rather than "It was predicted

that ...“ Literature: Place content first

» Write “'self-control is related to crime (Gottfredson & Hischi 1990)” instead of “according to Gottfredson & Hischi (1990) is self-control is related to crime” unless you want to emphasize authorship”

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Fill in for your project

Intro-duction

Method Results Discussion

Background/problem

Idea 1/H 1

Idea 2/H 2

Idea 3/H 3

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