Half of the grade for the project is based on the content that you put into your paper along with grammar and spelling. The second half of the grade is based on your ability to follow the instructions in creating an APA style paper as shown on the provided template and explained here. More information is provided in the template that is attached to the assignment.
Page 1
Page one of your paper is the cover page. This page provides your basic assignment information.
At the top of the page in the header area is what is known as the running head. The running head is three or four words from your title, indicating what your paper is about. The running head must be ALL CAPITAL LETTERS as shown on the current page. It should align with the left margin and must fit on one line. It also must be the same font and font size as the rest of the paper, I recommend the Calibri font, and 12 pt. size is required.
Centered six double spaces from the top of the page is the title. It must fit on a single line, be a title that you created, and not the same as the article you are writing about. All significant words should have first letter capitalized. Some examples of an acceptable titles are:
Using Operant Conditioning in Dog Training
The Psychology of Deception
Below your title is your name. Your name should be presented as it appears on the Class Role. Below your name should be Dallas College, and below that your course, section, and semester, do not add anything else, for example:
The Psychology of Aliens
Steven Carter
Dallas College
PSYC 2301, Section 42H04
After the information above you should insert a page break, and begin page two.
Page 2
Page two is the page where you will write your abstract. The abstract is a summary of your paper, therefore it will be the last thing you write, as you cannot summarize your paper until you have written it. The abstract is a single paragraph (never more than one) that is not indented (it is the only paragraph in the entire paper that is not indented one half inch. It is block format, and should be between 200 and 250 words, it should not contain a lot of unnecessary information, just a statement of who did the research, the nature of the research, why the research was important and what your conclusions were. Remember, you must cite your source in the abstract and throughout the paper. A citation is where you give the author(s) credit for the research. If you do not give credit you are plagiarizing which is a violation of scholastic ethics. Scientific writing is very precise, and it is meant to be factual, not opinion unless you offer supporting evidence. The entire paper must be in your own words, no direct quotes. First and second person pronouns cannot be used in this paper (I, me, we, us, our, you, yours, etc.). Use other pronouns sparingly, refer to the authors by name. Be sure to proofread the paper for grammar.
Beginning on page three you will write the bulk of your actual paper, APA rules apply. Your assignment should not exceed ten (10) pages, and that includes (1) the cover sheet, (2) the Abstract page, (3) introduction, one full page (4) a two to four page literature review, (5) a critical analysis, one full page, and (6) references page(s). The last page of your assignment will be the References page. ALL work in APA Style is double-spaced. Section Headings are flush with the left margin and underlined. Your paper should be aligned with the left margin, not justified and not centered. The references require certain capitalization, content, and formatting details, pay close attention to the instructions in the template, but remove the instructions from the template when writing your paper. The template shows appropriate requisite formatting in the correct APA style.
On the reference sheet you will find an example of a correct reference, remove this and put in the correct reference from the assigned article, be sure to cite the authors frequently. Write in active language, use names rather than pronouns, instead of writing, “They,” or “The authors,” said, write “Verigin, Meijer, Bogaard, and Vrij (2019) said…”
Refer to authors by last name only, no first names, no titles, no degrees, last names only. No direct quotes, everything should be in your own words, and no use of first or second person pronouns. For the rest of the specific instructions see the template.
Your reference should be capitalized and formatted like this:
Verigin, B. L., Meijer, E. H., Bogaard, G., & Vrij, A. (2019). Lie prevalence, lie characteristics and strategies of self-reported good liars.
PLoS ONE,
14(12), 1–16. https://doi-org.dcccd.idm.oclc.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225566