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American Psychological Association (APA)

Primary vs. Secondary

Primary research is defined as factual, first-hand accounts of the study written by a person who
was part of the study.

Secondary research is defined as an analysis and interpretation of primary research.

*Basically, primary research is original work written by the original author, and secondary
research is a reexamination of original work(s).

*For primary research, check for the following: Empirical studies, literature reviews, and case
studies. These are often found in academic journals. There are academic journals covering
nearly every content areas you can imagine.

*If you conduct your own primary (original) research (which would be fantastic!), you have the
right to keep your research subjects confidential in your research paper.

Plagiarism

According to the sixth edition Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
(APA, 2010), researchers (you, the student), cannot claim words, ideas, etc. of another as their
own. Cmon, guys, give credit where credit is due! Its a very big deal to plagiarize in the
academic world, so lets not think about doing that.

Always use quotation () marks only when stating exact words of the author.

When paraphrasing (summarizing, rearranging the order of a sentence(s), or changing some

words), credit the source in the text, just how I did when I cited regarding plagiarism.
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Manuscript Structure

Tone
Research papers (or scientific papers) are different from literary papers. The tone is more
academic in nature, but should not lack creativity and style.

Differences
Differences of views must be listed in a professional, non-combative manner. Dont trash talk
someone elses view. Use strong academic argument either in support or nonsupport of a view.
Wordiness
-Dont be too wordy! Say what needs to be said, and thats it. Dont ramble on and on or keep
repeating your point.
Redundancy
-Dont use unnecessary words in your sentences in order to emphasize a point. Here are a few
examples. The words that are in italics are redundant and should be omitted:

a total of 68 participants
the reason is because
one and the same
four different groups saw

-Title should summarize the main idea of the essay

-Title should be self explanatory when standing alone
-Ex: Effects of rainy weather on Coach Joes classes
*According to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA, 2010),
12 words is the maximum amount allowed for a title. Title should be typed in upper and
lower case, centered between the left and right margins, and placed in the upper half of the page.

-Right below title should be the name of the author (you, the student)
-Right below author is the academic institution (e3 Civic High)
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Example:

Effects of Rainy Weather on Coach Joes Classes

Coach Joe Lorenz

e3 Civic High

Manuscript (paper) must have a running header.

*Directions for running header: Go to Insert tab. Click on Header. Type TITLE OF
ESSAY IN ALL CAPS (12 point, Times New Roman). This will appear at the top of all pages,
including title page.

-Page number is in upper right corner.

*Title page is listed as page 1.

Introduction
Introduction is the first portion of your essay. This is where you will have your thesis statement,
introduce the problem, and describe the research.

*Because it is the first portion of your paper, you do not label it Introduction, according to
APA format.

Method
This is the next portion of your paper, and needs to be labeled (12 point, Times New Roman,
boldface, and centered).
Subsections are labeled the same, except are aligned to the left.

This is the area where you inform the reader about the research you found and all the specifics
about it, such as:
-Who was part of the study/research
-What are the demographics of the study
-Who performed the research?
-Where was it conducted?
-How is it relevant to your essay?
-how you conducted original primary research; if any.
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Results
This is the next portion of your paper, and needs to be labeled (12 point, Times New Roman,
boldface, and centered)

This is the area where you summarize your collected data and analyze your research. Mention
all relevant research here and justify your conclusions.
*Your solution to your problem should be listed here.

Discussion
This is the next portion of your paper, and needs to be labeled (12 point, Times New Roman,
boldface, and centered)

So, after you presented your results, you now evaluate and interpret their implications, especially
the original research, as that holds a lot of weight in research papers.
-Start this section with a clear statement of support or nonsupport of your results
-Here you take into account arguments for and against your results
-Do not just reiterate points previously mentioned in your paper.
-Be sure to acknowledge any shortcomings in your findings/results/solutions. This shows that
you have considered other arguments in your research.
-End the discussion section by well thought out reasoned and justifiable statement regarding the
importance of your findings.

References
In APA format, a bibliography is not used. It is called References or Reference List. This is
where any scholarly work is credited by the author of the essay.
-Reference list is double-spaced with hanging indent
-Reference list is listed alphabetically by authors surname