Psychology 345

Paper Guidelines

1. General Information

Three papers are due at various points throughout the quarter (see the syllabus for exact dates). Late papers will not be accepted unless accompanied by a doctor’s note. If you think there is any chance your printer will break or your dog will be sick on the day the paper is due, write it tonight and turn it in tomorrow. NO EXCEPTIONS.

2. Paper Topics

For each paper, you must select and review an article available through the course website or by clicking the following link.  Articles

3. Format

Each paper is worth 10 points and must be no more than 3 pages in length with the following specifications:

• double-spaced with no extra spacing between any of the paragraphs
• normal font
• 1 inch margins on all sides
• Name and page numbers in a header that appears on every page. Note: You cannot just type your name on every page, but must learn to use a header
• You must submit an electronic copy to the course dropbox (see course website for URL) by 5 pm on the day the paper is due. The electronic copy will be used to catch acts of plagiarism, as some students have been known to buy papers off the internet and pass them off as their own.

4. Paragraph Structure

Each paper must consist of 5 paragraphs. The 5 paragraphs must be structured as follows:

1. Paragraph 1: USING YOUR OWN WORDS, introduce your topic and give readers a general sense of what they will learn by reading your essay.
2. Paragraph 2: Describe the research study you are reviewing. DO NOT write out the article title itself. Simply refer to the paper by using the first author’s last name only.
3. Paragraph 3: Describe the methods the researchers used to test their hypothesis.
4. Paragraph 4: Describe the results from the study in general terms, without using any numbers or probability values.
5. Paragraph 5: Provide a concluding paragraph that summarizes the results, showing how they bear on the researchers’ hypotheses.
5. Paper Points
• 4 points: Accuracy and thoroughness of your review
• 4 points: Clarity and organization
• 2 points: Spelling and punctuation. To receive these points your paper must be free of obvious spelling, grammatical, and typographical errors.