Why Use Apa Elements For Research Paper

For example, patients with schizophrenia is better than schizophrenics.

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The second theme of high-level APA style is that it is straightforward.

This means that it communicates ideas as simply and clearly as possible, putting the focus on the ideas themselves and not on how they are communicated. Technical terms must be used, but they are used to improve communication, not simply to make the writing sound more “scientific.” For example, if participants immersed their hands in a bucket of ice water, it is better just to write this than to write that they “were subjected to a pain-inducement apparatus.” At the same time, however, there is no better way to communicate that a between-subjects design was used than to use the term “between-subjects design.” .

And you would not write a newspaper article, even if it were about a new breakthrough in behavioural neuroscience, in APA style.

You would write it in Associated Press (AP) style instead.

For example, Chinese Canadians is better than Asian Canadians if everyone in the group is, in fact, Chinese Canadian. Instead, acknowledge their active contribution to the research.

For example, “The students completed the questionnaire” is better than “The subjects were administered the questionnaire.” Note that this principle also makes for clearer, more engaging writing.

The third level of APA style can be referred to as low-level style (which is covered in Chapter 4 “The Mechanics of Style” through Chapter 7 “Reference Examples” of the Publication Manual.) Low-level style includes all the specific guidelines pertaining to spelling, grammar, references and reference citations, numbers and statistics, figures and tables, and so on. Only the first word of a book title is capitalized (with the exceptions noted for article titles), and the entire title is italicized.

There are so many low-level guidelines that even experienced professionals need to consult the Publication Manual from time to time. For a chapter in an edited book, the page numbers of the chapter appear in parentheses after the book title with the abbreviation “pp.” Finally, both formats end with the location of publication and the publisher, separated by a colon.

It adopts a tone that is appropriate for communicating with professional colleagues—other researchers and practitioners—who share an interest in the topic.

Beyond this shared interest, however, these colleagues are not necessarily similar to the writer or to each other.