Master the art of APA-style writing with this newly updated and accessible resource The newly and thoroughly revised Third Edition of Effective Writing in Psychology: Papers, Posters, and Presentations offers compelling and comprehensive guidance to readers who want to create powerful and persuasive prose in a rigorous, scientific, and APA-compliant framework. Distinguished academics and authors Bernard and Agatha Beins walk readers through the foundational and advanced topics they must grasp to generate convincing and credible APA-stye writing. The book combines an accessible and approachable guide to effective writing with the most current best practices from the 7th edition of the American Psychological Association's publication manual. New writers and experienced authors alike will benefit from Effective Writing in Psychology's descriptions of the most frequently used and important aspects of APA-style writing. The authors minimize their use of technical jargon and include explanations of how to create effective posters, deliver high-quality oral presentations, and publish electronically. The book also includes: An up-to-date presentation of ethical, inclusive writing and proper use of modern pronouns Step-by-step guidance on the use of APA formatting in scholarly papers Explanations of how to create effective posters for poster sessions Descriptions of how to organize convincing and credible oral presentations that leave listeners and conference attendees impressed and edified The basics of creating and formatting electronic documents for publication on the web Effective Writing in Psychology: Papers, Posters, and Presentations is an invaluable resource for psychology and social, and behavioral science students at any level. It also belongs on the bookshelves of practicing psychology professionals, researchers, and academics who would like to brush up on their technical writing abilities.

Table of Contents:
Preface to the Third Edition xii Preface to the Second Edition xiv Preface to the First Edition xv 1 Writing Professionally 1 Introduction to Writing in Psychology 1 How Does Professional Writing Differ From Other Kinds of Writing? 3 Using APA Style 4 Making a Credible Argument 5 Different Types of Communication 6 Effective Communication 8 How to Begin 9 Part I Organizing and Developing Your Ideas and Writing 11 2 Formulating Your Ideas 13 Identifying Your Focal Question 13 Locating Relevant Sources 16 Recognizing Multiple Viewpoints 19 Ethical Writing 20 3 Assessing Your Sources 25 The Difference Between Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Literature 26 The Difference Between Popular and Scholarly Sources 27 Evaluating Sources 29 Evaluating Internet Sources 31 4 How to Conduct a Literature Search 39 Understanding the Purpose of a Literature Search 39 Understanding Library Resources 41 Using Article Databases 46 Using the internet 48 Using Sources to Find Sources 50 5 How to Read and Summarize a Journal Article 51 Understanding Journal Articles 51 Overview of the Research—the Abstract 53 Identifying the Issues—Introduction Section 53 Understanding What Was Done—Method Section 54 What Happened—Results Section 56 What It Means—Discussion Section 59 Where the Ideas Originated—References Section 61 Figuring out What It Means 61 6 Organizing a Paper 63 Organization 64 Using the Work of Others to Support Your Argument 66 Editing and Revising 71 Mechanics 73 7 Elements of Style 75 Recognizing the Importance of Grammar and Style 76 Choosing Effective Wording 78 Using Inclusive and Appropriate Language 81 Deciding on the Use of Technical Language 83 Avoiding Common Problems 84 Verb Forms 86 Spelling 88 Specific Word Use 88 8 Communicating Statistics 95 Importance of Understanding Statistics 95 Why Do We Use Statistics? 96 What Point Are You Trying to Make? 97 Understanding Your Numbers 99 Helping Readers Understand Your Statistics 101 Differentiating Results and Interpretations 104 Part II Preparing APA-Style Papers 105 9 Writing a Thesis or a Term Paper 107 Framework for Writing a Term Paper 107 Developing Your Idea 108 Organizing Your Paper Around the Central Questions 112 Finding Different Perspectives About Your Idea 114 Developing the Logic of Your Argument 117 10 The Introduction Section 121 Introducing the Topic 122 Different Approaches to Starting the Introduction 122 How to Begin 126 Reviewing What Others Have Already Done 126 Reasons for Reviewing the Literature 127 Clarifying Terms in the Research 128 Introducing Your Research: Generating a Hypothesis 129 11 The Method Section 131 Participants and Subjects 132 Materials and Apparatus 140 Procedure 142 Design 143 12 The Results Section 145 Providing a Good Ending 145 Your Hypotheses 146 Deciding What to Present 147 Reporting Significant and Nonsignificant Results 148 Marginally Significant Effects 150 APA Style and Presentation of Your Results 151 Creating Tables 154 Creating Figures 159 The Connection Between the Text and the Tables and Figures 162 The Difference Between Results and Discussion Sections 164 Some Final Points About Presenting Results 167 13 The Discussion Section 169 Summarizing Your Results 170 Connecting Different Aspects of Your Results 171 Dealing With Nonsignificant Results 172 Comparing Your Results With Those of Others 173 State the Importance and Implications of Your Results 174 Acknowledging the Limitations of Your Study 175 14 References: Citations in the Text and the Reference List 177 Purpose of the References Section 177 Citing References in the Text 178 Order of Citations in the Reference List 181 Using Your Word Processing Program to Create the Citation 182 Examples of How Different Types of References Should Be Laid Out in a Reference List 183 Examples of Different Types of Citations in the Reference List 188 References Involving Books 190 Presentations 192 15 Final Touches: The Abstract and Formatting Details 195 The Abstract 196 Formatting Details 197 Part III Communicating Beyond the Research Paper 221 16 Creating Poster Presentations 223 Differentiating Visual and Written Communication 224 Reducing the Amount of Information 224 Visual Style 225 Your Behavior: The Ethic of a Poster Session 228 Creating Your Poster Using PowerPoint 230 17 Giving Oral Presentations 237 The Difference Between Oral and Written English 237 Adapting APA Style to Oral Presentations 242 Preparing for Your Talk 242 Creating Graphics for Your Presentation 244 Giving the Presentation 245 18 Presenting Your Work on the Internet 247 New Capabilities with Internet Publication 248 Using a Word Processor to Create Manuscripts for the Internet 249 Advantages of Internet Publishing Software 252 Publishing Your Poster on the Web 254 Uploading Your Manuscript to the Internet 254 19 Submitting Your Plan to an Ethics Committee 255 Ethical Standards in Research 256 Writing a Proposal for an Institutional Review Board for Research With Human Subjects 257 Writing a Proposal for the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) for Animal Research 262 Appendix A Example of APA-Style Manuscript with Common Errors 265 Appendix B Corrected APA-Style Manuscript 273 References 283 Author Index 295 Subject Index 298