Format. The paper should be prepared using any standard word processing package, but then saved as either an RTF or PDF file. The files are to be submitted using the Digital Drop Box facilities of Courseweb in the Student Tools area.
Include page numbers and use a standard font, such Palatino or Helevtica. Point size should be no smaller than 10 pt and no larger than 12 pt. It should be no more than 10 single-spaced pages (approximately 5000 words) including references. You should follow APA format for any citations within the body of the paper and for typing the reference list at the end of the paper. The references should begin on a new page. If necessary, they may be followed by footnotes, also starting on a new page.
Citations. The source of ALL ideas within your paper should be cited. Within the body of the paper, cite relevant work using the standard APA format, as is done in the text and in the APA journals. There are two basic formats:
Do not use footnotes for citations. In addition, try to avoid direct quotes, but instead paraphrase the material. This is particularly important given the tight page limits. However, if you choose to use another author's words, you must put it in quotation marks around the quote and put the page number in the citation, e.g. (Hirtle, 1982, p. 187). And, of course, you must put a citation with any thought, idea, or even structure that is borrowed. Plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the course and possible disciplinary actions.
You should even include citations for ideas where the source is a personal communication. In this case, include only a citation in the text, but do not put a corresponding entry in the reference list. The citation in the text should include a specific date, as follows:
(C. Shannon, personal communication, August 27, 1996)
References. In the reference section at the end of the paper, list only the articles that you actually cited in the main body of the paper, in alphabetical order by first author. Do not number the list. This section should be double- spaced, with no extra lines between the references. Use hanging indents, if possible, using the current APA format in typing the references. In the examples below, note the use of initials, commas, periods, and underlining. Note: You may use underline where there is an italics.
(1) For a journal article:
Hirtle, S. C., & Mascolo, M. F. (1986). Effect of semantic clustering on
the memory of spatial locations. Journal of Experimental Psychology:
Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 12, 182-189.
(2) For a book:
Berger, D. E., Pezdek, K., & Banks, W. P. (Eds). (1987). Applications
of cognitive psychology: Problem solving, education, and computing.
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
(3) For a chapter of an edited book:
Rumelhart, D. E. (1989). The architecture of mind: A connectionist
approach. In M. I. Posner (Ed.), Foundations of cognitive science
(pp. 133-159). Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Other styles. The next two examples do not follow APA format, but are allowable for this class.
(4) An on-line source should be listed with enough material that some other knowledgable person (like me) could retrieve the material:
Finch, S. and N. Chater (1991) A hybrid approach to the automatic
learning of linguistic categories, manuscript, available via ftp
from archive.cis.ohio-state.edu as /pub/neuroprose/finch.hybrid.ps.Z.
(5) There may be a case where you wish to cite a secondary source, that is, you want to reference a work, but you were not able to obtain (and read) the actual source. For the purpose of this class, use the following format in the reference section and include the source of your reference elsewhere on the list (i.e., Hirtle & Mascolo, 1986, in this example):
Johnson, S. C. (1967). Hierarchical clustering schemes. Psychometrika,
32, 241-254. [As cited in Hirtle & Mascolo, 1986].
For other sources, see the textbook, or (if compulsive) refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, where 63 different examples are presented.
Cover Page. Include a cover sheet, with the title, your name, the date, the course number, and the course instructor.
Last Update: Oct 29, 2002
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