Psychology: Writing in Psychology

Writing in Psychology

Here are some titles from the University Library that may be useful to you if you require some assistance with psychological writing.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association by American Psychological Association The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition is the official source for APA Style. With millions of copies sold worldwide in multiple languages, it is the style manual of choice for writers, researchers, editors, students, and educators in the social and behavioral sciences, natural sciences, nursing, communications, education, business, engineering, and other fields. Known for its authoritative, easy-to-use reference and citation system, the Publication Manual also offers guidance on choosing the headings, tables, figures, language, and tone that will result in powerful, concise, and elegant scholarly communication. It guides users through the scholarly writing process-from the ethics of authorship to reporting research through publication. The seventh edition is an indispensable resource for students and professionals to achieve excellence in writing and make an impact with their work. The seventh edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect best practices in scholarly writing and publishing. All formats are in full color, with a new tabbed spiral version Improved ease of navigation, with many additional numbered sections to help users quickly locate answers to their questions Resources for students on writing and formatting annotated bibliographies, response papers, and other paper types as well as guidelines on citing course materials Dedicated chapter for new users of APA Style covering paper elements and format, including sample papers for both professional authors and student writers New chapter on journal article reporting standards that includes updates to reporting standards for quantitative research and the first-ever qualitative and mixed methods reporting standards in APA Style New chapter on bias-free language guidelines for writing about people with respect and inclusivity in areas including age, disability, gender, participation in research, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality More than 100 new reference examples covering periodicals, books, audiovisual media, social media, webpages and websites, and legal resources More than 40 new sample tables and figures Expanded guidance on ethical writing and publishing practices, including how to ensure the appropriate level of citation, avoid plagiarism and self-plagiarism, and navigate the publication process Guidelines that support accessibility for all users, including simplified reference, in-text citation, and heading formats as well as additional font options
Call Number: BF 76.7 .A51 2020 (Murray, Education, St Thomas More libraries)
Writing in Psychology by Scott A. Miller The second edition of Writing in Psychology by Scott A. Miller is a comprehensive guide to addressing the most challenging issues that students face while writing about psychology, including what to say and how to say it. It offers practical tools to overcome the challenges and create an engaging work. The book is a valuable resource for helping readers become better writers of psychology with the aid of various helpful learning tools, which provide detailed coverage of how to write empirical reviews, research proposals, literature reviews, term papers, and posters. It examines examples from journal articles that give readers a grasp of the content they will encounter in writing psychological reports. Furthermore, it includes exercises that provide an opportunity to apply the points conveyed in each chapter, examples of ways to avoid the most common mistakes made by students, and a guide to the best practices for improving one's writing. Readers will also develop a thorough understanding of how to write in an engaging yet accurate style, using grammatical and word use rules that govern writing in general, and the rules of seventh edition APA (American Psychological Association) Publication Manual that determine the expression of that content. Throughout, the book emphasizes inclusion, diversity, and fair treatment of those with whom psychologists deal, in research and writing. The book will benefit anyone looking for guidance on how to write about psychological content. It is ideal for research scholars and psychology students as a primary text for writing in psychology courses and a supplement for graduate or advanced undergraduate courses in research design or research methods.
Call Number: ebook
The Psychologist's Companion: A Guide to Professional Success for Students, Teachers, and Researchers by Robert J. Sternberg; Karin Sternberg
Call Number: Call Number: BF 76.8 .S73 2016 (Murray Library: 4th Flr & Reference)
Conducting Your Literature Review by Susanne Hempel This book is a step-by-step guide to writing a literature review, and includes tips for modifying the process as needed depending on your audience, purpose, and goals. The lessons in this book can be applied to writing the background section for a thesis or an original research publication. Literature reviews are now much more challenging to compile today than they used to be. You need a structured approach to handle the sheer volume of published research available. This book will help you formulate a strategy for making decisions about what to include and not include in your review, and produce a reliable and unbiased summary of the existing research. You will learn skills for defining research questions, using search tools and managing citations. This book is part of the American Psychological Association's Concise Guides to Conducting Behavioral, Health, and Social Science Research series. Aimed at undergraduate students in research methods courses or others with a lab or research project, each book describes a key stage in the research process. Collectively, these books provide a solid grounding in research from start to finish.
Call Number: BF 76.5 .H446 2020 (Murray Library - 4th flr)
Publication Date: 2019
Scientific Writing for Psychology by Robert V. Kail In the Second Edition of Scientific Writing for Psychology, veteran teacher, editor and author, Robert V. Kail provides straightforward strategies along with hands-on exercises for effective scientific writing in a series of seven lessons. Kail shares an abundance of writing wisdom with "tools of the trade"--heuristics, tips, and strategies--used by expert authors to produce writing that is clear, concise, cohesive, and compelling. The exercises included throughout each extensively class-tested lesson allow students to practice and ultimately master their scientific writing skills.  
Call Number: BF 76 .K25 2019 (Murray Library - 4th Flr)
Publication Date: 2019
Undergraduate Writing in Psychology by R. Eric Landrum This third edition features new writing samples, including a full-length literature review and full-length scientific research paper, and new guidance to reflect the seventh edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. This accessible, practical guide to undergraduate writing takes the reader step by step through the process of developing research questions or theses, conducting literature searches, analyzing and synthesizing the literature, writing the paper, and more. Students will learn how to analyze and organize ideas for literature reviews, as well as how to prepare each section of a scientific research paper (introduction, method, results, discussion). The chapters are full of advice and resources, including a checklist and self-quiz, a sample grading rubric that an instructor might use, example reference formats, and several before-and-after writing samples showing marked-up changes. Bonus guidance is given for communicating effectively with instructors and preparing conference posters.
Call Number: BF76.7 .L36 2020 (Murray Library - 4th flr)
Publication Date: 2020

Writing Help

The Writing Centre provides free, one-to-one help at any stage of the writing process, both online and in person.

The Writing Centre's help guide provides a wealth of writing resources for students (including information about tutoring and workshops) and teaching resources for faculty.

Be sure to check out writing workshops geared to undergrads and grad students (all are welcome at either level). Attend a live workshop or watch a workshop recording on your own time.

Writing a Journal Critique / Review

You may be asked to critically review psychological research for your psychology assignments.

The books on this guide may include information on formatting and writing such a critique. These guides can also help:

Writing a Critical Review (Monash University)
Deconstructing a Scientific Research Article (Mississippi State University)