Scientific writing (2): Citation & Mechanics of style of effective writing.
1. Introduction
Today you will continue developing scientific writing skills. The topics of today are Citation & Mechanics of style of effective writing. By the end of today, we expect you to complete all the readings and finish the exercises. It will help you to prepare for the final assignment.
If you have questions regarding the study material, you can send us an email or attend the Q&A session at the end of each self-study day. During the Q&A session, we will extensively discuss the independent study material. For details on availability see Project Brief.
Make sure to upload all the answers to the questions listed below to your GitHub account. ***
2. Citation
2a Read carefully the Publication Manual of the APA style guide 7.
2b Complete an exercise on APA style to check your knowledge and understanding.
Find the Citation Error
● Catch the Error and Correct the Mistake #1
Hollingshead measured aggressiveness in children before and after exposure to violent video games (2016, p. 15).
● Catch the Error and Correct the Mistake #2
Neither group showed any significant growth (Wong and Tuttle 2015).
● Catch the Error and Correct the Mistake #3
Duffy & Petronius (2012, p. 23) found that none of the subjects showed improvement.
● Catch the Error and Correct the Mistake #4
Duberman, McGuire and Lang (2019) determined that violent video games create aggression in adolescents.
● Catch the Error and Correct the Mistake #5
Parker (2018) found that there was "no significant difference between the treatment group and the control group."
● Catch the Error and Correct the Mistake #6
When contacted, Mr. Smith had no useful explanation except that "mistakes were made" (phone call, 2015).
● Catch the Error and Correct the Mistake #7
Bretschneider, John Garrett and McCoy, Nancy Lewis, 2020. Social Media Habits of 65-75-Year-Olds. Journal of Communication, Vol. 14, pp. 343-350.
● Catch the Error and Correct the Mistake #8
Hashimoto, Thomas. (March 13, 2010, p. 23). Seeing Red in November. Newsweek, vol. 199.
● Catch the Error and Correct the Mistake #9
Most experts believed the effects would be disastrous (NIMH 2017). For example, 8 of those surveyed believed supplies would run out within 24 hours. Not surprisingly, only 2 out of 15 thought survival was possible after thirty-six hours. (Assume NIMH is introduced here for the first time)
2c Compare your answers and read the explanations
● Catch the Error and Correct the Mistake #1
Hollingshead measured aggressiveness in children before and after exposure to violent video games (2016, p. 15).
REVISED
● Hollingshead (2016) measured aggressiveness in children before and after exposure to violent video games.
● Explanation: The year comes after the researcher's name. No page number is needed if there is no direct quote.
● Catch the Error and Correct the Mistake #2
Neither group showed any significant growth (Wong and Tuttle 2015).
REVISED
● Neither group showed any significant growth (Wong & Tuttle, 2015).
● Explanation: Use an ampersand (&) when citing parenthetically and put a comma between author(s) and year of publication.
● Catch the Error and Correct the Mistake #3
Duffy & Petronius (2012, p. 23) found that none of the subjects showed improvement.
REVISED
● Duffy and Petronius (2012) found that none of the subjects showed improvement.
● Explanation: Use "and" – not ampersand – when citing authors outside of parentheses. No page number needed since there was no direct quote.
● Catch the Error and Correct the Mistake #4
Duberman, McGuire and Lang (2019) determined that violent video games create aggression in adolescents.
REVISED
● Duberman et al. (2019) determined that violent video games create aggression in adolescents.
● Explanation: "et al." is used in-text citations for works with three or more authors.
● Parenthetical citation would be: (Duberman et al., 2019).
● Catch the Error and Correct the Mistake #5
Parker (2018) found that there was "no significant difference between the treatment group and the control group."
REVISED
● Parker (2018) found that there was "no significant difference between the treatment group and the control group" (p. 12).
● Explanation: Since a direct quote was used, a page number must be provided after the quote.
● Catch the Error and Correct the Mistake #6
When contacted, Mr. Smith had no useful explanation except that "mistakes were made" (phone call, 2015).
REVISED
● When contacted, C. S. Smith had no useful explanation except that "mistakes were made" (personal communication, December 1, 2015).
● Explanation: Use "personal communication" and exact date when citing telephone calls, letters, memos, personal interviews, etc. You do not need to put this in the References section since the data is non-recoverable.
● Catch the Error and Correct the Mistake #7
Bretschneider, John Garrett and McCoy, Nancy Lewis, 2020. Social Media Habits of 65-75-Year-Olds. Journal of Communication, Vol. 14, pp. 343-350.
REVISED
● Bretschneider, J. G., & McCoy, N. L. (2020). Social media habits of 65-75-year-olds. Journal of Communication, 14, 343-350.
● Explanation: 1) only initials for first names; 2) year in parentheses followed by period; 3) lower case in article title; 4) italicize journal name and capitalize first letters; 5) no "Vol.," just italicize; 6) no "pp."; 7) hanging indent.
● Catch the Error and Correct the Mistake #8
Hashimoto, Thomas. (March 13, 2010, p. 23). Seeing Red in November. Newsweek, vol. 199.
REVISED
● Hashimoto, T. (2010, March 13). Seeing red in November. Newsweek, 199, 23. Hashimoto, Thomas. (March 13, 2010, p. 23). Seeing Red in November. Newsweek, vol. 199.
● Explanation: Only initial for first name. Year comes first, then comma, then month and day, all in parentheses. Title of magazine is italicized, followed by comma, volume number italicized, then page number(s). Hanging indent.
● Catch the Error and Correct the Mistake #9
Most experts believed the effects would be disastrous (NIMH 2017). For example, 8 of those surveyed believed supplies would run out within 24 hours. Not surprisingly, only 2 out of 15 thought survival was possible after thirty-six hours. (Assume NIMH is introduced here for the first time.)
REVISED
● Most experts believed the effects will be disastrous (National Institutes of Mental Health [NIMH], 2017). For example, eight of those surveyed believed supplies would run out within 24 hours. Not surprisingly, only 2 out of 15 thought survival was possible after 36 hours.
● Explanation: Number and abbreviation rules.
2c Please go to Microsoft Word and use APA template for your assignment
3. Mechanics of style
3a Read the chapter 6 of APA 7th Edition (2020). The chapter 6 provides with the information about mechanics of style that include punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations, numbers, and statistics in text.
4. Reflection and Q&A (16:00-17:00)
4a Ask question(s) related to the independent study material.
4b Choose, and provide an answer to at least of the following questions:
- What surprised you today, and why?
- What is the most important thing you learned today? Why do you think so?
- What do you want to learn more about, and why?
- When were you the most creative, and why do you think that is?
- What made you curious today? How does learning feel different when you are curious?
- When were you at your best today, and why?
- (Assuming we were studying the same thing and you could decide and have access to anything), where would you start tomorrow? Why?
- What can/should you do with what you know?
Literature
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.)