PSYC02H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Block Quotation, Drivespace, Times New Roman
PSYC02: Scientific Communication in Psychology Clara Rebello
PSYC02 Lecture 3: Pop Psychology and APA Citation
• Pop psych articles
• Why does knowing about pop psych articles matter?
o Citiall ealuate the pesetatio of pshologial siee i the popula pess, oth
in general and in comparison, to peer-eieed sietifi eseah
▪ Communicating your expert knowledge to non-expert audience
▪ Identifying common shortcomings of non-aadei Ψ itig to ehae ou
own abilities
o Can also provide structure, foundation and entry point for your poster presentation
• Not all popular press articles are created equal
o “oe atiles a iole epet iteies ithout a liks ak to sietifi
research
o “iee does’t adae that fast
o Beware of the super topical
▪ You may find that supposed links to research are a stretch
o Early hyperlinks to research articles are a good sign
▪ But may not be especially good articles
• Scientific knowledge represents the accomplishments of many researchers over time
o APA and other formatting guides establish ground rules for how to acknowledge the
contributions of others
o Your citations also help readers place your contributions in context by linking your work
to prior studies and researchers
• It’s diffiult to deteie the oudaies/stadads fo oo koledge util ou become
an expert in scientific writing
• How do you know when to cite?
o Cite the work of those individuals whose ideas, theories, or research have directly
influenced your work
▪ May provide key background information, support or dispute your thesis, or
offer relevant definitions and data
o Also provide documentation for facts or figures that are not common knowledge
• Citation of an article implies that you have personally read the cited work
• How many citations do you need?
o Depends
o Review articles include many citations covering a lengthy history or documenting an
entire branch of the literature
o Empirical articles typically require fewer citations as they are inherently more focused
on a particular question and method
o General rule of thumb
▪ 1-2 most representative sources for each key point
• Knowing when and what to cite
o Knowing when a citation is needed
▪ Does this constitute common knowledge?
▪ Is this an idea I arrived at on my own?
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
PSYC02: Scientific Communication in Psychology Clara Rebello
▪ Have I given enough context to the reader that they could figure out where I
drew this information from?
o Citing the most appropriate sources
▪ Is this citation the primary source for this information?
▪ Am I citing a review that contains this information when I really should be citing
the original study?
▪ When multiple versions exist (e.g., an original and revised theory), am I citing
the most appropriate one?
o Providing context for citations
▪ Does the narrative clearly indicate what information that is provided by this
citation?
▪ Should I use a Latin abbreviation (e.g., i.e., cf.); if so, which one?
▪ If not, should I include a parenthetical note to provide context to the reader?
(for a counter-eaple, see…
o Knowing when to repeat a citation within a paragraph
▪ Does the narrative clearly link the information in question with a prior citation?
▪ Is there any chance a reader could be confused about the source of the
information?
• Appropriate, accurate citations help us avoid plagiarism
• Quoting vs. Paraphrasing
Dietl usig soeoe else’s ods, verbatim,
and acknowledge the source with reference to a
precise location (ex. Page number)
Putting material into your own words, and
acknowledging the source of inspiration or
information
Always provide the author, year, and specific
page citation in the text
• Include a complete reference in the
reference list
You’e ot euied to ilude a page ue
• But encouraged to do so when it might
help the reader find a relevant section of
a long or complex text
May need permission to quote very long
segments via reprinting (verbatim) or if you plan
on adapting material to a new purpose
• Using short quotations
o Less than 40 words
o Used sparingly, mostly for elegant or precise phrasing by a particular (usually well-
known) author or definitive source
o Incorporate into text and enclose the quotation with double quotation marks
• Using long quotations
o More than 40 words
o Rarely used in empirical papers
o Typically only for material that must be described verbatim (ex. Instructions to
participants)
o Display quotes of 40+ words in a freestanding block of text and omit the quotation
marks
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
PSYC02: Scientific Communication in Psychology Clara Rebello
▪ Start it on a new line and indent the block to the same position as a new
paragraph
▪ If there are more paragraphs within the quotation, indent the first line of each
an additional half inch
▪ The whole block quotation is double-spaced
o If you use an introductory phrase, start the quote in lower-case
o If you introduce the quote and end with a colon, start the quote with a capital letter
o If you introduce it by saying according to (insert author), start the quote with a capital
lette ad do’t ilude the autho’s ae i the ed-of-sentence citation
• What if there are no page numbers?
o If paragraph numbers are visible, use these (as para)
o If there are no paragraph numbers but there are headings, cite the heading (shortened
as necessary) and the number of the paragraph following the heading to help direct the
reader
• Changing quoted content
o If you OMIT part of the original text:
▪ Use three spaced ellipsis points (...) within a sentence to indicate omitted
material
▪ Use four points (....) to indicate any omission between two sentences
o If you ADD WORDS (e.g., an explanation/definition) or italics for emphasis
▪ Enclose them in brackets [emphasis added]
o For any change, change uppercase/lowercase or modify single/double quotes as needed
o You generally have to acknowledge that you made a change in the quote
• In-text references are made using an author-date citation system
o Full references are listed alphabetically in the reference list
• If reference is cited in-text, it should be in the reference list, and vice versa, with identical
spelling and date information
• Only exceptions are in-text citations for
o Refeees to lassial oks e. Bile ad Qu’a
o Personal communications
• Key ideas for in-text citations
o How many authors were involved?
o Has this work been cited previously in the manuscript? In this paragraph?
o Ae thee lookalike itatios fo this autho goup?
o Is the reference linked to a specific quotation?
o Am I including more than one citation in the same parentheses?
• If autho’s ae is efeeed i the aatie, just ilude the ea
o Otherwise, put both name and year, separated by a comma, in parentheses
• For two authors, cite both names every time the reference occurs in the text
• For three to five authors, cite all authos’ suaes the fist tie the efeee ous
(sequentially)
o In subsequent citations, include only the surname of the first autho folloed et al.
ad the ea if it’s the fist
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
