Table of contents:

1. Writing for the Behavioral and Social Sciences

Types of Articles

1.01 Empirical Studies
1.02 Literature Reviews
1.03 Theoretical Articles
1.04 Methodological Articles
1.05 Case Studies
1.06 Other Types of Articles

Ethical and Legal Standards in Publishing

Ensuring the Accuracy of Scientific Knowledge

1.07 Ethical Reporting of Research Results
1.08 Data Retention and Sharing
1.09 Duplicate and Piecemeal Publication of Data
1.10 Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism

Protecting the Rights and Welfare of Research Participants

1.11 Rights and Confidentiality of Research Participants
1.12 Conflict of Interest

Protecting Intellectual Property Rights

1.13 Publication Credit
1.14 Reviewers
1.15 Author’s Copyright on an Unpublished Manuscript
1.16 Planning for Ethical Compliance

2. Manuscript Structure and Content

Journal Article Reporting Standards

Manuscript Elements

2.01 Title
2.02 Author’s Name (Byline) and Institutional Affiliation
2.03 Author Note
2.04 Abstract
2.05 Introduction
2.06 Method
2.07 Results
2.08 Discussion
2.09 Multiple Experiments
2.10 Meta-Analyses
2.11 References
2.12 Footnotes
2.13 Appendices and Supplemental Materials

Sample Papers

3. Writing Clearly and Concisely

Organization

3.01 Length
3.02 Organizing a Manuscript With Headings
3.03 Levels of Heading
3.04 Seriation

Writing Style

3.05 Continuity in Presentation of Ideas
3.06 Smoothness of Expression
3.07 Tone
3.08 Economy of Expression
3.09 Precision and Clarity
3.10 Linguistic Devices
3.11 Strategies to Improve Writing Style

Reducing Bias in Language

General Guidelines for Reducing Bias

Guideline 1: Describe at the Appropriate Level of Specificity
Guideline 2: Be Sensitive to Labels
Guideline 3: Acknowledge Participation
Reducing Bias by Topic

3.12 Gender
3.13 Sexual Orientation
3.14 Racial and Ethnic Identity
3.15 Disabilities
3.16 Age
3.17 Historical and Interpretive Inaccuracies

Grammar and Usage

3.18 Verbs
3.19 Agreement of Subject and Verb
3.20 Pronouns
3.21 Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers and Use of Adverbs
3.22 Relative Pronouns and Subordinate Conjunctions
3.23 Parallel Construction

4. The Mechanics of Style

Punctuation

4.01 Spacing After Punctuation Marks
4.02 Period
4.03 Comma
4.04 Semicolon
4.05 Colon
4.06 Dash
4.07 Quotation Marks
4.08 Double or Single Quotation Marks
4.09 Parentheses
4.10 Brackets
4.11 Slash

Spelling

4.12 Preferred Spelling
4.13 Hyphenation

Capitalization

4.14 Words Beginning a Sentence
4.15 Major Words in Titles and Headings
4.16 Proper Nouns and Trade Names
4.17 Nouns Followed by Numerals or Letters
4.18 Titles of Tests
4.19 Names of Conditions or Groups in an Experiment
4.20 Names of Factors, Variables, and Effects

Italics

4.21 Use of Italics

Abbreviations

4.22 Use of Abbreviations
4.23 Explanation of Abbreviations
4.24 Abbreviations Accepted as Words
4.25 Abbreviations Used Often in APA Journals
4.26 Latin Abbreviations
4.27 Scientific Abbreviations
4.28 Other Abbreviations
4.29 Plurals of Abbreviations
4.30 Abbreviations Beginning a Sentence

Numbers

4.31 Numbers Expressed in Numerals
4.32 Numbers Expressed in Words
4.33 Combining Numerals and Words to Express Numbers
4.34 Ordinal Numbers
4.35 Decimal Fractions
4.36 Roman Numerals
4.37 Commas in Numbers
4.38 Plurals of Numbers

Metrication

4.39 Policy on Metrication
4.40 Style for Metric Units

Statistical and Mathematical Copy

4.41 Selecting Effective Presentation
4.42 References for Statistics
4.43 Formulas
4.44 Statistics in Text
4.45 Statistical Symbols
4.46 Spacing, Alignment, and Punctuation

Equations

4.47 Equations in Text
4.48 Displayed Equations
4.49 Preparing Statistical and Mathematical Copy

5. Displaying Results

General Guidance on Tables and Figures

5.01 Purposes of Data Displays
5.02 Design and Preparation of a Data Display
5.03 Graphical Versus Textual Presentation
5.04 Formatting Tables and Figures
5.05 Table and Figure Numbers
5.06 Permission to Reproduce Data Displays

Tables

5.07 Conciseness in Tables
5.08 Table Layout
5.09 Standard Forms
5.10 Relation of Tables and Text
5.11 Relation Between Tables
5.12 Table Titles
5.13 Table Headings
5.14 Table Body
5.15 Confidence Intervals in Tables
5.16 Table Notes
5.17 Ruling of Tables
5.18 Presenting Data in Specific Types of Tables
5.19 Table Checklist

Figures

5.20 Principles of Figure Use and Construction
5.21 Types of Figures
5.22 Standards for Figures
5.23 Figure Legends and Captions
5.24 Planning Figures
5.25 Preparation of Figures
Presenting Electrophysiological, Radiological, and Other Biological Data
5.26 Electrophysiological Data
5.27 Radiological (Imaging) Data
5.28 Genetic Data
5.29 Photographs
5.30 Figure Checklist

6. Crediting Sources

When to Cite

6.01 Plagiarism
6.02 Self-Plagiarism

Quoting and Paraphrasing

6.03 Direct Quotation of Sources
6.04 Paraphrasing Material
6.05 Direct Quotations of Online Material Without Pagination
6.06 Accuracy of Quotations
6.07 Changes From the Source Requiring No Explanation
6.08 Changes From the Source Requiring Explanation
6.09 Citations Within Quotations
6.10 Permission to Quote, Reprint, or Adapt

Citing References in Text

6.11 One Work by One Author
6.12 One Work by Multiple Authors

Basic In-Text Citation Styles

6.13 Groups as Authors
6.14 Authors With the Same Surname
6.15 Works With No Identified Author or With an Anonymous Author
6.16 Two or More Works Within the Same Parentheses
6.17 Secondary Sources
6.18 Classical Works
6.19 Citing Specific Parts of a Source
6.20 Personal Communications
6.21 Citations in Parenthetical Material

Reference List

6.22 Construction of an Accurate and Complete Reference List
6.23 Consistency
6.24 Using the Archival Copy or Version of Record
6.25 Order of References in the Reference List
6.26 References Included in a Meta-Analysis

Reference Components

6.27 Author and Editor Information
6.28 Publication Date
6.29 Title
6.30 Publication Information
6.31 Electronic Sources and Locator Information
6.32 Providing Publication Data for Electronic Sources

7. Reference Examples

Types and Variations

Examples by Topic

7.01 Periodicals
7.02 Books, Reference Books, and Book Chapters
7.03 Technical and Research Reports
7.04 Meetings and Symposia
7.05 Doctoral Dissertations and Master’s Theses
7.06 Reviews and Peer Commentary
7.07 Audiovisual Media
7.08 Data Sets, Software, Measurement Instruments, and Apparatus
7.09 Unpublished and Informally Published Works
7.10 Archival Documents and Collections
7.11 Internet Message Boards, Electronic Mailing Lists, and Other Online Communities

Appendix 7.1: References to Legal Materials
A7.01 General Forms
A7.02 Text Citations of Legal Materials
A7.03 Court Decisions (Bluebook Rule 10)
A7.04 Statutes (Bluebook Rule 12)
A7.05 Legislative Materials (Bluebook Rule 13)
A7.06 Administrative and Executive Materials (Bluebook Rule 14)
A7.07 Patents

8. The Publication Process

Editorial Process

8.01 Peer Review
8.02 Manuscript Acceptance or Rejection

Author Responsibilities

8.03 Preparing the Manuscript for Submission
8.04 Complying With Ethical, Legal, and Policy Requirements
8.05 Publisher Policy Requirements
8.06 Working With the Publisher When the Manuscript Has Been Accepted
8.07 Checklist for Manuscript Submission

Appendix: Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS), Meta-Analysis Reporting Standards (MARS), and Flow of Participants Through Each Stage of an Experiment or Quasi-Experiment