Griffith University Undergraduate Student Psychology Journal
Volume X, Issue X, pp-pp.
Undergraduate Researcher Article
Title in Upper and Lower Case (No more than 25 words)
Author name in bold
XXXXPSY, Name of Course
School of Psychology, Griffith University
All essays require an abstract of between 100 and 150 words. The abstract should present a
concise overview of the content of the article and should begin by presenting the aim of the
essay, followed by a brief outline of the main points. The abstract should be written inside this
table in Arial 10pt font, with single line spacing. There should be a 10pt space before and
after the abstract. The abstract does not require a heading. If you require guidance in writing
your abstract, see p. 12 – 15 of the Publication Guide of the American Psychological
Association (APA, 2001).
The actual article should begin with an introduction of the topic and an outline
of the main arguments that you intend to make throughout your article. The
body of the article should expand upon these arguments. Finally, a concluding
paragraph should provide a summary of the conclusions you have made and
how this article addressed these arguments.
Body text should be written using Arial 12pt font. The text should by
justified. The first line of each paragraph should be indented 0.32cm, except
for the first line of the first paragraph. Do not leave extra line spaces
between paragraphs. The length of the essay should not exceed 2000 words
(including the abstract and references). Each essay should be proofread
carefully prior to submission and should be prepared in APA format (see
chapter 3 of the Publication Guide of the American Psychological Association
(APA, 2001) for information on APA style).
You do not have to include headings in your essay if you do not wish
to. However, if you do wish to use headings we would advise that you use
Level 1 headings to designate main sections of the text and Level 3 headings
to designate subsections (as outlined in the APA manual; APA, 2001). Leave
one line space before and after headings. Examples of how to set out these
headings appear below:
Section Heading: Centred Upper and Lower Case (Level 1 APA)
Subsection Heading: Flush Left, Italicise, Upper and Lower Case (Level 3
APA).
References
FORM 8 – TEMPLATE FOR UNDERGRADUATE ESSAYS
AMANDA BIGGS JUNE 2008
1
Griffith University Undergraduate Student Psychology Journal
Volume X, Issue X, pp-pp.
The heading for the reference section should be formatted as a Level 1 APA heading
(Centred, in upper and lower case). All references cited in the text are required to be included
in the reference list. Do not include references in the reference list that you have not cited in
the essay. The reference list should be written in Arial 10pt font, justified, and with single line
spacing. References in the reference list are arranged in alphabetical order, according to the
surname of the first author. Each reference should be given a hanging indent, which means
that the first line of the reference is not indented but subsequent lines of that same reference
are indented. Some example references are included below. See the APA publication manual
or the Writing for Psychology (red Book), which is available from the School of Psychology
website (http://www.griffith.edu.au/school/psy/ - click on the ‘current students’ link and then
follow the ‘resources’ link) for more information.
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Karasek, R. A. (1979). Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: Implications for
job design. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24, 285-307.
Tabachnick, B., & Fidell, L. (2001). Using multivariate statistics. London: Allyn & Bacon.
FORM 8 – TEMPLATE FOR UNDERGRADUATE ESSAYS
AMANDA BIGGS JUNE 2008
2