PSY 219 –
Academic Writing
in Psychology
2015-2016 Fall
Çağ University
Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Department of Psychology
Inst. Nilay Avcı
What is psychology?
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Definition of "Psychology"
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The scientific study of the behavior of individuals and
their mental processes.
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The study of the mind and how it affects behaviour.
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The science concerned with behavior, in both human
and nonhuman animals.
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It is a diverse discipline, grounded in science, but with
nearly boundless applications in everyday life.
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Definition of "Psychology"
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Why people do the things they do is an age-old question.
However, psychology first appeared in the 1870s.
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As scientists, psychologists follow scientific methods,
using careful observation, experimentation and analysis.
But psychologists also need to be creative in the way
they apply scientific findings.
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Some psychologists do basic research, developing
theories and testing them through carefully honed
research methods involving observation,
experimentation and analysis. Other psychologists apply
the discipline's scientific knowledge to help people,
organizations and communities function better.
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What is APA
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About APA
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APA: The American Psychological Association
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It is the largest scientific and professional
organization representing psychology in the United
States, with more than 122,500 researchers,
educators, clinicians, consultants and students as its
members.
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Introduction: Writing for Psychology
Writing in the field of psychology differs in several respects from
the general academic writing style. Psychological writing is a
form of scientific reporting that is based on American
Psychological Association publication style, widely recognized as
a standard for scientific writing. The format employed in
psychological writing (APA style) reflects the principles of clarity,
concise wording, and accuracy and facilitates the rapid and
logical flow of information from author to reader. Scientific writing
values prose that is more straightforward, objective, and less
reflective. In the beginning, you may feel that APA style is dry
and colorless, and that it stifles your creativity. However, after a
bit of experience, you will find that the guidelines delineated by
APA style will help you to write clear, informative, interesting
papers. Creativity in psychology tends to come from the ideas
behind the writing, not the writing itself.
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Introduction: Writing for Psychology
Summary:

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differs in several respects from the general
academic writing style.
a form of scientific reporting based on APA style
-- reflects clarity, concise wording (brief, short, to the
point) and accuracy (correctness)
-- facilitates the rapid and logical flow of information
-- prose; more straightforward, objective, and less
reflective
-- help writing clear, informative, interesting papers
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The Challenges of Writing in Psychology
Psychology writing, like writing in the other sciences, is
meant to inform the reader about a new idea, theory or
experiment. Academic psychologists emphasize the
importance of clarity and brevity (shortness) in writing
while minimizing descriptive language and complex
sentence structure. The best writers of psychology have
the ability to make complex ideas understandable to
people outside of their area of expertise. Psychology
writing can be very dense, with many references to
previous research. Writers of psychology almost never
directly quote a source. Instead, they distill the essence
of the idea or finding, and cite the appropriate source.
In psychology, writers rarely repeat words and phrases,
and when they do so it is only to aid in clarity.
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The Challenges of Writing in Psychology
Summary:
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inform the reader about a new idea, theory or
experiment
clarity and brevity in writing
dense (containing a lot of things), with many references to
previous research
minimize descriptive language and complex
sentence structure
almost never directly quote a source
cite the appropriate source
do not repeat words and phrases
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Psychology as a Discipline
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Psychology is based on the study of human
behaviors. As a social science, experimental
psychology uses empirical inquiry to help
understand human behavior. According to Thrass
and Sanford (2000), psychology writing has three
elements: describing, explaining, and understanding
concepts from a standpoint of empirical
investigation.
The field of psychology has its own rules and
expectations for writing; not everything that you
have learned in about writing in the past works for
the field of psychology.
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Psychology as a Discipline
Summary:
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scientific discipline
fact based (NOT opinion based)
arguments built on previous research
strict formatting, style and referencing rules

Note: Different disciplines have different styles
Anthropology, Sociology and Social Work may have
different conventions
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Types of Writing in Psychology
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Essays
Literature Review/Research Summary
Experimental Reports/Lab Reports/Practical
Reports/Empirical Paper/Research Proposal
Reflective Writing
Case Summaries
Test Reviews
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Types of Writing in Psychology
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Empirical paper: a report of your own actual
or predicted data
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Literature review: a summary of other
people’s research
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Basics
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Spelling
Grammar
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Punctuation Colons (:), semicolons (;) and
apostrophes (‘)
APA Style and Referencing
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Writing in psychology includes the following
principles:
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Using plain language: Psychology writing is formal scientific
writing that is plain and straightforward. Literary devices such as
metaphors, alliteration, or anecdotes are not appropriate for
writing in psychology.
Conciseness and clarity of language: The field of psychology
stresses clear, concise prose. You should be able to make
connections between empirical evidence, theories, and
conclusions.
Evidence-based reasoning: Psychology bases its arguments
on empirical evidence. Personal examples, narratives, or
opinions are not appropriate for psychology.
Use of APA format: Psychologists use the American
Psychological Association (APA) format for publications.
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Objective vs. Subjective
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Conventions of Writing in Psychology
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Avoiding surprises: Psychologists like to be led
through a paper without major surprises along the
way. This means being very clear about what points
you’re trying to make and always showing how new
evidence or theories relate to the bigger point of a
paper. One easy way to remember this is to think
that your reader wants to know where you’re going
in the intro, where you are during your presentation
of evidence and where you’ve been in your
discussion.
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Conventions of Writing in Psychology
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Avoiding direct quotations: Psychologists seldom
use direct quotes. Rather, they distill the essence (not
paraphrase, in the sense of just re-arranging the
words) the statements of other researchers and cite
those researchers’ work.
For example, Frank (1982) demonstrates that peer
evaluations and performance in school are the main
contributors to adolescent self-esteem is preferable
to Frank wrote, “Our results indicate that adolescent
self-esteem is directly attributable to peer evaluations
and scholastic achievement.”
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Conventions of Writing in Psychology
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Using bias-free language: Psychologists
use bias-free language, which typically
means that they refer to people as those
people refer to themselves (using terms that treat
people with respect).
For example;
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Conventions of Writing in Psychology
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Using bias-free language examples;
-- Do not use the male pronoun as a generic. Use he or
she, his or hers, etc.
-- Use phrases such as “people with autism” rather
than “autistics”.
-- Use the phrases “gay men and lesbians” rather than
“homosexuals”.
-- Don’t define people by what they aren’t. For
example, don’t say non-White. Instead, say what
people are ,e.g., “Asian” or “African American.” Keep
in mind that not all people of African heritage are
Americans and thus African-American is not a
synonym for Black.
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Conventions of Writing in Psychology
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Avoid jargon or overly unusual words except when it
is absolutely necessary.
Be succinct (short & clear) and avoid wordiness (full of
extra words).
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Use headings and subheadings.
Always include a title for your paper.
The words “I” and “We” should always refer to the
authors of a paper and not to people in general.
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Conventions of Writing in Psychology
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Use active rather than passive voice.
Use the word “participants” rather than
“subjects”.
The word data is a plural word (e.g., The data
were…). Datum is the singular form of data.
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Language
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Past Tense
3rd Person
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No contractions don’t, can’t, it’s – do not, cannot, it is
Clear and Simple Language
Fact based – never bring in your opinion unless
specifically told to!!
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Avoid Non-emotive adjectives like: tragic, amazing etc.
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Language
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Do not copy what you read. You will read articles
that are difficult to understand – these are not
‘good’ articles
Your marker needs to understand your writing
Your knowledge needs to come across. This is
easier to achieve with clear and simple language
– not big fancy words
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Example:

Some perchance contend cyberbullying to
stand intrinsically coupled with its physical
counterpart via means of mechanism,
representation and consequence.
What is wrong with this writing?
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Example:

Many researchers consider cyberbullying and
offline bullying to share many similarities.
These include the motive behind the bullying;
the way the bullying occurs; and the effects
on the victim.
What makes this writing ‘better’?
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Simple is better
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Be clear with your discussion.
Keep your sentences between 12 and 30 words. A few
longer sentences are ok – but only if necessary.
If the sentence runs over 3-4 lines, try to cut it into 2
separate sentences.
If you do not understand the word – do not use it!
Be short and sweet – go straight to the point.
A 10th grade vocabulary will serve you better than
trying to be a philosopher.
Minimize your use of first-person pronouns (“I think
that…”, “I believe that…”).
!! See Do’s and Don’ts of Effective Writing in Psychology Notes
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