Some Social-Science Writing Resources
Greetings again. I hope that 2010 is going well for you.
Thus far in 2010, this blog hasn’t included photos. So, as a little “vacation”, I’ve attached a photo taken in the countryside before the recent AuthorAID workshop in Colombia.
But now, let’s turn to this week’s topic:
Some AuthorAID users have asked us to include more information about writing in the social sciences. Therefore this week I’ll note a group of resources in this realm.
As you may know, many journals in the social and behavioral sciences use American Psychological Association (APA) style. Detailed instructions for this style appear in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
The 6th edition of this manual became available last summer. Many libraries have it. If a library near you doesn’t have it, maybe you could suggest obtaining it.
Even without the style manual, you can learn much about APA style. In particular, the APA style website contains many useful resources. Here are some that might be of interest:
- a tutorial titled “The Basics of APA Style”
- three sample papers—one reporting one experiment, one reporting two experiments, and one reporting a meta-analysis—each with notes about how it is written
- a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) addressing such topics as grammar, punctuation, and references
- guidance on converting a thesis or dissertation into a journal article
- a blog on APA style
Resources on this website can help researchers in many fields. I encourage you to look at them.