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Research Paper

Structure & Content

APA Norms

Structure
• Title
• Authors and affiliation
• Keywords
• Summary (abstract)
• Introduction
• Method
• Results
• Discussion and Conclusions
• References
• Acknowledge
• Annexes

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Title
• Descriptive
Monkey see, Monkey do VS Emulation and Imitation in chimpaces
• Synthesis of the main idea
• With key terms
• Short (10/12 words)
• Avoid redundancy ("An experimental investigation ...")
• Attractive and appealing (without going over)
• Avoid abbreviations

• Tip: do it at the end

Authors
• Sort Orders (source of potential conflict)
– Alphabetical
– Importance
• Affiliation of authors
• Reference person / contact

• Explain the contribution of each

– Conception, design, analysis, interpretation of results.
– Writing and critical review of the work on important
aspects

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Abstract
• Very relevant. It is what most / first read
• <250 words
• Structured: Objective, Method (participants,
procedures, equipment), Results, Conclusions,
Applications (if applicable)
• Written in the third person

Key Words
• Around 5 to 7 fundamental descriptors
• Thesaurus

Introduction
• Problem presentation
– What are you going to investigate
– Why is it important to investigate it
• Background
– Review the most relevant studies on the topic
– Highlighting the unresolved questions
– Emphasize the continuity between the previous work
and this
– Arguing about the need / importance of your work
• Research foundation → Aim(s)
– Indicate specifically what you intend to study, how will
you do it (very briefly), what is the hypothesis and
what results you expect to find (predictions).

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Methods
• Participants
– n; characteristics and demographic data; sampling procedure and
group assignment; aspects related to their participation
(remuneration ...); resolution of contingencies; notable aspects; etc.
• Materials or instruments
– Instruments, tools, materials, equipment ...
• Procedure
– Characterize the research (qualitative / quantitative, empirical
design) and describe in detail each of the steps taken to carry out
research (variables, measurements, previous evaluations,
instructions…)

• Depending on the complexity of the study may include other

elements.
• If applicable, tables can be used to summarize relevant
descriptive data (characteristics of participants, results of
evaluations carried out ...)

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Results
• Presentation of the main results, after analysis of the
data.
– structure consistent with the design / process
• Procedures for drafting the analysis.
– Name the analysis carried to test the hypotheses and write
your results in the proper format.
– Analysis could be an independent secction before results.
• The results are only presented, not discussed.
• Tables and Figures.
– They serve to highlight the main elements of the work.
They are used only if needed.
– Taking care of the formatting to highlight the important

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Discussion
• Summary of main results of the study
• Analysis of the data in relation to the hypothesis (rigorously,
there’s no problem if you wasn’t right)
• Analysis of the results based on previous evidence (for and
against)
• Discussion (if applicable) of possible alternative interpretations
• Theoretical implications of the results
• Critical analysis of the research and work done and proposals
for improvement
• Proposal of continuation lines
• Final paragraph: how you have solved the problem posed and
what knowledge does your work brings in the area

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Acknowledgment
• Participants
• Funding sources
• Contributors who are not authors
• People who have made suggestions /
relevant comments

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References. A.P.A. Norms

• Articles
Tulving, E. (2002). Episodic memory: from mind to brain. Annual Review
of Psychology, 53, 1-25. doi: xx.xxxxxxx
• Books
Schacter, D. L. (2001). The seven sins of memory: how the mind forgets
and remembers. New York: Houghton-Mifflin. doi: xx.xxxxxxx
• Book chapters
Baddeley, A. D. and Hitch G. (1974). Working memory. In G. A. Bower
(Ed.), Recent advances in learning and motivation (vol. 8, pp. 47-90).
New York: Academic Press.
• Thesis
Campos, R. (2009). Construyendo Mentes. Unpublished Thesis.
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid.
• Docs from internet
Merrill, P. W. (2004). Consejos para una mala redacción. Downloaded
from http://www.suagm.edu/umet/biblioteca/pdf/guia_apa_6ta.pdf

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Quotes. A.P.A. Norms

• Reasons to cite: credibility; addresses undeveloped concepts; recognizes the
work of others and their contribution to our knowledge
• Only last names are quoted (initial only to disambiguate)
• Different ways of quoting
– … they can’t do the task (López, 2004).
– … as López (2004) found that they can’t do the task.
– … as López (2004; López y Gómez, 2005) found that they can’t do the task.
• One author or more than one author
– (López, 2004) // López, Gómez, González et al. (2004)
• Quote several papers together
– In alphabetical or chronological order?
– (Gómez, 2000; González, 2001; López, 2003)
• Publications by the same author(s) in a year
– López (1993a); López (1993b) (keep letters in references)
• Direct quotes
– “bla bla bla bla bla bla y bla” (López, 1999, p.69).
• Indirect sources (cited by)
– … that they can’t do the task (López, 2004; c.b. González, 2013).

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Annexes
• It includes all information related to the process that is of
interest to know. Examples:
– observation codes used,
– questionnaires used,
– lists of words used in an experiment memory,
– texts used in an experiment on reading,
– additional data from participants,
– other analysis performed,
– technical specifications,
– links to videos,
–…

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