Selected Topics in Psychology: Library Research Paper for Sean Scott
Formal Draft Due October 26th, 2016 at the beginning of class

General Description of Assignment
Students are required to complete a medium-length paper (6-7) pages (plus a cover page and a reference page). It should focus on a selected topic that pertains to a subject explored in the course. Naturally, you must apply your understanding of psychological theory in demonstrating an understanding of the topic. In doing so, you must use at least 6 peer-reviewed sources.

Assignment Guidelines
Please note: These Guidelines MUST be followed in order to receive full marks.
American Psychological Association (APA style) is required.

Your paper/presentation should consist of the following sections:
Section 1: Introduction (Suggested length approximately ½ to ¾ page)
Introduce your topic. Why is this topic important? Remember to avoid any personal pronouns in this section. State the intent of the paper.

Section 2: Provide a Descriptive Summary of your topic. (Suggested length 4-5 pages)
This is the main section of your paper. In reading your sources, you will identify at least 2 themes or sub-topic areas. This section will be organized around these themes/subtopics. You might want to consider using “sub-headings” to help keep you on track and help orientate the reader.

Section 3: General Conclusions (Suggested length ¾ page to 1 page)
You need to provide a general overview of all the information presented in your second section of your paper. Every paper you write should end with concluding comments. Usually, researchers end their papers with ideas for future researchers. More specifically, you should end your paper with comments on what questions or information you would like future researchers to find on your topic. Was there anything in your research that you were unable to find? Was there anything that was unclear to you? If so, these are areas you might suggest that future researchers should focus on

Section 4: Reference Page
The full reference for each source mentioned in the paper must be listed alphabetically using American Psychological Association (APA) style. Remember that a minimum of 6 scholarly, peer-reviewed research articles, are required.

Words of advice…
All sections must be written using a formal writing style, therefore, first-person pronouns (e.g., “I”) should not be used….EVER. Quoting should be avoided. I am interested in reading a paper in which you have paraphrased your research as opposed to reading quotes by other researchers.

Please note that websites are NOT permitted as references unless the information is peer-reviewed and scholarly in nature.