Dr. Gary J. Burkholder

As you read articles from your professional journals, you likely observe that they follow a specified format. Most professions have an agreed upon format for publishing the results of studies, thus making it easier to report and understand findings.

As part of your socialization into a profession, professional writing is taught and reinforced in most of your classes. In the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, the style published by the American Psychological Association (APA) is the prescribed format.

Given the importance of clear writing, I want to use this opportunity to share with you some tips for professional writing and citation that conforms to the standards set forth by APA (2001). These tips, which can be applied to much of the writing you do at Walden University, include avoiding bias in language, using primary sources, and citing electronic sources.

Eliminating Bias in Language
The American Psychological Association is committed to writing that does not bias the reader against certain groups of people. As an organization, APA is committed both to science and to the fair treatment of individuals and groups, and this policy requires authors of APA publications to avoid perpetrating demeaning attitudes and biased assumptions about people in their writing:

• Constructions that might imply bias against persons on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, racial or ethnic group, disability, or age should be avoided. Scientific writing should be free of implied or irrelevant evaluation of the group or groups being studied. (APA, 2001, p. 61)

This concept is an extremely important. Examples of how bias can be avoided include

• referring to gay and lesbian people rather than to homosexuals (p. 67);
• identifying the individual first rather than identifying by category (e.g., writing individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia rather than schizophrenics, emphasizing the dignity of persons as individuals;
• using the term participants rather than subjects, acknowledging the participatory nature of research (p. 65);
• using terms that are currently appropriate to designate ethnicity (e.g., African Americans rather than Negros (p. 68); and
• referring to a person with a disability rather than referring to that same person as disabled (p. 69).

Primary and Secondary Sources

• Primary sources are original works of research (journal articles, books, etc.). These articles may synthesize and summarize research from others, but the work represents original thinking and ideas.
• Secondary sources are defined as “such things as abstracts, article summaries, book reviews, and so forth. These are derived from primary sources (journal articles, books), often by someone other than the original authors” (APA, 2001, p. 245).

Secondary sources also apply to research cited in a primary reference that you want to cite but you haven’t read the original research. This is recognized easily in the following hypothetical example: “Smith, as cited in Prago, 2004.”

Note: The APA manual states further that “In scholarly research, it is preferable to read and cite primary sources whenever possible” (p. 245). For your work at Walden, use primary sources. In fact, some courses will not allow you to use secondary sources, as the professional preference is to use primary sources. The assumption is that you have read the primary research when you write a paper.

Other common and related errors are (a) citing sources from a reference list at the end of a journal article or book that you have not read, and (b) citing textbooks. Textbooks are not always peer-reviewed and don’t always give the appropriate author credit for the work.

Citing Electronic Sources
Many questions arise concerning the proper way to cite literature that you have downloaded from the Internet or from a database. Four different situations are listed below, with examples. Note that specific guidance is contained in the APA manual on pages 268–281 (2001).

1. You download an article located in a journal that is available in print form, but you have viewed it only in its electronic form.
   
   
   Burkholder, G. J., Harlow, L. L., & Washkwich, J. (1999). Social stigma, HIV/AIDS knowledge, and sexual risk [Electronic version]. Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research, 4(1), 27–44.
   
   
2. You download an article from a full–text database such as PsycARTICLES or Academic Search Premiere. This is probably the most common type of electronic citation you’ll encounter, since you likely get many articles by searching in full-text databases.
   
   
   Sternberg, R. J. (2003). A duplex theory of hate: Development and application to terrorism, massacres, and genocide. Review of General Psychology, 7, 299–328. Retrieved July 19, 2004, from PsycARTICLES database.
   
   
3. The article comes from a journal that is published only on the Internet. (The following example comes directly from the APA manual, p. 272.)
   
   
   Fredrickson, B. L. (2000, March 7). Cultivating positive emotions to optimize health and well-being. Prevention & Treatment, 3, Article 0001a. Retrieved November 20, 2000, from http://journals.apa.org/prevention/volume3/pre00300001a.html
   
   
4. You extract a general document from a Web site on the Internet.
   
   Depression Alliance. (2004, July 18). Depression Alliance is the leading UK charity for people affected by depression. Retrieved from http://www.depressionalliance.org/

As you write, ensure that you have the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association handy. Some excellent writing samples begin on page 306 and provide a quick reference as you write.

If you want further assistance with writing, please contact the Walden University Writing Center. You will find a variety of helpful resources there.

References

American Psychological Association (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.