MAGIC MOMENT

The abstract is the second page of a lab report or APA-format paper and should immediately follow the title page. Think of an abstract as a condensed summary of your entire paper. First, write your paper. While the abstract will be at the beginning of your paper, it should be the last section that you write. Once you have completed the final draft of your psychology paper, use it as a guide for writing your abstract. Begin your abstract on a new page and place your running head and the page number 2 in the top right hand corner. You should also center the word Abstract at the top of the page.Keep it short. According to the APA style manual, an abstract should be between 150 to 250 words. Exact word counts can vary from journal to journal. If you are writing your paper for a psychology course, your professor may have specific word requirements so be sure to ask. The abstract should also be written as only one paragraph with no indentation. In order to succinctly describe your entire paper, you will need to determine which elements are the most important.Structure the abstract in the same order as your paper. Begin with a brief summary of the Introduction, and then continue on with a summary of the Method, Results and Discussion sections of your paper.Look at abstracts in professional journals for examples of how to summarize your paper. Notice the main points that the authors chose to mention in the abstract. Use these examples as a guide when choosing the main ideas in your own paper.Write a rough draft of your abstract. While you should aim for brevity, be careful not to make your summary too short. Try to write one to two sentences summarizing each section of your paper. Once you have a rough draft, you can edit for length and clarity.Look in academic psychology journals for examples of abstracts. Keep on hand a copy of a style guide published by the American Psychological Association, such as the Concise Rules Of APA Style, for reference.If possible, take your paper to your school's writing lab for assistance.if(zSbL

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The title page is the first page of your psychology paper. In order to make a good first impression, it is important to have a well-formatted title page in proper APA format that clearly represents your paper. The following format should be used in both psychology lab reports and research articles. Your instructor may also request that you use a similar format for other types of psychology writing. Elements of a Title Page Article titleAuthors nameAuthors school affiliationRunning headPage numberChoosing a Title
One of the most difficult tasks is choosing a good title. Your title should be as specific as possible. Notice the titles used in the following examples: [Specific] "Second-order Beliefs and the Use of Self-Presentational Explanations for Behavior"[General] "Cognitive Abilities and Social Understanding"The best way to structure you title is to look at your hypothesis and experimental variables. For example: "The Effects of [Independent Variable] on [Dependent Variable]"
Other Elements
A running head should be included in the upper left hand corner on all pages, including the title page.
All pages, including the title page, should also have a page number located in the upper right hand corner.
The first line of your title page should be left-aligned at the top of the page, using the following format:

Running head: PAGE TITLE

Note that the running head should be listed as no more that fifty characters, including letters, spacing between words and punctuation, of your title in uppercase letters.

Your title, name and school should be double-spaced and centered on the page.Check out this example of a title page in APA format.if(zSbL

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The method section of an APA format psychology paper provides the methods and procedures used in a research study or experiment. You should provide detailed information on the research design, participants, equipment, materials, variables and actions taken by the participants. The method section should provide enough information to allow other researchers to replicate your experiment or study.

The method section should utilize subheading to divide up different subsections. These subsections typically include: Participants, Materials, Design and Procedure.

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