Guidelines for Paper                                                                                                 First draft due Monday, May 7
                                                                                                                                 Final draft due Wednesday, May 16

Each student must submit a paper, minimum 10 pages of text in length (12 point font, double spacing, 1” margins).  The focus of the paper will be a critical analysis of current scientific thinking in psychology about one of the specific psychological disorders or areas of psychopathology covered in the course.

Developing a Topic

In choosing a topic for your paper, you should begin by drawing on the work you have done in your projects.  If possible, you should continue to focus on that same area of psychopathology or specific mental disorder.  Ask yourself whether you are more interested in the issue of causation or the issue of treatment.  Then you should review the work you have already done as well as the coverage in our own text and relevant readings from Lilienfeld (if any) to have an overview of current scientific thinking in psychology.  What are some of the possible causes that have been investigated?  What are some of the theories that have been proposed?  What are some of the different treatment methods that have been tried?  What are some of the current controversies and debates?  Then you might want to do some additional reading (books, journal articles, Internet pages) until you have narrowed your focus to a very specific question that you will attempt to answer in your paper.

For example:

• Are children from alcoholic families more at risk for drinking problems?
• Is Ritalin a good way to treat Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder?
• Can depression be caused by the seasons of the year?
• Are cognitive-behavioral techniques effective with Obsessive-compulsive disorder?
• Why are females much more likely to develop eating disorders?
• Does divorce have harmful effects on children?
• Should therapists encourage people to recover memories of long-forgotten childhood traumas?
• Can alcoholics ever learn to drink safely?

References

Your paper will be based on references that you are able to locate, using books or book chapters, articles from professional and scientific periodicals, and appropriate Internet sites.  Among your references (of which there should be a total of at least 6, up to as many as 12), you will be required to locate one actual research study published in a scientific journal which investigates some aspect of the nature and possible causes of the disorder, or how it might be treated.  Except under unusual circumstances, popular magazines, dictionaries and encyclopedias, and course textbooks should not be used as references.

Please note that using the Internet can be especially tricky, because some of the sites are maintained by reputable educational, professional and scientific organizations, but many are of no more value than something you might read in Star or National Enquirer!  I have listed some appropriate sites for you to explore in the Resouce Links section of the course website.  If you locate any other Internet site that you would like to use for your paper, you must get my approval for it in advance.

Citing Your Sources

General Principle: Correctly citing sources in the text of a paper is very important for at least two reasons.  First, citing sources lets your instructor appreciate the amount of work you have done to locate and use good sources.

Second, it is a matter of academic honesty.  Every time you make reference to an idea, opinion, fact, theory, argument, research study, finding, etc., that you have found in some source, you must clearly indicate that source to show that it is the work of another.  This applies not just to direct quotes; every single time you are drawing from, or paraphrasing, one of your sources, you must cite it as your reference.  To present the material without citing the source is dishonest because it suggests that the material is your own.  Such dishonesty constitutes what is known as plagiarism, one of the most serious of academic offenses, and one which can lead to charges being brought against a student and/or a failing grade for this paper.

Rules for citing references (look at your text to see how it is done):

What to cite: A reference is cited by giving the last name of the author(s) or organization and the year of publication.  The name(s) and year should correspond exactly to the listing on the References list at the end of the paper.  When using a direct quote, use quotation marks, and also include the page number(s) where the quote appeared in the source.

When to cite: The citation should occur as soon in the sentence or paragraph as possible, to immediately draw the attention of your reader to the fact that you are drawing material from an outside source.  If you continue over the course of several sentences or even several paragraphs to draw from the same source, it is not necessary to continue to cite it.  The general rule is that whenever your reader may not be sure of the source of your information, you should cite the source.

Where to cite: Right in the text of the paper.  Do not use footnotes or endnotes.  References should be cited as part of the natural flow of text.  Do not just stick a citation at the end of a paragraph.

NOTE: You can only cite as a reference the book or article that you yourself read.  If that book or article contains a reference to some other work, you may not cite that other work as a reference.  Thus, if you are reading a book by Smith (1996), and Smith describes a study by Jones (1992), and you want to also mention Jones's study, your reference is Smith.  You could say, "In a 1992 study by Jones (Smith, 1996)...;" or, "According to Smith (1996), Jones conducted a study...;" but you cannot simply cite Jones.  In similar fashion, your References page at the end of your paper will list only the actual works that you located and used.
Obviously, your paper will clearly be based on what you read, but just as with your assignment answers, I expect your paper to be mostly IN YOUR OWN WORDS.  Remember the "Rule of 5;" if you use 5 or more words in a row taken directly from a printed source, those words must be in quotation marks and the source correctly cited.  Failure to do so also constitutes plagiarism.

Writing the Paper

The paper itself should be organized as follows:

1. Title Page: Include your name, the name and number of this course, and date of submission, and the title of your paper (which should be between 5 and 15 words long and should clearly indicate the precise focus of your paper).

2. Introduction (usually only a page or two): Begin with a brief discussion of the area of psychopathology you will be looking at.  Maybe include a few statistics, some descriptive information or definitions, a brief summary of what psychologists are currently asking or thinking.  Then clearly state exactly what you intend to do in the pages that follow – the question you are asking, possible answers you will discuss, perhaps even the answer you intend to argue for.

3. Review of Literature (the main body of the paper): Present what you have learned from the reference materials you have located.   Discuss in some detail the various opinions, arguments, research findings, and theories that deal with possible answers to your question and that provide support for possible answers.  Remember that at least one of your sources must be a research study published in scientific journals, and this study should be presented and discussed in some depth.
Especially important here is that you clearly identify the sources you are using.  Keep using such phrases as “According to….”, or “In a study conducted by…..”, or “In the opinion of….”, or “So-and-so has argued that….”, or “So-and-so believes that….”

4. Analysis: In addition to presenting information from your sources, you also need to analyze it, objectively and critically.  How sound are the arguments?  How logical and consistent are the opinions?  How much supporting evidence is there from research studies?  How solid is this evidence?  What are the possible counter-arguments? [The Analysis can either be a separate section following the Review of Literature or can be included along with your presentation of the literature.]
Especially important here is that you show your appreciation of the difference between opinion and statements that have a reasonable amount of scientific support, and your recognition that you can’t always believe everything you read.

5. Conclusion: You should now be ready to end with your conclusion.  Do you think there is a clear answer to your question?  Are there many possible answers?  Do we need more research?  If so, of what sort?  What does all this mean, and why is it important?  Why should anybody care?
Especially important here is your appreciation for the complexity of the issues involved and your ability to think through these issues carefully and critically before arriving at a conclusion that is supported by the information you have presented and your analysis of it.

6. References: At the end of your paper, attach a list of all references you cited (direct quotes as well as paraphrases) in your paper, along with full bibliographical information for each, arranged alphabetically by first author’s last name.  Look at the back of our Emery & Oltmann’s text to see how bibliographical information should be presented.

Be sure to number all pages, beginning with the first text page. [Note: the Title and References pages are not counted as part of expected length of the paper]

Key Dates

March 30:     Submit one paragraph description of proposed topic
May 7:          Submit first draft of your paper (optional)
May 16:        Submit final draft of your paper

Copyright ©1998 Beverly J. Volicer and Steven F. Tello, UMass Lowell.  You may freely edit these pages for use in a non-profit, educational setting.  Please include this copyright notice on all pages.