Justice Studies manuscript style

THE JUSTICE STUDIES MANUSCRIPT STYLE
FOR WRITING CRIMINAL JUSTICE TERM PAPERS

North Carolina Wesleyan College Justice Studies Program has adopted the APA (American Psychological Association) style for term paper assignments. A copy of the APA's Publication Manual (most recent edition) is kept in the school's library or on library reserve. This page provides only the briefest overview, and the Publication Manual should be consulted as the final authority. APAonline also provides some electronic resources for APA style.

In a nutshell, the APA style differs from the MLA style (it's closest competitor) in two minor ways -- (1) the past tense is always used when citing the work of scientists (for example, MLA would say "Professor Johnson stipulates that the uncertainty hypothesis cannot be proven" and APA would say "Professor Johnson has stipulated that the uncertainty hypothesis cannot be proven.") -- (2) the year of publication is always considered vital information (for example, MLA would refer to the page number of a citation in text, leaving the reader to find the year of publication in the bibliography as in "Johnson states there is a definite flaw in premise three of the hypothesis (42)." where (42) refers to the page number, BUT the APA style would say "Johnson (1967) has stated there is a definite flaw in premise three of the hypothesis." where the year of publication is important and the page number is not. The following boxes illustrate the difference between MLA and APA (and you should use APA style):

This page provides resources for the writing intensive courses in the Justice Studies program at NCWC. There are currently four writing intensive (WI) courses in the program, which include JUS 205 Police in Society, JUS 300 Victimology, JUS 301 Criminology, and JUS 414 Counseling. For law and law-related courses, consult with Prof. Stevens, or see my guide to construction of legal briefs. Most of the examples that follow will seem more closely related to the Criminology course because that is our oldest writing course, but the requirements are generic to ALL writing courses in the program that require full-fledged papers. There is an addendum to this page, which you can jump to now by clicking on [how to tell a scholarly publication], but it is recommended you stay and continue reading. Other sources of assistance (other than this document) are the Scott Foresman Handbook for writers which is the standard writing aid for the NCWC Writing program, and a required purchase in ENG 111 and ENG 112 courses. Assistance is also available from the Online Writing Lab [http://annex.ncwc.edu/writing_lab/] and the NCWC Library Portal [http://annex.ncwc.edu/library/]

You are welcome to view the SAMPLES of previous research term papers in Justice Studies to use as models in helping you understand the purpose of these papers. Those samples are maintained at http://annex.ncwc.edu/multimedia/studentwriting.htm. You will note that they are formatted in single space to ease printing of them, and please do not copy or plagiarize these papers. The way is works is that many JUS students do not ordinarily print their papers out to turn them in. Instead, they submit them in digital format (Microsoft Word, or Microsoft FrontPage) and turn them into their instructor via e-mail or on a floppy disk. That way, their digital work can be edited, improved, and ultimately posted to the above site (to serve as additional models for future students).

PURPOSE: Students in JUS writing intensive courses (policing, victimology, criminology, counseling) are required to write a research term paper, unless instructed differently by their instructor that semester. A RESEARCH TERM paper is NOT the same as a case study, a position paper, an issues paper, an argumentative paper, or a pro/con analysis. You are to write a SCIENTIFIC paper. There's no need for you to comment on the world today or to express your feelings (Avoid "I feel..." statements). The purpose of a research term paper is to objectively ANALYZE (and if seeking help from the Writing Lab, identify your project as an ANALYSIS paper or show them this webpage). Such a paper should look and feel scholarly as if written for a SCIENTIFIC AUDIENCE, not your instructor, not your classmates, and certainly not for the general public. The aim of such a paper is to clearly and succinctly communicate the complex concepts and ideas of an academic discipline, and arrange those ideas systematically with some methodology, study plan, and analysis of supporting data or diagrams, followed by an appropriate scholarly discussion of the results and significance of what you analyzed, what could be further analyzed, and what directions for further research would be helpful to scholars.

LENGTH: Since most students turn in a single spaced document on floppy disk, it makes little sense to talk about printed page length, but if the papers were double spaced and formatted completely, the page length would be 10-12 pages, on average. It makes more sense to talk about the WORD COUNT, which is required to be at least 3,000 words. A double spaced term paper of 3,000 words tends to be at least 20 pages in length. Any questions you may have about margins, page numbering, etc., are answered near the bottom of this page.

GRADING: Papers in writing intensive classes count at least 50% of the grade. It's therefore important to understand the grading criteria, grading RUBRIC, and how instructor feedback needs to be incorporated. The student is responsible him or herself to come in and obtain feedback. General evaluation criteria include Neatness and being Error-Free (of errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar). The REOS grading rubric (Reasoning, Evidence, Organization, and Substance) is also used, where Reasoning refers to your logic, Evidence to the quality of your citations, Organization to your structure, and Substance to your significance. There is also a schedule to be followed on the term paper, where about every three weeks (in a fifteen week semester), part of the paper is turned in, according to the following Schedule of When Parts of Paper are Due which indicates by underlining what those new parts are. Each successive part must incorporate feedback from the instructor on the previous part.

PART ONE: THE INTRODUCTION -- Following your abstract and outline, the introductory section should consist of a TITLE and a series of about 5-10 sentences arranged in logical order. Some introductory sections can be done in one paragraph, and at other times, the section needs divided up into two or three paragraphs, but do not allow any one sentence to stand alone in a paragraph by itself. The title indicates your topic selection and implies the direction you are heading, and the sentences you write in this section inform the reader of why this topic is important. You may find it useful to stick close to your outline (consisting of how various subtopics in your paper will be ordered). You may also find it useful to expand upon your abstract, and here's an online source for writing abstracts. I'm not really interested in how good your abstract is at this point (abstracts are often written when the paper is done), but in how good your Intro section is. Topic selection is discussed below, and you will definitely want to discuss the feasibility of any topic other than the guided ones with your instructor, or alternatively, you can extract some topic from readings in your textbook, your instructor's online lecture notes, or the names of the lecture notes themselves. The 5-10 sentences that comprise the introductory section should include (at minimum) a THESIS statement, an APPROACH statement, a BACKGROUND statement, a PROBLEM statement, and a PREVIEW statement. You are encouraged to add on to this minimum number of sentences. Their basic format appears below:

INTRODUCTION (Basic sample sentences)
"Thesis" statement	It is the purpose of this paper to explore and analyze the problems of [...] in regards to [...] and make some recommendations, on the basis of analysis, for improving [...].
"Approach" statement	For purposes of discussion, the perspective or approach adopted in this paper will be [...] which assures that certain aspects of the problem are looked at more closely than others.
"Background" statement	The author of this paper, like other researchers, has had an interest in this problem for [...] years because [...].
"Problem" statement	Previous researchers and writers on this problem have only addressed certain aspects of the problem, to the neglect of other aspects, such as [...], which will be addressed in this paper.
"Preview" statement	This paper will first address the [...] aspect of the problem, then turn to analysis of the [...] aspect, and then finally cover the problem of [...].

    PART TWO: THE LITERATURE REVIEW -- The literature review part should consist of your review over the concepts and ideas of the most appropriate persons and their published work (which you cite) for your topic. Writers can arrange their literature reviews in a number of ways, from: (1) chronological (first person to ever study the topic to the last person to study it); to (2) climactic (least interesting person to study the topic to the most interesting person to study the topic); to (3) critical (most agreeable person - to you - that has studied the topic to the person you most disagree with). There are several good online sources for how to write a literature review, and here's a list of them, followed by an illustration of a Lit Review:
    1. http://web.pdx.edu/~dbls/HowtoWriteLiteratureReview.htm
    2. http://www2.ems.uq.edu.au/phdweb/phlink18.html
    3. http://library.ucsc.edu/ref/howto/literaturereview.html

LITERATURE REVIEW (an example of chronological style)

Judging from the literature, researchers and writers appear to have faced three central problems in their approach to the study of [...]. The first problem seems to be a definite uncertainty over [...] and is evident in the work of Johnson (1967), who was perhaps the first to study the problem. Then, there is the problem of [...] which is exemplified in the writing of Jones (1974) who deliberately chose to focus on [...] and ignore [...]. The most recent person to study the problem looked at [...] and developed the concept of [...] (Jackson 1985) which has some currency among contemporary researchers, but does not exhaust the full potential for study. These writers, and the works of others, are reviewed here.

PART THREE: THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY -- The research plan section should have sentences accompanied by charts, graphs, figures, tables, or diagrams that you draw up yourself or cut and paste (with appropriate citation) from an Internet source. The purpose of including charts, figures, or diagrams is to support some point you are making in the sentences you have written. For example, if you are claiming the crime rate is too high in your paper, it is customary for you to include a chart or diagram showing the crime rate graphically. It is much better, however, when these kind of illustrations are more specific to a specific sub-point, or some small, but critical aspect, having to do with a subtopic of your paper. This requires judicious use of illustrations, which must in all cases, be accompanied by some additional writing you do which interprets the illustration for the reader. If you want, you can create your own charts or graphs in WordArt or some other computer drawing program, and insert them in your paper. Also, if you want, you can construct a questionnaire or survey which is intended to collect data, or be used in future research. This section can also be a "plan" which demonstrates you know how to carry out research. It is not intended to prove that you have actually conducted research, although that is welcome too. What is most likely to happen is that you will include some charts or diagrams, and integrate some writing of your own with them, as the following example illustrates:

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (showing integration of graphics and text)

There have been many models of how [...] has come about to be a regular part of society, and it is customary for researchers to draw up models that are larger than they have to be. A good example of this is Allport (1954) who provided the following model depicting all the forces in society that have some impact.

Allport's (1954) model (shown above) is an attempt at being [...], and a simpler model might have sufficed because data do not exist, or are hard to find, for certain parts of the model past the personality level. For example, the following figures obtained by Belenko (1998) can be taken as indicators of the phenomenological part of the model, since a certain amount of self-reflection is necessary for one to seek drug treatment.

Percent of Prison Inmates Involved in Drug-Related Activity
	State	Federal	Jail
Use illegal drugs regularly	64	43	59
In a prison treatment program for drug abuse	29	14	15
Intoxicated most of the time while incarcerated	2	1	8

Belenko's (1998) data show that almost two-thirds (64%) of inmates abuse drugs regularly, but that less than one-third (29%) seek or participate in treatment. This implies, both theoretically and practically, that [...]

PART FOUR: DISCUSSION (or SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS) -- The summary and conclusions section includes what you ("this writer" or "this researcher" - always refer to yourself in the third person) believe to be the strengths and weakness of what you found, and what further research needs to be done. It is perhaps the most long-winded section of a research paper, but it can (and should) be clear and to the point. Do not shorten yourself on the other sections, in hopes that you will make up lost word count by lots of "filler" in this section. Do not make generalizations that are too broad. Refer back to what you've written in the Intro section, and make some tie-ins there. Evaluate the success of your paper according to the objectives you've set out for yourself. Stick to what the hard evidence supports in making any conclusions. Above all, don't end with any emotional, alarmist statements about how the end of the world is coming or how horrible crime is. It's OK to be critical to a certain degree, and you should once again reference somebody from your Lit Review section, if only for comparison purposes. The point is to uncover and discuss the deeper implications of what you've written about, as the following example illustrates:

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS (Short sample wording)

In this study, the problems of examining [...] were analyzed, and the findings appear to indicate that there is little evidence for [...] and more support for the idea that [...]. There has been a somewhat serious neglect by researchers and writers on this aspect of the problem, as evident most clearly by Johnson (1967), among others. It may be that the perspective adopted by such researchers has prevented them from reaching certain interpretations of the data. This study adopted a different perspective and approach which may or may not assist future researchers in shedding light on explaining the problems of [...]. It might be helpful for future scholars to look more closely at [...] which seems to be a fertile ground to explore.

Now that you understand what goes into a research paper, you'll need some help on selecting a topic. Scientific research papers aren't normally written on topics that are in the everyday news. Nor are they usually written on controversial, "hot" topics. This is somewhat of a problem in criminal justice since there are lots of newsworthy and controversial things in our field that one is easily inclined to give some practical advice or personal opinion about. However, you should avoid this (especially as an undergraduate) since most criminal justice scholars believe that if justice studies is ever going to attain the respectability as a science it deserves, we will have to write fairly boring, un-practical pieces that focus on "straightening out our own act." By that, I mean our RESEARCH papers always look backwards, to the internal, mostly theoretical problems and puzzles left behind by others who have written in our field. There is no substitute for knowing your discipline, who the "big names" are, what the "best concepts" are, and what perspectives or approaches tend to be associated with what topics. You've probably noticed that -- each of your college instructors represent a different disciplinary field of study, and they really like it when you demonstrate a solid grasp of the terminology and ideas in their discipline. So, here's some tips about criminal justice topics, beginning with a pull-down menu for selection purposes.

The basic idea behind this way of selecting a topic conforms to the standard, customary way that all scientific research is done. In a sense, you select two (2) things to write about -- a cause and effect -- which in science is called the Independent Variable and the Dependent Variable. For criminology, the cause is always something from a perspective or approach (you are writing from the biological perspective, the psychological perspective, or the sociological perspective), and the effect is always something that involves behavior, or things people do with their bodies (like engage in crime). The task of writing "good" criminology is to connect what goes on in the mind (of criminologists, not criminals) with what criminals do with their bodies. In other words, you've got to take some boring, un-practical, abstract criminological idea (like relative deprivation or frustration aggression; usually some conception of motive) and connect it to some specific phase of when the criminal decides, intends, or carries out the crime. Note that these are NOT papers about all aspects of some crime (You don't want to write any "All About Murder" paper). You've got to be very narrow, very focused, and very in-depth. The more specific you are, the better. Narrow down your cause and effect.

For police papers, which represent the more practical concerns of criminal justice (rather than criminology), the effect is already given for you -- The "problem" of -- since it can safely be assumed that anything in policing (or any of the components of criminal justice) automatically generates a problem of some sort. Hence, all you need to do is write about one (1) thing. You only need to be concerned about your selection of cause -- what best explains the problem, or what brought it into existence. A deep understanding of police history is helpful. Certainly, you should document a problem that exists in policing, but it's a safe assumption that problems exist, and you definitely don't want to write any "All About the Problems in Policing" paper. So, minimize your attempt to document the problem, and go into depth on something that causes the problem, like the age-old, scholarly areas of discretion (Do Police have too much freedom to make choices?), culture (Is There something about the police workplace culture that is different from other workplace cultures?), or accountability (Who Guards the guardians?).

You'll note that I came up with the stuff in the pull-down menus from a list of Perspectives, Approaches, and Theories in criminology, and that the second part of the title comes from an ordinary list of basic offenses. With the police papers, the pull-down options come from the titles of my Police and Society lecture notes. To answer the question of whether it's possible to combine scientific, research papers on criminology and policing, let me tell you two things: (1) it's more advisable to write separate papers since that is why the discipline has separate journals and periodicals - you won't find any "Policing and Crime" journal, for example; and (2) since less than 33% of policing has to do with crime, that probably represents your chances of a successful combined paper.

THE STRUCTURE AND PROCESS OF .....(BECOMING AN OFFENDER)
THE NATURE AND ANTECEDENTS OF.....(SOME OFFENSE)
THE DETERMINANTS OF.....(SOME OFFENSE)
THE EFFECTS OF.....(SOME FACTOR).....ON.....(SOME OFFENSE)
THE IMPACT OF.....(SOME FACTOR).....ON.....(SOME OFFENSE)
THE ROLE OF.....(SOME FACTOR).....IN EXPLAINING.....(SOME OFFENSE)
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE.......(SOME OFFENSE).....OFFENDER
CORRELATES OF.....(SOME KIND OF OFFENDING)
PERCEPTIONS OF.....(SOME FACTOR THE OFFENDER IS AWARE OF)
AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF.....(SOME EVENT)
TOWARDS DEVELOPMENT OF THEORY ON.....(SOME OFFENSE OR THING)
ISSUES AND CONSIDERATIONS ON.....(SOME BEHAVIOR OR ISSUE)
THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF AN EXPLANATION FOR.....(SOME CRIME)
PATTERNS AND TRENDS IN THE STUDY OF.....(SOME OFFENSE OR BEHAVIOR)
PROBLEMS WITH THE EXPLANATION OF.....(SOME BEHAVIOR)
MEASUREMENT PROBLEMS IN THE STUDY OF.....(SOME BEHAVIOR)
EXPLORING.....(SOME THEORY) AS AN EXPLANATION FOR.....(SOME CRIME)
TESTING.....(SOME THEORY).....USING THE CASE STUDY METHOD
STABILITY AND CHANGE AMONG.....(SOME OFFENDER)
A COMPARISON OF KEY THEORETICAL TERMS IN THE STUDY OF......
THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF.....(SOME BEHAVIOR)
DETERMINISTIC FACTORS IN THE STUDY OF......(SOME BEHAVIOR)
POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF A THEORETICAL EXPLANATION FOR.....
STRATEGIES AND TACTICS USED BY.....(SOME OFFENDERS).....
WHAT WORKS IN THE COMMISSION AND AVOIDING DETECTION OF.....
WHAT WORKS IN....(ANYTHING IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN GENERAL)
THE IMPLICATIONS.....(OF SOME FACTOR) AS AN EXPLANATION FOR.....
THE PHENOMENON OF.....(SOMETHING).....AND ITS EXPLANATION

    Page Numbering: Make sure pages are numbered properly, but leave numbering off the title and abstract pages. Start numbering with the first page of text as 1 (and numbered throughout in the upper right hand corner), and repeat the title of the manuscript on the first page of text (page 1).

    Margins and Typeface: Leave margins exactly 1 inch all around on each page. This usually results in printing no more than 27 lines per page. Use the same type font and type size throughout the paper. A Times New Roman font is recommended, set at no more or no less than 12 pt. (12 characters per inch).

    Title Page: This page should begin with the following centered information, placed about upper center: (a) the title, all in capital letters, followed by a double quadruple space; (b) the names of the author, with the first letter of each name capitalized, followed by a line showing the course, name of school, followed by lines showing the mailing address, phone number, or email addresses of the author (optional), followed by another double quadruple space, and a date line; and (c) an optional acknowledgement line, placed about bottom center, beginning with an asterisk (*). Here's a sample of content on a TITLE PAGE:

A COMPARISON OF FACTORS EXPLAINING [...]

John A. Student
JUS 301 Criminology
North Carolina Wesleyan College
jastudent@ncwc.edu

April 28, 2004

*Submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for JUS 301,
and the author would like to thank Writing Lab tutors for their assistance

Abstract: This page should repeat the manuscript title, placed about upper center. Then, there should be a paragraph that is NOT indented and does NOT exceed 100 words. The hardest part of this is probably going to be figuring out how to justify the text at both sides, left and right, in the abstract, and lining up the outline with a different justification (Yes, word processing skills are required). This paragraph should not only summarize the paper, but make sure it specifies the problem under investigation, the method used in the research (if appropriate), and the major findings. Here's a sample of content in an ABSTRACT, followed by a sample generic OUTLINE:

A COMPARISON OF FACTORS EXPLAINING [...]
The literature on factors explaining [...] consists largely of exploratory attempts to conceptualize and measure the various causative influences on such behavior, but none of these attempts have so far exhausted all the explanatory potential, especially when certain aspects of the behavior involving [...] are considered. After sorting out this literature from an evaluative perspective, and judging the relevant data, it is the purpose of this paper to analyze and discuss significant findings as well as provide an in-depth examination of where scholarly attention ought to be focused. It will be seen that the most fruitful theoretical direction was provided by Jackson (1985), but researchers and writers have failed to follow through on this development. This paper attempts to remedy that situation, and claims it is possible to identify some factors that are more potent and useful, than other factors, in explaining [...].
	I. What [...] Behavior Really Involves II. What Previous Writers have Thought III. Which Literature Seems Strongest IV. What Puzzles Have Been Left Unsolved V. How Does the Data Match Up with Old Ideas VI. Possible New Ideas and Concepts VII. Tentative Conclusions and Recommendations

    First Page of Manuscript: Number the first page of text as 1, preferably upper right. Then, after double spacing, repeat the title of the paper, all capitalized. Then, after double spacing, begin the first paragraph and all subsequent paragraphs with a 5-space indent. Be sure to follow double spacing throughout the paragraphs and between them consistently. Do NOT do more than the ordinary double spacing between paragraphs.

    Footnotes: Footnotes or endnotes are NOT generally used in research term papers. They are the kinds of things expected in take-home essays. But, if they are included, they should NEVER be used for citation purposes nor for drawing attention to a published work or personal communication. They should ONLY be used for substantive comments by the author. If you must use them, identify them in the text by consecutive superscript number, and group them together in an Appendix page entitled "Footnotes."

    Tables and Figures: Excessive (>4) use of tables, figures, or illustrations is discouraged, unless absolutely necessary or instructed otherwise. Also, get in the habit of editing or shortening any tables you use. Include only the relevant information, and always be sure to give credit where credit is due. If you have trouble placing any large table or figure neatly in the text, attach them as separate Appendix page (or file) at the end of the manuscript, or on a separate floppy disk. In such cases, designate the place where you would have put the table or figure in your text as:

Block Quotations in Text: Any quotation, quoted sentence, or quoted paragraph that is 3 full lines or longer must appear in a special paragraph all by itself with each line in the paragraph indented 5 spaces. Normally, you should cite the reference for any quote. Many undergraduate students have a bad habit of extensively using block quotes because they take up a lot of space, or they want the person cited to talk for themselves. You should give serious consideration to shortening the quote, and including it in a regular paragraph. Your instructors are interested in what you have to say, so your interpretation of the quote is more important than the quote itself.

Headings and Subheadings: The basic rule is Capitalize all headings and underline all subheadings. Subheadings can also be italicized, if you like, reserving underlines for third-level headings, if any. You may use bold print to emphasize all headings and subheadings, but make sure not to italicize any major heading. Use the following format as a guide:

MAIN HEADING (centered, capitalized)

First-level subheading (flushed left, italicized, with only the first letter of first word capitalized)

Second-level subheading. (indented, underlined, with your sentence immediately following the period)

Atkinson, R.C., & Shiffrin, R.M. (1991). The control of term memory. Scientific American, 225(2), 82-90.

Southwell, E.A., & Feldman, H. (eds.). (1989). Abnormal Psychology: Readings in Theory and Research. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.

Citations within a sentence take the form "Freud (1928) contended that...." with the year in parenthesis. Sentences not mentioning the author's name put the entire citation in parentheses: "...according to social learning theory (Bandura & Walters, 1962)". Each author's work cited in the report must be listed in the reference section, in alphabetical order. Without exception, the References at the end of the paper must contain ONLY the references cited inside the text of the paper. To add more would be creating a bibliography, not a list of references.

Court Cases (cite in text and include on your Reference Page as CASES CITED):

Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972)

Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985)

Citation styles for Internet publications are still evolving. Printed style manuals offer little guidance, and few even mention the World Wide Web. But that is no excuse for failing to credit your sources. For now, the best advice on how to cite Web documents is found on the Web itself (see below), and you will have to adapt the formats to fit your reference style. Like most references, a Web document should ideally have a title, an author, and a date, but things are not always so easy. Another difficulty is deciding where in the format to put the URL.

Peer review is the policy of having experts in the field examine a submitted article before accepting it for publication. The process ensures the article is sound and of high quality. Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory as well as Magazines for Libraries (both available in libraries) can help you decide how scholarly a publication is. When in doubt, ask a librarian.

There are generally three (3) types of publications, which you should distinguish as follows:

	Scholarly Journals	Trade Magazines	Popular Magazines
Overall Look and Layout	Plain cover and paper. Primarily print with few pictures. Tables, graphs and diagrams are often included. If there are ads, they are for books or conferences.	Cover often depicts industrial setting. Glossy paper. Pictures and illustrations in color. Ads are mostly trade related.	Eye-catching cover and glossy paper. Pictures and illustrations in color. Colorful ads for commercial products.
Audience	Scholars, researchers, practitioners.	Members of a specific business, industry or organization.	General public.
Authors	Experts in the field (ie faculty members, researchers). Authors named and institutional affiliations given.	Magazine staff members, contributing authors or freelance writers. Authors usually named.	Magazine staff members, journalists, freelance writers. Authors may be anonymous (ie articles are unsigned).
Editors	Editorial board of outside scholars (peer review)	Editors work for publisher.	Editors work for publisher.
Publishers	Often a scholarly or professional organization or a university press.	Often a trade organization.	Commercial, for profit.
Content	Research projects, methodology, literary criticism, and theory.	Industry trends, new products or techniques, and organizational news.	News, personalities and general interest articles.
Writing Style and Language	Uses terminology, jargon and language of the discipline covered. Assumes reader has similarly scholarly background.	Uses terminology and language of trade or industry covered.	Easy to read, simple language used. Aimed at the layperson.
References or Bibliographies	Articles include a bibliography, references, notes and/or works cited section	Articles may have short bibliographies.	Articles rarely include references.
Examples	Journal of Abnormal Psychology Psychology of Women Quarterly Studies in Romanticism	APA Monitor Advertising Age Chilton's Food Engineering	Newsweek Parents Magazine Psychology Today

MLA Style (Don't Use)	APA Style (Use)
Johnson (1967, p. 42) states that ...	Johnson (1967) stated that ...

SCHEDULE OF WHEN SECTIONS OF PAPER ARE DUE:
Part One	Third week (Sept. 13 Fall) (Jan 31 Spring)	Abstract, Outline, and Introduction	Aim of study, conceptual framework, statement of problem, thesis, hypotheses
Part Two	Sixth week (Oct. 4 Fall) (Feb 22 Spring)	Revised Introduction and New Literature Review	12-15 scholarly sources, relevance, significance, gaps
Part Three	Tenth week (Nov. 1 Fall) (Mar 21 Spring)	Revised Introduction, Revised Lit Review, and New Research Methodology	2-4 tables, design, strategy, methods, limitations, findings
Part Four	Thirteenth week (Nov. 22 Fall) (Apr 11 Spring)	Revised Intro, Revised Lit Review, Revised Research Meth, and New Discussion	Summary, conclusions, suggestions, policy implications