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Tips
for Authors
In general, follow the
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association,
5th edition guidelines.
The following items include APA style errors commonly made by
authors as well as elements of JMFT
style that differ from APA. For additional information, see
the “Instructions for Authors” page on this web site.
Submission of
Manuscripts
Manuscripts submitted for publication in JMFT should
preferably be sent electronically as an e-mail attachment in
rich text format (rtf).
Author Notes
JMFT breaks from APA practice by listing authors’ current
institutional affiliation beneath each author’s name on the
title page, and listing the affiliation at the time the
research was conducted in a separate paragraph within the
author’s note, if it differs from the current affiliation.
Quotations
Quotations with fewer than 40 words should be set off by
double quotation marks within the paragraph. The quoted
material must be cited by author, year, and page number(s).
Quoted material of 40 or more words should be
set in a block indented (5 spaces left and right) paragraph
separate from the surrounding text. Do not use quotation marks
for block quotes, except to indicate dialogue or a quote
within the quote (set off with double quotation marks). The
paragraph introducing the quoted material should contain a
sentence providing a citation for the author and year. End the
block quote with a period, then provide the page numbers for
the quotation in parentheses, with no period afterward.
Direct quotations are discouraged in
quantitative articles. Summarizing and paraphrasing material
is more consistent with APA style.
Qualitative articles frequently contain
numerous quotes from participants. Such quotes should be
separated from the main text with block indentation (even for
quotes under 40 words). Where multiple quotes are alternated
with text, authors should clearly indicate whether the text
following a quote constitutes a new paragraph.
Punctuation and Abbreviations
Special terms. Double quotation
marks may be used to indicate a term used in an ironic sense,
as slang, or as an invented expression. In such cases, use
quotation marks only on the first usage. Terms used as
linguistic examples should be italicized, for example, “…the
meaning of satisfactory defined as….”
Ampersand.
In addition, the use of ampersands (&) should be limited to
parenthetical material, as in citations, or to indicate a
series of authors in a reference. In other instances, spell
out and.
Hyphenation.
Compound words
and words with prefixes are not hyphenated unless they would
otherwise be misread. Terms for ethnic identification are also
not hyphenated: African American, European American.
Abbreviations.
In general, terms should be spelled out on first use, with
their abbreviation enclosed in parentheses. Abbreviations
should not be used to begin a sentence; in such cases, the
term should be spelled out. Certain common terms may be
abbreviated on first use, including IQ, REM, ESP, AIDS, HIV,
ANOVA, and MANOVA. Latin abbreviations (e.g., i.e., etc., vs.)
should only appear in parenthetical material. Outside
parentheses, the terms should be translated or spelled out
(for example rather than e.g., versus rather than vs.). In
descriptions of experimental procedures, methods, or results,
abbreviations for units of measurement may be used (without
periods) when accompanied by numerical values. JMFT
differs from APA style in that units of measure in narrative
text, as in the introduction, discussion, or conclusion
sections, should be spelled out (years, inches, minutes, and
so on).
Statistics.
Common statistical symbols (M, SD, F,
t, p, and so on) may be used in tables and
parenthetical information, or in inferential statistics, and
should be italicized. In narrative text, statistical terms
should be spelled out (“Cronbach’s alpha for the subscale was
.87”).
Writing Style
Common mistakes in writing style include inconsistent verb
tense, changes in key terminology, and incorrect use of
pronouns. Verb tense should remain as consistent as possible
within an article, using the past tense (the author said) or
past perfect tense (past studies have shown) for the
literature review and description of procedures that have
already been performed, as well as for the results section.
Use present tense in the discussion and conclusion sections so
as to invite readers to consider the study’s implications.
Changes in key terminology can confuse readers (switching from
“Hispanic” to “Latino” when referring to the same population,
or adolescents/teenagers, mothers/moms, and so on). Pronouns
should agree with their referents, as in “When someone
is asked for his or her opinion” (singular agreement)
rather than “When someone is asked for their
opinion” (singular/plural disagreement).
Another common error is imprecise usage of
subordinate conjunctions (while, since, although, because).
While and since should refer to the passage of
time. When that is not the case, substitute although,
whereas, but, or and for while, and because
for since.
In addition, it is sometimes difficult for
authors to refer to themselves in a way that is consistent and
understandable to readers. Use of the first person (I, we) is
discouraged unless doing otherwise would create awkward
sentence construction. Where multiple authors are involved,
each should identify him or her self with initials in
parentheses upon the first reference to self. Most
importantly, authors should take care to be consistent in
their use of terms throughout the article.
Numbers
Guidelines for the use of numerals or written
expression of numbers are extensive. Authors should refer to
the APA publication manual, 5th edition, for
complete details. In brief, where numbers are presented in
narrative, numbers below 10 are usually spelled out, and
numbers above 10 indicated with Arabic numerals, with the
exception of numbers used to represent specific units that are
being compared to one another (e.g., “3 of the 18
participants,” “a score of 5 versus a score of 12”). Numbers
for dates, ages, sample sizes, number of participants, or
statistical or mathematical functions should be indicated with
numerals. Numbers beginning a sentence should always be
spelled out.
References
References should match citations in the text, and should not
include additional sources, as in a bibliography. Book,
chapter, and article titles should only have the first word,
any proper nouns, and the first word following a colon
capitalized. The title of a journal should have every major
word capitalized. Titles of books and journals are italicized.
Titles of journal articles or book chapters are not.
Include all necessary information in references a reader might
need to locate the source. Year of publication is always
included, and for articles, the volume and page numbers are
also included. The issue number should only be included for
journals that start page numbers at page 1 for every issue,
not for journals that have continuous page numbers from one
issue to the next. Chapters from books should include the full
book reference and the page numbers for the chapter.
For electronically retrieved documents, presentations,
monographs, and so on, refer to the APA publication manual, 5th
edition.
Footnotes or Endnotes
Footnotes or endnotes should be indicated in text by a
superscript numeral. Type the notes on a separate page, with
the heading NOTES in all caps. For each entry, indent 5
spaces, insert a superscripted numeral corresponding to the
one in text, then type the note.
HELPFUL RESOURCES FOR AUTHORS
American Psychological Association (2001).
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association
(5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Brians, P. (n.d.).Common errors in English. Pullman,
WA: Washington State University. Retrieved March 25, 2005,
from
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/
Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (n.d.). APA guide to
preparing manuscripts for journal publication.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Retrieved March 22, 2005, from
http://www.apa.org/journals/authors/guide.html
Dewey, R. A. (2004). APA research style crib sheet.
Retrieved September 8, 2004, from
http://www.psywww.com/resource/APA Research Style Crib
Sheet.htm
Plonsky, M. (2004). Psychology with style: A hypertext
writing guide (for the 5th edition of the APA Manual;
4/14/2004 - Version 5.011). Stevens Point: University of
Wisconsin - Stevens Point. Retrieved March 22, 2005, from
http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/apa4b.htm
Purdue University Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Using
American Psychological Association (APA) format (Updated
to 5th Edition). Retrieved March 22, 2005, from
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_apa.html
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