Two of the competencies you must develop in order to become an independent scholar include writing in a scholarly voice and tone and following an appropriate academic style. In your quest to become a scholarly writer, you must follow the rules meticulously detailed in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA). Initially, recalling each rule will be difficult, but over time it will become second nature. Knowing where to look to determine if the manuscript you are reading or writing is in accordance with APA standards is critically important. Following a standard writing format increases the probability of others being able to easily comprehend your manuscript.

As you develop your scholarly writing prose in this program and beyond, there are two things to keep in mind: Adhering to APA writing format is required for your Discussions and Assignments, and others will read your manuscripts for comprehension. Occasionally, new writers forget they have a scholarly audience who will read their papers. It is important that the writer understand the significance of placing him or herself in the position of the reader. To that end, you will assume the role of an Instructor and will review an anonymous college paper to provide APA feedback to a student writer. During this exercise, you will practice recognizing APA errors and locating within the APA textbook the appropriate APA rules and formatting solutions.

To prepare for this Discussion, do the following:

• Read and view the materials in your Learning Resources, including the Walden University academic guide pages on common reference list examples and using the Microsoft Word track changes feature. Review your APA manual for use in your assessment of the sample paper. Note: To assist you in your assessment, you may use any supplemental scholarly APA resources of your choosing.
• Assess Michael’s Writing Style Prose Paper to identify any APA writing errors, and use the track changes comment feature to propose corrections. As you make suggestions or corrections, be sure to include the source name and page number(s) so the author can locate the correction rule. For example, if you find text that reads, “This study will provide…” your comment may contain the following comment: “This is anthropomorphism. To correct it, please refer to the APA manual, 6th edition, pp. 68–69 for details.” Do this throughout the entire sample college paper