To write a summary paper, you will need to find an appropriate scientific
journal article. You can find psychology journals in the periodical section of

the DePaul Library. You can also retrieve many journal articles from
the library’s website. While some scientific articles can be found through a

standard search engine (Google, Bing, etc.), it is recommended that you
use the DePaul Library search tool. On the library web site you can go to

“databases” and select APA PsycArticles. Select “Empirical Study” under
Methodology and hit Search. (You can narrow it down more by entering a
keyword before hitting Search, and by limiting the publication year and

limiting to Scholarly Journals.) The Psychology entry under “Research

Guides” on the library website is also very

helpful: https://libguides.depaul.edu/psychology

Journal Article Requirements

o The article must be from a scientific journal, such as the Journal of
Experimental Psychology: General or Psychological Science (just to

mention two – there are many others). It can not be from a newspaper
or magazine, such as Psychology Today or Time. The two journals

Psychological Reports and Perceptual and Motor Skills are also not
acceptable sources, although empirical research reports from most
other journals are fine. Scientific American articles are acceptable, but

only if they are about research that is related to psychology. If you

have any question about whether a source is a scientific journal, email

the Coordinator and verify that your source is acceptable before you
write the paper. Here are some good places to find reputable journals:

o https://improvingpsych.org/collabra-psychology
o https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals

o https://www.psychonomic.org/page/journals
o The article must be about research in or related to psychology. In other

words, it must report the results of an empirical study, or summarize

the findings from several studies. It must have data.

o The article must be from a current journal issue. This means that the
publication date must be from the current calendar year. If, for

example, today’s date is Jan. 30, 2024, you must use an article
published in 2024. ARTICLES NOT FROM THE CURRENT CALENDAR

YEAR WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED, even for winter quarter.

Paper Requirements

Please keep in mind that you will not receive credit for a paper that does
not meet the requirements outlined below. To help you a checklist and an
example paper are provided below as a guide.

o Deadline: Please turn your papers in to the Psychology Experiment
System Coordinators electronically by emailing them

to [email protected]. Be sure to include the phrase,
“Alternative Paper Option” in the subject line. You must turn in all

papers by the last scheduled class meeting (before Final Exam week),

or by the date stated in the syllabus for your class, if the instructor has
set an earlier deadline.

o Rejected papers: If you submit a paper that does not follow the

guidelines you will not receive credit. In general you will not be able to

revise and resubmit rejected papers. Papers submitted less than a
week before the deadline are unlikely to be evaluated in time for you
to submit a replacement paper if they are rejected.

o Citations: All papers must include APA-style citations and a DOI or URL

linking to the article. If you are unsure of what this entails, there are

numerous resources available online and within the Psychology
department to assist you. An easy way to get the formatting right for
the list of sources in your References section is to look the article up in

Google Scholar (scholar.google.com), click the quotation mark, and
copy the APA formatted entry.

o No plagiarism, including recycling of papers, cutting and pasting of
text, or verbatim use of phrases from the article. The optional papers

are a class assignment, subject to the same rules of academic integrity

as any other course work. Plagiarism, turning in the same paper twice

or for two different classes, or other violations of academic integrity
will be reported to your instructor and the university.

o No direct quotations of more than three words. Everything must be put
into your own words.

o Paper Content – see the checklist/template below for details.

Paper Content Checklist/Template
You may cut and paste this template to format your papers. Please use the
headings as listed in this template:

o TITLE PAGE (1 Page)

Intro Psych Alternate Research Credit Paper

Insert Name Here
List your name as it appears on the course roster.

Insert Student ID Here

Seven Digit DePaul Student ID No.

Insert Name of Instructor Here
If you have more than one course, only list the name of the instructor for
the course listed below.

Insert Course and Section Number

This is the course for which the credit will be assigned. If you are in more
than one course then only list the course for which credit is to be assigned.

Insert Reference Information for The Article Here
Last name of Author, Initials. (Date of Publication). Title of Article. Title of

Journal , Volume, Page Numbers. DOI (or URL if no DOI is available. The

DOI or URL must be a valid link to the article).

o SUMMARY AND COMMENT (1-2 Pages; 12-point font; double-spaced; 1-
inch margins)

Purpose of Study
What were the authors studying and why? What did they expect to find

(i.e., what were the hypotheses?)?

Methodology
Review the basic methods. How did they measure what they were
studying? What type of population (abused kids, adults with a disease,

college students, rats, etc.) were they studying?

Results & Discussion
What did the researcher(s) find? Did the results support or fail to support
the authors’ hypotheses? What is the meaning of the results?

Reflection

What are your personal thoughts about this study? Does the study relate to
your personal life, anything that you have learned in your studies or

anything that you have read in the media? Is there anything missing? What
questions does this study raise in your mind? If you have other reflections,
feel free to include those, as well.