This introduction will hit the 250-word mark, going over a little is fine. It may include new sources (citations and references) that you need to justify any claims you make in your introduction. In other words, it is likely that this paper will, at the end of the day, have more than three sources (more than the three you reviewed for your Unit 3 assignment), but these resources are used differently. You don’t review them in detail, they are just brought in to justify any other claims you make throughout the paper. The Example Paper will demonstrate this.
From this point forward, you’ll see a lot of references to APA 7 Format. Click for information on general APA document formatting, citing and referencing in APA format, and serration (subject headings).
Step 4: Start the body of your work by creating a subject heading (follow APA 7 guidelines for formatting) that describes the topic of the first article you are reviewing. So, for example, in our Example Paper, the subject is “Structural Brain Changes in Schizophrenia on MRI.” Notice that this subject heading is not the title of the article. Rather, it is a descriptive phrase that characterizes it.
Then, under that subject heading, bring over (via copy and paste) your annotation for your first article. You will want to segue into this summary, expand your thinking in your “how this ties into my thesis” section, and segue to the next article, but you’ll find that most of your work is done here. Don’t rest on that, though, make sure your summary here reads like a part of a larger work and not a stand-alone annotation. But, in general, you’ll find that you’ve already done most of the work/thinking here. You are just bookending it with segues, fleshing it out some, and expanding your thesis tie-in thoughts a bit. This may involve you bringing in other sources to justify any additional points you make.
Remember to cite your sources in this section in APA 7 format. The Example Paper will guide you here.
Step 5: Repeat Step 4 but with a new subject heading (APA 7 Format) for your second article. Do the same thing here as you did above (segue in and out, make sure things flow like in a cohesive paper vs. “just a stand-alone summary,” and flesh out your critical thinking/thesis tie-in section).
Step 6: Another repeat of Step 4, but with a new subject heading (APA 7 Format) for your third article. Do the same thing with this on as you did above (segue in and out, make sure things flow like in a cohesive paper vs. “just a stand-alone summary”, and flesh out your critical thinking/thesis tie-in section). It is likely that you reserved your article that challenges your thesis for this third section. Make sure to discuss this angle and how it fits into your thinking on the topic as this is a required part of this assignment (and of your learning – here, we are practicing mindful awareness of confirmation bias and showing our reader we have made an effort to consider things from all angles).
Step 7: Read your introduction and body in preparation for composing a compelling conclusion. The conclusion does the job of reviewing the take home messages, reinforcing the importance of the topic as well as your thesis statement, and offering suggestions or thoughts about where things are trending and where researchers should focus in the future. The conclusion should hit the 250-word mark. Going over a little is fine. To help guide you, here are some questions the conclusion should answer (below). Remember, do not literally answer these question-and-answer style in your conclusion, but just to say that when someone reads this section of your work, they should have answers to these questions:
Based on your review, what are the main findings? Tie this into your thesis statement somehow.
What gaps or limitations still exist in the literature as it pertains specifically to this topic?
What recommendations can be made for future research in this area?
What is the overall significance of this topic? (A packs-a-punch ending here!)
Also remember that you may be bringing in additional sources to justify any claims you make in your conclusion. This is in addition to the three references you are reviewing in detail for this paper (although you probably aren’t going into a ton of detail with these new sources – the are just here to justify any specific point or statistic you are bringing into your conclusion).
Step 8: On the last page (on its own page, per APA format), create your reference section. Make sure to follow APA 7 formatting guidelines. The Example Paper will guide you here. Remember, you will likely have more than three references; you’ll also have some sources that you use to justify any claims you make throughout the introduction, conclusion, or body that you needed. The minimum number of references required for this paper has been set to 5 – three of them you already have.
Step 9: Finishing up! Create a title page in APA 7 format. Some APA formatting templates often have an abstract included. You are not required to include an abstract for this assignment. So, you can skip this step. APA 7 formatting does include page numbers, so you will want to add these. No running head is required.
Step 10: Proofread your work several times (to yourself and out loud). Have a friend of family member read it with a fresh pair of eyes, checking for grammatical/mechanical errors. Or, you can have your favorite dictation software read it to you (sometimes listening to a work helps us identify things that could be said more clearly). Make any changes and tah-dah! You are finished
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|