Subject Guides: PSYCH 307: Writing within Psychology (For Instructors): Scientific Writing

Reading Scientific Writing

Students are often novices when it comes to reading and understanding scholarly research articles. The following resources help students build skills to engage in this task more effectively.

Reading Research Articles in the IMRAD Format
Julie Haupt, a Psych 307 instructor, describes the skills needed to understand and read research articles in psychology presented in the IMRAD format (with accompanying IMRAD powerpoint).

Slides: Reading Research Articles
These are the slides used in the preceding video that could be adapted for in-class use.

How to (seriously) read a scientific paper
This is an article in Science Magazine where graduate students and experts talk about how they read scientific papers.

Writing from the Perspective of a(n) ...

Students may benefit from watching these interviews with psychology professionals who talk about how they engage in academic writing and why it is important to their work.

School Psychologist
Dr. Terisa Gabrielsen speaks about the specialized requirements of writing in school psychology and how to be sensitive to audience in writing. (Length: 3:11)
Neuroscientist
Dr. Shawn Gale speaks about the specialized requirements of writing in the neuroscience field and how to take large amounts of data and make specialized, concise summaries. (Length: 4:28)
Clinical Psychologist
Dr. Jon Cox, a clinical psychologist, speaks about the specialized requirements of writing as a clinical psychologist and how to create effective clinical notes. He also gives advice to undergraduates in improving their writing skills to succeed in graduate school and tells how writing can be rewarding. (Length: 8:00)
Social Psychologist
Dr. Wendy Birmingham discusses the specialized requirements of writing in the area of social psychology and the importance of clear, precise writing. (Length: 7:22)
I/O Psychologist
Dr. Terry Seamons, a business consultant and psychologist, speaks about the specialized requirements of writing for industrial/organizational psychology and how report recommendations can have a significant impact on others’ careers. He also speaks about how taking writing seriously and engaging in developing writing skills is crucial. (Length: 9:04)

Getting your Writing Published

It is especially important for students who intend to enter a graduate program in psychology to understand how research becomes writing and writing becomes published articles. The following resources will give student insight into this process.

Publishing in Psychology
Dr. Mona Hopkins discusses the steps for publishing a professional research article. She includes detailed information about the process and helpful examples from her own impressive research and publishing record. (Length: 13:15) This video is not publicly available, but may be accessed if you contact the instructor over the online version of Psych 307.

Slides: Publishing a Professional Article
These are the slides used in the preceding video that could be adapted for in-class use.