PSYC 201W – WRITING THE INTRODUCTION: A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

Step 1: Choose which articles to include in your introduction

• must use at least 5 empirical articles; can add more if you feel information ismissing.

Step 2: Organize your article summaries by theme

• aim for 3-4 groups – each group will become one paragraph of yourintroduction

Step 3: Write your opening paragraph

• create interest – why should the reader care about yourtopic?
• introduce your topicbroadly
• introduce the main ideas of your groups ofarticles

Step 4: Write a paragraph about each of your groups of articles

1. thesis sentence: what is this paragraphabout?
2. summary of onearticle
3. transition to the nextarticle
4. summary of relatedarticle
5. transition to the nextarticle
6. summary of another relatedarticle
7. optional transition sentence to summarystatement
8. sentence summarizing outcomes of all articles mentioned inparagraph

• Insubsequentparagraphs,the#1thesissentenceshouldtransitionsmoothlyfromthe previousparagraph.
• Use APA format within-textcitations

Step 5: Concluding paragraph

•       State the main theme of reviewedliterature

• You are building on this body of knowledge by….? – What is the gap in the literature, and what will you do to fill thisgap?
• Brief description of yourmethod
• Give hypothesis/hypotheses and explainrationale

STEP 6: CHECK YOUR REFERENCING!

•       Are all articles properly cited within the text of yourintroduction?

• Have you included all articles in your reference list? You must include an APA-format reference list with the submission of yourintroduction!

Step 7: Set your introduction aside for at least a day, then come back and proofread it for writing style and APA format!

INTRODUCTION TEMPLATE

Carefully follow APA style when writing this section! You do not have to use this template word- for-word but be sure to follow its structure and include all information indicated.

• Type information into the Introduction section of your Research Report document in the order organized below, typically from least relevant to mostrelevant.
• Review your writing and consider (a) whether the paragraph groupings listed below still make sense and (b) whether you have explained how one article transitions to the next. Consider writing transitions that explain how one article is related to the nextarticle.
• Reorganize your writing ifnecessary.
• Do not include a list of articles below each paragraph in your final version – this part of the template is for your organizational purposes only. Rather, please use APA format citations appropriately placed within yourtext.
• Add the opening and closing paragraphs, and the additional transitions/details described belowand

you are done!

——————————————————————————————————————————-

Paper Title

Paragraph #1: Get the reader interested in your topic (for example, you could tell a story or quote an interesting statistic). Introduce the general topic of your experiment

(                                                                                                                                                         

                     ), but don’t describe the actual experiment until the final paragraph of your Introduction. Write your thesis statement: Previous research has investigated (topic) by considering the role of (theme of paragraph 2), (theme of paragraph 3), and (theme of paragraph4).

Paragraph #2: Thesis sentence for paragraph (identify the theme of the paragraph:

                     ). Sentence Summary. Transition Sentence. Sentence Summary. Transition Sentence. Sentence Summary. Transition Sentence. Sentence summarizing overall results of the research discussed in thisparagraph.

Article                                                                             

Article                                                                             

Article                                                                             

Paragraph #3: Transition/thesis sentence for paragraph (identify how the theme

                     of this paragraph follows or is related to the theme of the previous paragraph). Sentence Summary. Transition Sentence. Sentence Summary. Transition Sentence. Sentence Summary. Transition Sentence. Sentence summarizing overall results of the research discussed in thisparagraph.

Article                                                                             

Article                                                                             

Article                                                                             

Paragraph #4: Transition/thesis sentence for paragraph (identify how the theme

                        of this paragraph follows or is related to the theme of the previous paragraph). Sentence Summary. Transition Sentence. Sentence Summary. Transition Sentence. Sentence Summary. Transition Sentence. Sentence summarizing overall results of the research discussed in thisparagraph.

Article                                                                             

Article                                                                             

Article                                                                             

Paragraph #5: Previous research has found (primary conclusion of your literature review). I am

extending this researchby                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                        . In my experiment, participants (briefly describe method in past tense, but not in as much detailas

your project proposal). I hypothesized that (mention hypothesis(es) and explain the rationale foryour

hypothesis, including briefly mentioning the research you discussed already and how it relates toyour

hypotheses).

REMEMBER TO INCLUDE YOUR APA-FORMAT REFERENCE LIST ON A SEPARATE PAGE!!!