Structure of a Report and Peer Review

• Peer review

  peer review is the process by which psychological research papers, before publication, are subjected to independent scrutiny by other psychologists working in a similar field who consider the research in terms of its validity, significance and originality
• Process of peer review:

  • the work will be sent to at least 2 independent experts in that field for review
  • the reviewers will asses the validity, significance and originality of the work
  • the reviewer can accept the manuscript as it is, accept with revisions, suggests the author makes revisions and re-submits or reject without the possibility of re-submission
• Purpose of peer review:

  • prevents publication off irrelevant, inaccurate, fraudulent or plagiarised work
  • ensures quality and relevance of research (methodology and data analysis)
  • ensures accuracy of findings
  • to evaluate proposed designs when allocating research funding

  this maintains the credibility of psychology as a subject as it gains participants trust and integrity
• The structure of a journal:

  a scientific report contains the following sections;

  • title
  • abstract
  • introduction
  • method
  • results
  • discussion
  • references
  • appendix
• Title:

  • this should be clear, relevant and fully informative (includes the method, the area of research, who the researchers are and where they work)
• Abstract:

  features of an abstract;

  • the first section of a report
  • a brief summary of each section of the report (100-300 words maximum)
  • contains a summary of the aim, method, results and discussion

  purpose of an abstract;

  the aim of an abstract is to provide an overview of the whole investigation so a person can read this and see if it is relevant to them without having to read the whole report
• Introduction:

  features of an introduction;

  • this provides the background information on previous research (studies and theories)
  • it will include the alternate (directional or non-directional) and the null hypotheses

  purpose of an introduction;

  it justifies the current research and tells us how it builds on previous knowledge
• Method:

  the purpose of the method;

  • this should be written concisely but giving enough detail to make replication of the study possible (standardisation)
• Method:

  design;

  • state the choice of research method you are going to use (experiment, correlation, observation)
  • state the choice of experimental design (independent measures, repeated measures, matched pairs)
  • identify the variables (IV, DV, extraneous)
  • ethical considerations
• Method:

  participants;

  • target population (the population being studied) - age gender etc
  • sampling method used
  • actual sample (number of participants used and where they are from)
  • how participants were allocated to conditions (random allocation)
• Method:

  materials;

  • describe the stimulus material and any other apparatus which is going to be used in the study
  • this can be done as a list of bullet points
• Method:

  procedure;

  • describe step by step what the participants will do during the study. This needs to be very precise in order to make replication possible (where the participants are going to perform the task, how they are going to perform the task, timing)
  • include standardised instructions and debriefing
• Results:

  result table;

  • the results are often presented in a table
• Results:

  graphs;

  • graphs are sometimes used to display findings
• Results:

  descriptive statistics;

  • this covers the measures of central tendency (mean, mode and median) and measures of dispersion (range and standard deviation)
• Results:

  inferential statistics;

  • this will state which statistical test was used (and why) and the result of the statistical test(s)
• Discussion:

  • explanation of findings (including reference to statistical tests and probability)
  • relationship to background information
  • limitations and improvements
  • implications/applications and suggestions for future research
• Implications

  what psychological research has helped us to understand in the real world
• Applications

  what has psychological research helped us change in the real world
• References:

  • all the cited evidence in the report should be included in a conventional alphabetical list (surname, initial (year) title of the book underlined or in italics, place of publication, publisher)

  purpose of referencing;

  • to avoid plagiarism
  • to track down the sources used
  • to give credit to other researchers
• Appendices:

  • includes any additional information, such as statistical calculations, raw data, standardised instructions, consent forms and debrief
  • each appendix should have a full title and be referred to somewhere in the main body of the report