The APA guidelines were developed by the American Psychological Association as one of the possible forms of citation to indicate sources of information and protect one from cases of plagiarism. In order to conduct a study following the APA guidelines, the researcher must first identify and develop his/her topic. Second, it is necessary to look for background information using keywords to set the context for a future study. Third, catalogs can be used to find relevant book s and articles. When applying the APA citation style, one must print, save, or write down the author, title, location, publication date, and other required data regarding each source. When the information has been processed and properly organized, all the works used as a reference must be cited using the format (Gray & Malins, 2016). The information provided in in-text citations and reference lists depends on the type of the work since all the types should be cited differently, according to APA.
As far as particular points from the APA guidelines are concerned, I remember that the paper typically includes an abstract, introduction (without any heading), methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, and references. I can also recollect that page breaks in between the inner sections are not used, while the title page, abstract, references (as well as tables and figures if needed) should be on separate pages. The whole paper must be written in a 12-point font with one-inch margins and be double-spaced (Nieswiadomy & Bailey, 2017). However, I have forgotten the exact citation rules concerning different types of sources, which I had to check in the guidelines while doing this exercise. I also learned how to cite conference proceedings and dissertations.
I believe that the methodology section will be the greatest challenge for my paper on readmission as it is hard to select the appropriate method. Moreover, the lack of experience may result in crucial errors in the data collection procedure. I plan to address these challenges by starting from rather a small sample and clearly indicating the steps. Preliminary, in Week 1, I would look for academic articles and books on the topic.
Besides the points indicated for each section of a study, I believe that it is highly important to select a good general approach. Even if a peer review meets all the enumerated requirements, the whole experience may be useless for both parties involved in the process. To avoid this, first and foremost, the reviewer must strive to be willing to help. A good review has a positive tone to show that the author’s aim is to assist but not to criticize or humiliate. Second, it is crucial to be specific and explain all vague points in detail instead of simply stating that this or that section is a failure (Lee, Sugimoto, Zhang, & Cronin, 2013). The same rule is applicable to suggestions, which must be grounded in evidence. A peer reviewer should remember that it is not important to adhere to specific ideas – his/her major task is to assess whether the work is well-structured, supported by arguments, and presents a logical conclusion.
I used to have some experience with the peer review process. However, it did not have any particular requirements that I had to follow. That is why this review will be much more challenging for me since I will have to be more specific and objective in my evaluation.
I hope that the capstone project peer review experience will make me more attentive to details both in writing papers and in reviewing them. Furthermore, it is always useful to look at works of others to make it clearer for yourself what you can improve in your own projects. Finally, I hope that reviewing my peers, I will become more proficient in academic writing, including proper formatting and citation.
References
Gray, C., & Malins, J. (2016). Visualizing research: A guide to the research process in art and design. London, UK: Routledge.
Lee, C. J., Sugimoto, C. R., Zhang, G., & Cronin, B. (2013). Bias in peer review. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 64(1), 2-17.
Nieswiadomy, R. M., & Bailey, C. (2017). Foundations of nursing research. London, UK: Pearson.