This has in large measure been the message that I give my students. I'm not an APA maniac; copy editors are (or should be). I would rather my students spend their energy on writing good papers, and as long as they do the important things (references need to be accurate, citations need to match references, information is in the right places, like that), I'm not going to spend a lot of my time on APA format. I stress that there's a reason we do things the way we do (so that we can find things, so that we give proper attribution, etc.), but more important to me is that they learn to use good thinking and the literature to justify their hypotheses, they learn how a paper is put together, and that they understand why these things are important: reading well-written and well-organized papers is hard enough work.
m PS True story: in grad school we helped my advisor review a submission to Psych Science. It was so (to borrow Scott's term) egregiously bad that in his (rejection) letter to the authors, Bill Estes wrote, "APS is not in the business of teaching APA format." Ouch. -- Marc Carter, PhD Associate Professor of Psychology Chair, Department of Behavioral and Health Sciences College of Arts & Sciences Baker University -- > -----Original Message----- > From: Lilienfeld, Scott O [mailto:slil...@emory.edu] > Sent: Monday, January 07, 2013 8:14 PM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: [tips] 4 Copy Editors Killed In Ongoing AP Style, Chicago > Manual Gang Violence | The Onion - America's Finest News Source > > I'm currently Associate Editor for an APA journal (Journal of Abnormal > Psychology), and I probably shouldn't say this, but.... > > The minutae of APA style just aren't considered all that important when > evaluating manuscripts, as copy-editors will take care of most of the > details. Unless APA style violations in manuscripts are pretty > egregious, reviewers rarely make a big deal about them. Have served on > the editorial boards of three other APA journals, my impressions there > haven't been much different. > > ....Scott > > > ________________________________________ > From: Christopher Green [chri...@yorku.ca] > Sent: Monday, January 07, 2013 5:39 PM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: [tips] 4 Copy Editors Killed In Ongoing AP Style, Chicago > Manual Gang Violence | The Onion - America's Finest News Source > > I am perennially fascinated/horrified by the interest questions > pertaining to APA style seem to generate. They just seem to me to be of > about the same level of scholarly import as are, say, fights over > whether the toilet paper should go over or under the roll. > > Sure, students need to be familiar with stylistic issues, but the > details of any stylistic prescription rank so far below, well, just > about everything else, from an intellectual perspective... The level of > drill and perfection required by some astonishes me. (Full disclosure: > I was once an APA style maven, but then I started writing for journals > that required other styles, and I gradually realized what a wasteful > and arbitrary matter most of it is.) > > I think this Onion piece puts things nicely in perspective (and notice > that APA isn't even a "player"). > > http://www.theonion.com/articles/4-copy-editors-killed-in-ongoing-ap- > style-chicago,30806/ > > Discussion? Retribution? > > Chris > ----- > Christopher D. Green > Department of Psychology > York University > Toronto, ON M6C 1G4 > Canada > > chri...@yorku.ca > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: slil...@emory.edu. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13509.d0999cebc8f4ed4eb54d5317367e9b2 > f&n=T&l=tips&o=22742 > or send a blank email to leave-22742- > 13509.d0999cebc8f4ed4eb54d5317367e9...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > ________________________________ > > This e-mail message (including any attachments) is for the sole use of > the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged > information. If the reader of this message is not the intended > recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution > or copying of this message (including any attachments) is strictly > prohibited. > > If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender > by reply e-mail message and destroy all copies of the original message > (including attachments). > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: marc.car...@bakeru.edu. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13029.76c7c563b32ad9d8d09c72a2d17c90e > 1&n=T&l=tips&o=22746 > or send a blank email to leave-22746- > 13029.76c7c563b32ad9d8d09c72a2d17c9...@fsulist.frostburg.edu The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto ("e-mail") is sent by Baker University ("BU") and is intended to be confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity named above. The information may be protected by federal and state privacy and disclosures acts or other legal rules. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are notified that retention, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error please immediately notify Baker University by email reply and immediately and permanently delete this e-mail message and any attachments thereto. Thank you. --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=22759 or send a blank email to leave-22759-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
