These tips will help you improve your academic writing and posting, and avoid the most common mistakes made in my online courses since 2002.

Table of Contents

APA Citation
Bold and Italics
Brackets and Parentheses
Direct Quotes and Signal Phrases
Ellipsis Dots
End Quotation Mark
Quotation Marks and Indented Quotes
Paraphrasing
Pasting from Word Processing Programs
Plagiarism
Repeating Questions or Comments
Signing Off on Your Posts and Addressing Others
Spell‑Check and Word Count
Titles
Wikipedia

1. APA Citation

Because this is a psychology course, you must use correct American Psychological Association (APA) citations and follow APA writing style. If you are new to citation in general and/or APA style in particular, watch the brief video tutorials in this module.

For a more complete guide, see the page titled APA Citation and Style in this Course Resources module.

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2. Bold and Italics

Use bold for your own titles of your work and for the APA heading References. Both the titles and the heading References should be centered. Otherwise, avoid bold in formal academic writing.

Italics are used sparingly in formal writing and never to indicate direct quotes.

You may use italics correctly, for example:

Instead of underlining the title of a standalone work: Dicey’s Song by Voigt is a novel and a TV movie.
To emphasize a word, a letter as a letter, or a foreign word/phrase: I didn’t mean that you are like them. I was referring to the letter a. I love you, mon cherie.

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3. Brackets and Parentheses

Brackets (square brackets) allow you to add words to a quotation for clarity, indicate changes, correct obvious typos, or add missing information. In the following direct quote from Kail, dates and emphasis are noted using brackets:

“According to Piaget [1896–1980], children come to understand the world by using schemes [emphasis in the original], psychological structures that organize experience.” (Kail, 2004, p. 174)

See APA guidance on Changes in Quotations.

Parentheses (curved brackets) enclose dates, supplementary information, explanations, or asides added to a sentence that is otherwise complete.

For parentheses inside parentheses, nest them:

Original: (While research indicates otherwise, I continue to believe that my position is correct.)

Nested: (While research indicates otherwise, I continue to believe (despite some misgivings) that my position is correct.)

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4. Direct Quotes and Signal Phrases

In your weekly case study reports, include direct quotations from the week’s required references. Short quotes (under 40 words) appear in quotation marks. Long quotes (40+ words) use an indented block format without quotation marks. Balance quotations with your own voice.

Often, introduce a quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author’s last name and the publication year in parentheses.

Example (signal phrase + short quote):

According to Kail (2007), “Attachment typically first develops between infants and their mothers because mothers are usually the primary caregivers of American infants” (p. 320).

Example (blended quote):

Kail (2007) said that “mothers are usually the primary caregivers of American infants” (p. 320).

Incorrect (tense/formatting):
Eggen and Kauchak (2004) write that “Children learn language by practicing in their day‑to‑day interactions with adults and peers” (p. 65).

Correct (past tense + bracketed lowercase):
Eggen and Kauchak (2004) wrote that “[c]hildren learn language by practicing in their day‑to‑day interactions with adults and peers” (p. 65).

For more on signal phrases, see: Signal Phrases (IUP Writing Center). For changing quotations, see: APA Changes in Quotations.

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5. Ellipsis Dots

Use ellipsis dots to indicate omitted words within a quotation—never at the beginning or end. If a quotation begins mid‑sentence, use brackets to change the first letter to uppercase if necessary.

Incorrect:
“...sexist prejudices can evoke both expectedly negative images as well as arguably benign or even revered ones” (Yoder, 2002, p. 145).

Correct:
“[S]exist prejudices can evoke both expectedly negative images as well as arguably benign or even revered ones” (Yoder, 2002, p. 145).

When fully integrating the quote into your sentence (no preceding comma), only bracket a changed letter if needed; otherwise quote as is:

A religious imperative on female virginity before marriage is one example of how “sexist prejudices can evoke both expectedly negative images as well as arguably benign or even revered ones” (Yoder, 2002, p. 145).

See: APA Style Blog: Quotation Marks and Ellipses.

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6. End Quotation Mark

In American English, place the closing quotation mark after a comma or period.

Incorrect: Many people appear to be “typical”.
Correct: Many people appear to be “typical.”

Place the closing quotation mark before a dash, semicolon, or colon. If a question mark is part of the quoted material, keep it inside; if it applies to the whole sentence, place it outside.

Example: Many people appear to be “typical”; that is, they show no signs of being “exceptional” or “atypical.”

See: Punctuating Around Quotation Marks (APA Style Blog). For inclusive language guidance, see: Bias‑Free Language.

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7. Quotation Marks and Indented Quotes

Use double quotation marks for speech, direct quotations, or words in a special sense.

Example (short quote):

“Opposite‑sex couples have the right to marry. Is the denial of this right to same‑sex couples a violation of the equal protection of the law?” (Statsky, 2004, p. 47)

For quoted material inside a quotation, switch to single quotation marks:

“In the federal constitution, section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that ‘[n]o State shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.’” (Statsky, 2004, p. 47)

For long quotations (40+ words), use a block quote (indented) with no quotation marks. In Canvas, use the Increase indent tool in the Rich Content Editor.

This example demonstrates a block quote. Because some introductory phrases will lead naturally into the block quote, you might choose to begin the block quote with a lowercase letter. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. (Organa, 2013, p. 234)

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8. Paraphrasing

When paraphrasing someone else’s ideas, include the author’s last name and the year of publication in parentheses, even though you are not quoting directly.

Source quote: “Opposite‑sex couples have the right to marry. Is the denial of this right to same‑sex couples a violation of the equal protection of the law?”

Paraphrase: Like others during this time period, one legal scholar has asked if it is a violation of equal protection to deny same‑sex couples the right to marry (Statsky, 2004).

Page numbers are not required for paraphrases but are recommended, especially for longer works: (Statsky, 2004, p. 47).

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9. Pasting from Word Processing Programs

If you draft in Word, Pages, Google Docs, or OneDrive, you may encounter formatting problems when pasting into Canvas due to hidden code from word processors.

Always review your post immediately after saving—some issues only appear after posting.
Prevent problems: Save as Plain Text first, paste into Canvas, then format using the Rich Content Editor (RCE).
Editing a problem post: Use the three‑dot menu (desktop) or the app menu to choose Edit.
Using AI to clean HTML: Copy your post’s HTML, paste it into an AI tool (e.g., Copilot or ChatGPT), ask it to “clean excess HTML for Canvas,” then paste the cleaned HTML back and save. Fine‑tune with the RCE.
Manual fixes: Use the RCE tools. If issues persist, highlight the problem area and select Clear formatting.
If still broken: Copy the problematic text into Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac) to strip hidden code, then paste back into Canvas and reformat.
Need help? Contact Canvas Support via the Help menu (24/7 phone or chat).

You may lose points if formatting issues go uncorrected.

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10. Plagiarism

Whether from print, media, or online sources, if you use someone else’s words, ideas, organization, or media, you must quote and/or credit correctly. Without quotation marks, a direct quote will be mistaken for a paraphrase—even if you include an in‑text citation.

If you suspect your work has been misused by someone else, contact me with your original and the suspected material.

Plagiarism is a serious academic offense. Review the APA Style Blog’s guidance, such as Principles of Good Writing: Avoiding Plagiarism (Harris Cooper).

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11. Repeating Questions or Comments

Provide context in your replies so readers do not need to navigate back to earlier posts. Repeat or paraphrase the question/comment you are answering before your response.

Example lead‑in:

Michelle, you asked: “Do you think correcting a child about their ideas or feelings causes any confusion or anger in the child? And if it does, what would be a better approach to limit the confusion or anger?”

Then begin a new paragraph with your response. If the quoted question is long—especially if it already contains quotations—format it as an indented block (see Section 7).

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12. Signing Off on Your Posts and Addressing Others

End your posts with your preferred first name so others know how to address you in replies. When responding to classmates, begin by addressing them by first name.

This is required course etiquette that keeps discussions friendly and easy to navigate.

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13. Spell‑Check and Word Count

Standards for academic posting are higher than for email or social media. Spell‑check all postings.

Canvas underlines misspelled words with red dots; correction options depend on your browser.
Firefox, Chrome, Safari: Use Ctrl + right‑click (or two‑finger click on Mac trackpads) to see spelling options.
You can draft in a word processor to use its spell‑check before pasting into Canvas.
Canvas shows a live Word Count below the text box when composing a post—use it to verify minimum word requirements.

Software Access: CCV students can access Microsoft Office, including Word: Educational Software (CCV Support). Free spell‑check tools are also available online (search for “free spell‑check” or “downloadable free spell‑check”).

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14. Titles

Each week, provide an original, descriptive title for both your personal reflection and your case study report. Make your title count—it is your reader’s first impression.

Poor: Robert’s Week Three Report
Better: How I Lost Their Marbles and My Mind

Capitalize major words in titles of works (articles, books, magazines, songs, albums, TV shows, plays, etc.). Do not capitalize short prepositions or articles unless they are the first word.

For capitalization rules, see APA’s “Do I capitalize this word?” or use a capitalization checker and choose the APA tab: Capitalize My Title.

Formatting: Your own original titles stand alone, are centered and bolded, and are not followed by punctuation. For subtitles, use a colon, e.g., How I Lost Their Marbles and My Mind: Playing Games.

Reminder: Treat the heading References like a title—bold and center it (no colon).

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15. Wikipedia

Wikipedia is useful for quick background information, but it is not considered a valid academic source because anyone can edit it. Do not cite Wikipedia in your academic work.

You may, however, use Wikipedia to locate valid sources by reviewing the references at the end of articles.

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