LibGuides: Psychology: PSYC1200 Essay Assessment

Hello PSYC1200 Students, Welcome to the Help Guide!

This guide provides the library resources to support your Essay assignment.

Before you start, it is strongly recommended that you:

read the Assessment Instructions carefully in your Canvas course site
read the Marking Rubric for the assignment in your Canvas course site
read the How to write your essay checklist in your Canvas course site

1. Get Started: Understand Your Topic and Research Questions

Before you start looking for information for your assignment, it is important to analyse your topic and questions. Think about:

What the question means and how you should go about answering it.
How much information do you need?
What kind of information have you been asked to use?
Are there any limiters such as time or geographic locations?

Identifying key concepts or keywords in your assignment will help you to locate relevant information more effectively. Also think about similar concepts and alternative terms eg Ethics OR code of conduct, aboriginal OR indigenous.

These key concepts and keywords will form the basis of your search strategy.

Watch the video below on topic analysis. What are your key concepts and keywords?

2. Know the Search Tips and Library Search

Once you have identified the keywords included in your assignment question, you can think about how to use these keywords to conduct your search.

Using appropriate search techniques such as Boolean, phrase searching, and truncation can make your search more effective.

Watch the video below and try the Library Search for books and articles

3. Find Journal Articles Using Databases

4. Find Government or Organisational Documents by Google Advanced Search

Government and professional organisations' publications such as legal material, government policies, reports, statistics, professional standards and code of conducts may only be available on the internet. The simplest way to find such material is by Google advanced search.

Watch the following video on Google advanced search and try a search on “code of conduct” AND psycholog*. Do you know how and why to limit the results by .gov.au?

David L. Rice Library: How to Use Google Advanced Search

5. Use Snowball Search with Google Scholar

Snowball search is using a key document on your topic as a starting point to find more other relevant publications by tracking down the citations.

Looking at the bibliography on the document to find more titles published on the same topic
Using databases or Google scholar to find other article citing this document.

Watch the video below and try a snowball search in Google Scholar using the doi 10.1037/a0037081

Christopher Neuhaus: Snowball Forward - Finding Related Articles

6. Evaluate Your Sources Using TRAAP

Locating sources appropriate for university assignments takes time and critical evaluation.
Understanding how to evaluate information should make it easier for you to choose sources for your assessments.

Watch the following video on evaluating your sources with the TRAAP method.

For more details see our Resource Evaluation Tool

7. Use the APA 7th Referencing Style

This assignment is a formal piece of writing that should adhere to APA guidelines.
The APA referencing style is an author-date style. It uses short in-text citations, with full details in the reference list.
The reference list should be located at the end of your essay arranged in alphabetical order with hanging indent
"To cite a specific section of an ethics code, create a reference to the full code and then indicate the specific section in the in-text citation. Use the language of the code to refer to sections (e.g., sections, provisions, standards)." From the APA style blog Ethics Code References
Visit the Library Guide to APA style for more details.
Watch the video by ALS and see the example reference list in APA 7th style

References

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. https://www.apa.org/ethics/code

Australian Psychological Society. (2020). APS ethical guidelines for reporting abuse and neglect, and criminal activity. InPsych, 42(6).

Davis, A. W. (2014). Ethical issues for psychologists using communication technology: An Australian perspective on service provision flexibility. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 45(5), 303-308. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037081

Kremer, P., Symmons, M., & Furlonger, B. (2018). Exploring the why of psychologist misconduct and malpractice: A thematic analysis of court decision documents. Australian Psychologist, 53(5), 454-463. https://doi.org/10.1111/ap.12343

Australian Psychological Society. (n.d.). Ethics and practice standards. https://psychology.org.au/about-us/what-we-do/ethics-and-practice-standards

Australian Psychological Society. (2019). Ethical guidelines: Complementing the APS code of ethics (15th ed.).

Psychology Board of Australia. (n.d.). Guidelines and policies. https://www.psychologyboard.gov.au/Standards-and-Guidelines/Codes-Guidelines-Policies.aspx

Robertson, M., Walter, G., & Bloch, S. (2016). Ethical use of the media by psychiatrists: Towards an antipodean formulation of the "Goldwater Rule". Australasian Psychiatry, 24(1), 26-29. https://doi.org/10.1177/1039856215620030

Sanders, C. (2015). Commentary on ethical and legal considerations when counselling children and families: The Australian context. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 36(4), 465-466. https://doi.org/10.1002/anzf.1124

Venkatesh, S., & Lovibond, P. (2020). Is the unexamined professional life worth practicing? Factors influencing ethical practice in psychologists. Ethics & Behavior, 30(5), 326-341. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2019.1620611

Psychology: PSYC1200 Essay Assessment