Professional Research Journal Summary for General Psychology 
        In order to introduce you to the professional research arena, you are to submit three (3) journal reviews during 
        the semester. These professional journals are available on-line through the Montgomery College library. You 
        MUST choose your articles from “professional” journals published in the past five years. You may not use 
        newspapers or internet reviews, summaries or popular magazine articles. The on-line article database to be used 
        is the “Psychology and Behavioral Science Collection” search engine. An overview of on-line database access is 
        posted on my faculty web site and information is available through the library both on-line and in person.   
        Follow the format shown below when completing the Professional Research Summary. You will receive the 
        maximum number of points (40 total) if you fulfill all requirements. 
         
        Format: No cover page. Clearly separate the summary from the answers to the four questions. Clearly indicate 
        the number of the question being answered.  Do not bury the answers to you questions in the summary section. 
        An example of a journal summary is posted on my web site. 
         
        Section 1: Summary of the article 
        In no more than 2 pages, summarize the research methodology, findings, and conclusions. In other words, what 
        did the researchers do, how did they do it, and what did they find out?  
         
         
        Section 2: Your interpretation of the article 
        Question 1. What was the research question? This is why they did the research. What were they trying to find 
        out? 
        Question 2. What type of research was used: descriptive-observational, correlational, experimental, or other? 
        Question 3. What are your thoughts as to the quality and validity of the research? Was it well done? Did they use 
        enough subjects? Did the research make sense? 
        Question 4. What is your interpretation of the article? How does the research relate to you, others, or society? 
        Could it be put into action or used by someone? Be creative here. 
        Question 5. What did you learn that you didn’t know before? 
         
        All journal summaries are submitted electronically to turnitin.com. You can turn in the journal summaries before 
        the due dates, but no journal summaries will be accepted after their closing times.  
         
        Requirement  Criteria                                         Points 
              1        Well written, complete summary of article.       10 
              2        Complete sentence answers to each of the         20 
                       5 questions 
              3        Follow format, complete on time.                 10 
        Turnitin.com 
        All written journal summaries will be submitted through Turnitin.com. This service ensures that your work is 
        original and that no one will later use your writing in their papers.  This process evaluates the possibility or 
        probability that you have copied other material without giving appropriate credit through reference citations.  I 
        will give you the class ID and password in class. The sample assignment ensures that you are able to submit 
        your professional research paper. The practice assignment is worth 30 points. 
         
         
    How to access the LSC-Montgomery Online databases 
     
    From the LSCS home page http://www.lonestar.edu, select the LSCS Library link on the left side of the page and 
    click Research Databases. 
     
                                         
    Or from the LSC-Montgomery home page, http://www.lonestar.edu/montgomery.htm select the LSCS Libraries 
    link near the top of the page and click on the Research Databases link.. 
     
                                                         
    The Research Databases page looks like the one below. Select the Social Sciences link.  
     
                                                   
     
    Now select the Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection link.  
     
                                                  
     
    At this point, if you are doing this from home, you will be asked to input the 14 digit number on the back of your 
    student ID card. You must go to the library in building F and get your ID card activated at the circulation desk 
    before you can access the online databases. 
     
    The Research Database search page is shown below. The page indicates which database it is search. 
    Be sure to click the Full Text box and Peer Reviewed. 
    Enter the search term of the topic of interest in this text box.