Division Writing Guidelines
Occupational therapy and physical therapy courses require papers, reports, take home essay tests, patient notes, or other written work. Because students come from a variety of educational backgrounds, they sometimes are unaware of the faculty's expectations for these written assignments. To reduce any confusion (and to make life easier for both students and faculty), YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE for READING these guidelines and FOLLOWING them when writing for ALL occupational therapy or physical therapy courses. Faculty are committed to preparing occupational therapists and physical therapists who are able to think and write clearly and professionally.
Students must purchase the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (American Psychological Association, 1994) and read, understand, and adhere to its guidelines. This document (the Division Writing Guidelines) points out only the most common writing problems that former students have had. It also gives a few variations to American Psychological Association (APA) style that faculty require for Division writing. Occasionally a course instructor may request other variations; however, unless specifically directed otherwise, always use APA style.
Format
Assignments must be computer generated, double spaced, have 1" margins, use a font no smaller than 12 point, and have a title page preceding the first page of the text. Pages must be numbered, beginning with the first page of text. Do NOT number the title page, restate the paper’s title on the first page of text, or use a running head as specified in the APA style manual.
Prepare your title page according to this format:
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Title of Your Paper Course Number Course Title Your Name Date
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If you are using a word processor that will justify the right margin, turn that feature off. The peculiar spacing that results from most right justification is distracting and makes the content difficult to read.
Do not use plastic or paper covers on your paper. Just staple the pages together in the top left corner with one secure staple.
Spelling, grammar, and punctuation
Spelling, grammar, and punctuation always count. It is often difficult to catch your own errors, so have someone else proof your work, even when you think it is absolutely corect. Make writing much easier by using a word processor with a spell checker and maybe even a grammar checker. Computers are available in the Pentium Lab in the Rogers Building (just north of the College of Health Building) 24 hours a day; get a key card for after-hours use. The Student Center and the Bird Library have Pentium and Macintosh computers that are available during the hours the buildings are open.
Be certain you are using the proper word; should it be "there," "their," or "they're"? A spell checker will not pick up these and many other errors.
Capitalize the first letter of proper names, titles, and trade names, but not theories or general descriptions. The Department of Occupational Therapy (designating a specific department), for example, would be capitalized, but occupational therapy used in a general manner would not. Similarly, do not capitalize the names of anatomic structures like muscles or nerves, even though some anatomy texts do capitalize them.
When writing for professional purposes, avoid colloquialisms, slang, contractions, and other informal means of expression (e.g., students have written "should of" instead of "should have"). It also is important to be concise. Filling up pages with superfluous words and unnecessary rambling will not endear you to the reader. The APA style manual has many excellent examples of how to reduce wordiness.
References
Use of references and the rules for citing them are only slightly less complex than celestial navigation for many of us. Fortunately, there are some guidelines that will get you through nearly any paper you will be asked to write.
Sources of information should be of the highest quality available. It almost always is preferable to use information from peer reviewed journals (such as American Journal of Occupational Therapy [AJOT] and Physical Therapy), rather than information from sources that do not have such quality control (such as O.T. Week and P.T. Bulletin). It also is good to cite research results, when possible, and not rely solely on reported observations or opinions. Professional publications should always be used as information sources, rather than popular magazines or books, unless your instructor specifically approves of them.
When citing references in text and on reference lists, always use a correct and consistent style. The American Psychological Association (APA) style is required unless your instructor approves the use of another one. It takes time to learn the rules for any publication style, so, when in doubt, look it up. Many faculty and students make index tabs using small sticky notes to help them find frequently used information quickly.
Only cite references that you have read yourself. Use secondary sources, a reference someone else has cited, only when the original is in a language you cannot read, or when it is out of print or otherwise completely unavailable - and the reference is so important that you have to include it. In such a case, be sure to cite it appropriately in the text and on the reference list (see pages 200-201 of the APA style manual for a model).
When citing references, students should help their readers locate the cited material. If the material comes from a relatively brief article, the reader can find the information without arduous searching; however, if the material come from a lengthy article or book, the reader may need help. The APA (1994) offers the following advice:
When paraphrasing or referring to an idea contained in another work, authors are not required to provide a page number. Nevertheless, authors are encouraged to do so, especially when it would help an interested reader locate the relevant passage in a long or complex text. (p. 97)
According to the APA manual (pp. 176, 194), the reference list should be double-spaced, and each entry should begin with a five space (or paragraph) indent.
Warning to physical therapist students: Physical Therapy, a journal you will use frequently, follows the American Medical Association referencing style. Do not use Physical Therapy referencing as a model for your papers (unless your instructor approves). Use your APA style manual.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism can result in a failing grade or worse (see the University and College handbooks for potential consequences of this type of academic misconduct). Some students unwittingly plagiarize because they do not understand the definition of plagiarism. The following explanation is quoted from a paper provided by the University of Oklahoma Writing Center (1989). The examples were changed to make them more applicable to occupational therapy and physical therapy.
It is extremely important in both taking notes and writing your paper not to rely too closely on the wording or organization of paragraphs in your sources. Such reliance is a form of plagiarism known as "half-copying," one of the most frequent problems an instructor meets in undergraduate papers.
Following are passages from articles published in AJOT and Physical Therapy and related paragraphs in which a student relied too heavily on the wording and organization of the original source.
Original:
Children seen in occupational therapy often have cognitive, emotional, perceptual, or physical disabilities that prevent hem from participating normally in play. Children who fail to play or who play inappropriately, will not learn the physical or social skills necessary for normal development (Bledsoe & Shepard, 1982).
Student's version (too close to the original):
Occupational therapists often see children who have emotional, physical, cognitive, or perceptual disabilities that inhibit them from playing normally. Children who play inappropriately or don't play very much will not learn social or physical skills necessary to develop normally (Bledsoe & Shepard, 1982).
Original:
More recently, exercises combining activity of the hip adductors in conjunction with knee extensor strengthening activities have been advocated as a means of preferentially activating and exercising the VMO (vastus medialis obliquus). Specific exercises proposed include straight leg raising performed with the hip in lateral rotation as well as isometric hip adduction exercises in conjunction with conventional knee extensor strengthening exercises such as straight leg raising combined with isometric hip adduction. The most frequently cited rationale for such exercises is an anatomical linkage between the VMO and the hip adductor muscles (Karst & Jewett, 1993).
Student version (too close to the original):
To activate and exercise the VMO, authors have recently proposed combining activation of the hip adductors with knee extensor strengthening exercises. The reason most often given is for this is the anatomical connection between the hip adductors and the VMO. Some of the exercises advocated are isometric hip adduction in collaboration with knee extensor exercises like straight leg raising, and straight leg raising while the hip is laterally rotated (Karst & Jewett, 1993).
Notice that in both examples the students have borrowed too many phrases from the original sources and have modeled the organization of the paragraphs too closely on that of the original. Such borrowing, even though it ends with a reference, is theft--perhaps unintentional, but theft nonetheless.
To protect yourself from the charge of academic dishonesty, you need to present your source material in one of two ways. Either quote the material word for word or present the material in your own words, as these students have done:
Children who have problems with the performance components of sensorimotor skills, cognitive, skills or psychosocial skills frequently have problems in the occupational performance area of play. This difficulty in play can create problems in the normal developmental sequence, resulting in the need for occupational therapy services (Bledsoe & Shepard, 1982).
Researchers have discovered that some of the traditional means of strengthening the VMO are unlikely to be as effective as techniques that combine knee extension with hip adduction. In their review of literature on strengthening the VMO, Karst and Jewett (1993) found that the "most frequently cited rationale for such exercises is an anatomical linkage between the VMO and the hip adductor muscles" (p. 288).
Obviously some repetition of words and phrases from your sources will occur in your paper (there are only so many ways of saying, for instance, that the quadriceps femoris is a knee extensor), but if your paragraph follows the organization of a source paragraph closely and repeats a number of words and phrases (even if you change a few words), it needs to be rewritten. Try reading your notes or the original passage, then set the original aside and write your paragraph without reference to it, except to check for accuracy.
What to reference
Except for common factual knowledge (of which there is a great deal), all information taken from a source, whether it is quoted directly or put in our own words, must be followed by a citation--all quotations, all ideas and opinions, all precise factual information such as statistics. Although no absolute distinction exists between what is common factual knowledge and what is not, information can usually be called common knowledge if it passes two tests: (a) if you can honestly say, "I knew this before entering the professional program," and (b) if the information appears in general reference works and is mentioned without references in more than one article you have read. When in doubt, give credit to the source of the information.
To summarize, whenever you write a paper using information from articles, books, and other sources, you must put the information in your own words or put quotation marks around any quoted materials. Do not, however, use the ploy that some students attempt and use numerous quotes to avoid having to rewrite the content. Limit quotes to text that is truly quotable and put everything else in your own words, using you own organization. Remember that quotations must be followed by their page numbers in the source, that quotes longer than 40 words must be blocked and indented, and that a quote should not begin a paragraph. See your APA style manual for the exact rules and examples.
When citing references in text, a common error is to cite sources only at the ends of paragraphs. Be sure to cite sources at the beginning, middle, and end of sentences and paragraphs, as needed.
Abbreviations
Never assume that your audience knows what an abbreviation means. The first time you use a word that you want to abbreviate later, spell it out and put the abbreviation in parentheses following the word. After that you can use just the abbreviation. For example: The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) has taken an affirmative action stance on the Americans with Disabilities Act. In fact, AOTA is one of the leading health professions in this arena. Another example: The American Physical Therapy Association requires people-first language for posters presented at the Combined Sections Meeting (CSM). CSM will be held in Seattle in 1999 (Go Huskies!).
People-First Language
As therapists, we work with people who have various conditions or problems. Our primary consideration for the individual needs to be reflected in our writing. For example, we speak of children with cerebral palsy, not "CP kids"; the man with the knee injury, not "the knee"; or people with head injuries, not "the head injured" or "he's a head injury."
We also need to refrain from using derogatory, overly dramatic, or patronizing terminology when referring to people who have impairments. Examples of terminology to avoid include: stroke "victim," "confined" to a wheelchair, "suffering" from cerebral palsy, this "very special" child, and the "bad" leg.
The terms "impairment," "functional limitation," "disability," and "societal limitation " should be used according to the definitions adopted by the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR, 1993). Note that NCMRR does not use the term "handicap" (except maybe as it applies to golf or horse racing). The NCMRR definitions:
Impairment
Functional limitation is restriction or lack of ability to perform an action in the manner or within a range consistent with the purpose of an organ or organ system.
Disability is inability or limitation in performing tasks, activities, and roles to levels expected within physical and social contexts.
Societal limitation is a restriction, attributable to social policy or barriers (structural or attitudinal), which limits fulfillment of roles or denies access to services and opportunities that are associated with full participation in society. (p. 35)
As an example, if a person has cerebral palsy, lack of muscle control would be an impairment. This impairment may cause inability to walk, which would be a functional limitation. A disability would result if the person is unable to move around the community independently. If the community was completely wheelchair accessible and the person could use a wheelchair functionally, then the person would not have a disability in that situation. If a person was independently mobile using a wheelchair but could not get into a work site because of architectural barriers (such as stairs and narrow doorways), the restriction would be due to societal limitations.
In a recent Editor's Note, Jules Rothstein, editor of Physical Therapy said "anyone who claims ignorance of people-first language is confessing to professional ignorance and an insular existence... through our language we can recognize our common humanity, or we can reinforce our differences; we can relate to others, or we can choose to build walls" (Rothstein, 1997, p. 713). People-first language is a habit; develop the habit now and you will not have to confess to professional ignorance later.
Gender
To quote from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (1994) "Sexual bias can occur when pronouns are used carelessly: when the masculine pronoun he is used to refer to both sexes, or when the masculine or feminine pronoun is used exclusively to define roles by sex (e.g., "the nurse...she")"(p. 50). AOTA has adopted Association Policy 1.43 Use of Gender Neutral Language "to assure that official documents of the Association contain only gender neutral language ... gender neutral language shall be encouraged by all authors of AOTA publications...and shall be encouraged of all presenters at AOTA sponsored conferences and workshop" (AOTA, 1991, p. 1.43). Gender neutral language should always be used, except when discussing a specific person or when gender is pertinent. It also is advisable to avoid awkward and distracting terms like "his/her," or "s/he." The easiest way to do this is to reword a sentence to use a plural pronoun or a neutral noun equivalent, or to change the voice. For example:
Avoid Better
A therapist should observe how his/her patient moves. A baby perfects her balance reactions in sitting after she begins to stand. The patient works as a mailman. |
Therapists should observe how their patients move. Babies perfect balance reactions after beginning to stand. The patient works as a mail carrier.
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DO NOT attempt to solve the gender problem by using pronouns that do not agree with the subject, such as "when fitting a patient (singular) with adaptive equipment, it is important to check their (plural) posture." This problem could be corrected in several ways; the easiest is probably to use a plural subject ("when fitting patients ...).
Abstracts
Physical therapy students will write one or more abstracts for classes. Some students have trouble finding correct examples of abstracts because Physical Therapy publishes three types - be sure that you use the right one! Every article in the journal is preceded by an abstract of the article. If you are writing an abstract of a paper that you have written, this is the format to follow. If you are writing an abstract for a presentation, use the format for conference abstracts. The "Call for Abstracts" in the April, May, June, September, and October issues clearly explains the format, and the May issue includes abstracts of papers accepted for presentation at the APTA Scientific Meeting and Exposition. Use the format in the "Call for Abstracts" as an example, rather than the actual abstracts, because some conference presenters do not follow the instructions as precisely as you need to follow them. Conference abstracts can, however, be a good source of ideas for content. The third type of abstract is a summary of an article that has been published in another journal. These abstracts can be found near the end of every issue of Physical Therapy.
Odds and Ends
You will appear especially literate if you avoid many common errors that appear not only in students' papers, but in some of the articles you may read. The following are only a few examples; many other common problems and solutions can be found in such sources as your APA style manual and Hodges Harbrace College Handbook (1982).
1. With a series of three or more terms, put a comma before the conjunction. For example: The therapist asked Mr. Jones if he had any problems with self-care, work, or leisure activities.
2. Punctuation with quotation marks is tricky. In general, quotation marks come after periods and commas, and before colons and semi-colons.
3. Proper use of numbers in text can be confusing. In general, spell out numbers one through nine, and use arabic numerals for numbers greater than nine. Many exceptions exist, however: (a) spell out all numbers that begin sentences; (b) use numerals when numbers are part of a series or range and one of them is greater than nine; and © use numerals for all addresses, ages, dates, money, temperature, time, and units of measure. See your APA style manual for explanations of these and other exceptions.
4. Remember that "who" refers to people and "that" refers to things. You would say "the skills of people who have traumatic brain injury... ," not "the skills of people that have traumatic brain injury... ."
5. Write in the active voice, not the passive voice. When using active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action of the verb. Passive voice tends to obscure the performer of the action.
Passive voice example:
It was thought that the patient could go home as soon as he could negotiate stairs safely. (WHO thought?)
Rewritten in active voice:
The therapist said the patient could go home as soon as he could negotiate stairs safely.
6. Beware of misplaced clauses (as in these examples of true pediatric therapy and extraordinary sensation).
In the first year or two of life, the occupational therapist, physical therapist, and family are collaboratively involved in developmental accomplishments.
During palpation pain was felt in the left lower extremity. (Also an example of passive voice construction.)
7. Remember that chickens lay eggs and people lie down (remember this in SPOKEN as well as written communication - asking a patient to "lay down" does not do much for your professional image).
8. There is a difference between "its" (possessive) and "it's" (contraction of "it is").
It's (it is) often difficult to get the footrests of an adult size wheelchair directly below the front edge of its (possessive) seat.
9. "Datum" is singular and "data" are plural.
Once all of the data were analyzed, it was clear that passive range of motion exercises did not increase the flexibility of the children with cerebral palsy.
10. "Affect" is a verb and "effect" is a noun.
Many subsystems affect motor behavior; an observed behavior is the effect of the interacting subsystems.
11. Select a tense and use it consistently. See page 25 of the APA style manual for more information.
12. Finally, beware of professional-sounding jargon that is commonly used, but is overly wordy and interferes with clear communication. Presents with and status post are two examples.
Also beware of the current tendency to gratuitously and imprecisely scatter the word functional in writing and conversation. Functional must refer to a specific function; within functional limits, functional activities, and functional status are all meaningless without clearly specifying the function to which they refer.
References
American Occupational Therapy Association. (1991). Association policy 1.43: Use of gender neutral language. Policy Manual of the American Occupational Therapy Association. Rockville, MD: Author.
American Psychological Association. (1994). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Bledsoe, N. P., & Shepard, J. T. (1982). A study of reliability and validity of a preschool play scale. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 37, 783-788.
Hodges, J. C., & Whitten, M. E. (1982). Harbrace college handbook (9th ed.). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Karst, G. M., & Jewett, P. D. (1993). Electromyographic analysis of exercises proposed for differential activation of medial and lateral quadriceps femoris muscle components. Physical Therapy, 73, 286-299.
National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research. (1993). Research plan for the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health (publication no. 93-3509).
Rothstein, J. R. (1997). Editor's note: Hurtful language. Physical Therapy, 77, 712-713.
University of Oklahoma Writing Center. (1989). Research paper guide for Health Sciences Center students. Norman, OK: Author.