Discussion Section & Letter to the Editor
- What is the Purpose of the Discussion Section?
- Summarize the results in a clear and understandable way
- Link the results to the existing research and theoretical framework
- Discuss:
- Theoretical implications
- Practical implications
- Limitations
- Future Directions
- Discussion Section - Summary
- The 1-3 paragraphs should be a repeat of the results section, but written in clear, understandable, non-jargon language. You should:
- Restate what you were doing and why (e.g. the purpose of the current study was to…)
- Restate in common language what you found
- State what you think the findings mean in common language (e.g. This result indicates that working in collaborative groups results in higher satisfaction with the learning experience.)
- You should discuss all of your findings, but you might discuss the primary findings in more detail than less important findings
- Discussion Section – Theoretical framework and theoretical implications
- Make sure to describe:
- How what you found is similar or different from what other researchers have found
- How what you found helps support a particular theoretical framework. If it contradicts this framework, make sure to explain that too.
- Make sure that this isn’t just a reiteration of your introduction/lit review. You want to tie your work to other studies not previously discussed.
- Discussion Section – practical implications
- How can this research be used or applied to a field?
- Make sure to be realistic. One new finding should not be used to justify upending a whole field. The practical finding should be described modestly.
- Discussion Section - Limitations
- This part shows that you know something about the limitations of your methodology, which is why it sometimes sounds a bit canned. However, you should also make sure to address particular limitations from your study.
- Discussion Section – Future Directions
- This is the most fun part of the discussion section to write. Here, you imagine the possibilities of what can come next. Make sure to:
- Make suggestions that address the issues with your own design
- Imagine possibilities for future studies. Be expansive!
- Think about the trends in your field. How does your study actually relate to these trends? How can you link it up?
- Tie this part to existing research, including studies you have not explicitly discussed.
- Common Errors in the Discussion Section
- Just reiterating the findings and not explaining the results.
- Not tying the results to theory
- Overstating what the findings mean
- Not being honest about or acknowledging the limitations of the study
- Not showing how the study links to the greater field.
- Not extending the discussion with directions for future research.
- Letter to the Editor
- You will submit a letter to the editor with the initial submission, and a new one with each subsequent revision.
- Share them with your teammates to solicit their feedback.
- This activity will not be graded.
- Key Details to Include in the Letter
- Salutation. For the initial submission, address the letter to the main journal editor, for the subsequent submissions, address it to the editor who has been corresponding with you
- Manuscript title and journal. Include the title of your article, and the journal you are submitting to. If for a special issue, make sure to include this information too.
- List of coauthors. Include a list of your coauthors, and specify that you are the corresponding author.
- Ethics statement. This should state that the study has been approved by IRB, that you followed the APA ethics guidelines, and that the study is not under review anywhere else, and hasn’t been previously published.
- Special information. Any special information about your study, such as conflicts of interest, changes to authorship, that the study is part of your dissertation, etc, should be disclosed here.
- Key findings. State what you did and what you found in one to two sentences.
- Why this journal. Explain why you think the journal’s readers would care about this study.
- Polite closing. Write something polite and nice about your hopes for publishing in the journal.
- Valediction. Use the term “sincerely” or some equivalent, then your name, affiliation, email address, etc.
- Sample Cover Letter
- To the Editors of Applied Cognitive Psychology and Guest Editors Alexander Eitel and Tim Kühl,
Thank you for considering the manuscript, The Impact of Seductive Details and Signaling on Analogical Transfer, co-authored by Carolyn Hushman and Kira Carbonneau, for the proposed special issue, Harmful or Helpful to Learning? Boundary Conditions of Seductive Details Effects on Cognitive and Affective Processing of Instruction in Applied Cognitive Psychology. I certify that the manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration at any other publication, and that the research was conducted under the ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association.
In this manuscript, we report on an experimental study where we tested the seductive details effect on analogical transfer, and whether signaling can be used to moderate the seductive details effect. We found a significant main effect on analogical transfer for seductive details, but no main effect for signaling or signaling interaction. We argue that these results support the diversion hypothesis for seductive details, where seductive details are damaging to learning because of their impact on schema activation and encoding. We believe that this manuscript will be suitable for this special issue, because it contributes to the literature on the cognitive processes affected by seductive details, particularly in terms of analogical transfer. We hope the editorial board and reviewers find that this study makes a contribution to the field. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
XXX