Overview of the Junior Paper

The overall goal of the junior papers (JP) are for you to develop proficiency in reading and analyzing the professional literature in a focused area and to develop an independent project in preparation for a thesis.

As a Psychology major, you will write two JPs to satisfy the junior independent work requirement: the fall semester JP focuses on learning how to review a topic in the scientific literature, while the spring semester JP focuses on learning how to develop a proposal for a novel study that relates to existing literature. For each JP, you will also give a presentation midway through the semester that demonstrates your progress and helps you learn how to communicate your research ideas to others.

Midpoint Presentations

During the Fall and Spring of your junior year, you will give a 10 to 15-minute presentation midway through each semester to demonstrate your progress on your JP.

Presentations will occur in groups of 4 to 6 students and typically take place the week following Fall and Spring Recess (see Important Dates). Although each individual will present on their JP progress for 10 to 15 minutes, students are expected to stay for the entire session and listen to all group members’ presentations, which takes approximately 1-2 hours. This affords you with the opportunity to learn about a range of topics that your fellow Psychology juniors are working on! In addition to their group members, a faculty member will be present to moderate the discussion and grade the presentations, which collectively count towards 10% of your final JP grade.

In general, your Midpoint Presentation should:

1. Summarize your topic.
2. Describe why it is an interesting topic to write about and how it relates to psychology.
3. Demonstrate progress made on reading and synthesizing the literature.

If your JP includes an experiment in which you are collecting data, you can present preliminary data. However, please strive to be succinct and organized! Your presentation should be accompanied by slides and stay strictly within the time limit and on topic.

As you prepare, please keep in mind that, although other students in your group will share a background knowledge in psychology, they may lack expertise in your specific topic. Therefore, you should aim to explain your work a general and accessible manner such that everyone can follow it.

Please remember: like other aspects of the JP, it is important to discuss your presentation with your advisor well in advance. The Department of Psychology Undergraduate Program Manager will contact you early in each semester to schedule your Midpoint Presentation, but you should aim to discuss your advisor’s goals and suggestions for the presentation in one of your initial meetings.

If you are studying abroad for a semester during your Junior year, please note that you will be exempt from the Midpoint Presentation for that semester but are not exempt from the JP.

Fall Semester Junior Paper

The primary goal of the Fall JP in Psychology is for students to practice how to formulate a question and to query the literature. Therefore, the final fall paper should involve critical analysis and original synthesis of the relevant scholarly literature, with a topic chosen collaboratively by student and advisor.

The Fall JP may take many formats. Different advisors prefer different approaches, so make sure to discuss the options with your advisor and clarify what is exactly expected of you.

What are common formats for the Fall JP?

• In one common approach, you will find a topic that overlaps with both your interests and your advisor’s expertise. You will research the topic, find the relevant scientific literature, and write a review paper on that literature. However, the literature review must be more than a recounting of what others have done: specifically, the review should formulate an open question of interest and use the literature to support and explore that question.
• In a second common approach, some faculty organize a “JP lab,” with many students working together in a discussion group that meets regularly throughout the semester. At the end of the process, you must submit a paper formulating an open question of interest and synthesizing the literature that supports and explores that question.
• In a third common approach, you will become a part of a research team, working with your faculty advisor as well as the graduate students and other researchers in the lab group. At the end of the Fall semester, you will be required to submit a paper describing your work to date. The paper should explain the questions being investigated empirically and place them in the context of the larger literature background. You may also include any results you have by that time. The exact format of the paper will depend on your discussions with your advisor.

Although the Fall JP may involve one of these formats, the Department requires that all Fall JPs meet the following guidelines:

The Psychology librarian at the Lewis Library, Meghan Testerman (schedule appt here), is also available to help you with library research. Meghan has also created a helpful guide for Psychology concentrators that covers things like finding literature and APA Style.

Spring Semester Junior Paper

The primary goal of the Spring JP in Psychology is to prepare students for a thesis by having them formulate an original research idea and embody it in a paper. It should be written for a broad, academic audience.

Like the Fall JP, the format of the Spring JP is flexible and depends on discussions between you and your advisor. Different advisors prefer different approaches, so please make sure to discuss the options with your advisor and clarify what is exactly expected of you.

What are common formats for the Spring JP?

• In one common approach, the Spring JP can be a theoretical piece that proposes a thesis idea and uses creative exploration of the literature to evaluate the idea. This type of JP would look like a mini-thesis or a first pass at a theoretical thesis.
• In a second common approach, the Spring JP can be a research proposal. The goal of writing a research proposal is to learn how to read the literature, identify an open scientific question, and design an experiment that might address that question. In some cases, the research proposal lays the groundwork for the Senior Thesis, but this is not required. A research proposal typically includes a comprehensive review of the relevant research literature, a statement of your specific scientific question, a detailed description of the methods you will use to collect data, a description of the statistical analyses you will use, and a discussion of the possible outcomes and their interpretations. It may be useful to include figures diagramming the possible quantitative outcomes.
• In a third common approach, a Spring JP might be a write-up of experimental work completed during the Junior year, with separate sections for introduction, methods, results, and discussion (again, like a mini-thesis). Some students may be midway through an experiment by the end of the Spring semester and lack complete results. In that case, the student may write a research proposal, including an introduction that places the experiment in the context of the larger literature, a description of the method, and a discussion of possible outcomes.

Although the Spring JP may involve one of these formats, the Department requires that all Spring JPs meet the following guidelines:

Grading

Junior students receive a single grade on their transcripts in the Spring semester for Fall and Spring independent work, which reflects a combination of the Fall JP (40%) and Spring JP (60%) grades.

• The Fall JP grade is based on a combination of the fall Midpoint Presentation grade (counting for 10%, evaluated by the faculty member present at the presentation) and the final fall paper grade (counting for 90%, evaluated by the student’s advisor).
• The Spring JP grade is based on a combination of the spring Midpoint Presentation grade (counting for 10%, evaluated by the faculty member present at the presentation) and the final spring paper grade (counting for 90%, evaluated by the student’s advisor).

Late Policy

Extensions are rarely granted for the Junior independent work. The criteria include either the student's illness, for which a written medical excuse must be provided, or a family emergency. Extensions must be approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies and the student’s advisor. For help regarding extensions, students may also ask their residential Dean or the Department of Psychology Undergraduate Program Manager. Extensions past the Dean’s deadline for Junior independent work must be approved by the Dean’s office.

If an extension is not granted, a penalty will start to accrue on the student's grade beginning with the day following the deadline. Grade penalties for unauthorized late Junior papers follow a schedule wherein 1/3 of a letter grade is automatically deducted for every 48 hours (or part thereof) that the paper is late, weekend days included. A Junior paper which is not received within two weeks of the deadline date will be given a grade of F. After the University deadline, no written work can be accepted for a passing grade without approval from the Dean of the student’s residential college.

If any of the components of the Junior paper are not submitted, the student will fail the Junior independent work for the year.

Overview of Independent Work

For specifics regarding independent work due dates and deadlines, see Important Dates.