apa-manuscript - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: apa-manuscript description: Academic manuscript writing and APA 7th edition formatting for psychology papers. Use when asked to write or edit Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, or Abstract sections; format references; check APA style; suggest target journals; or draft Response to Reviewers letters. user-invocable: true

APA Manuscript Writing

This skill provides guidelines and templates for writing psychology manuscripts in APA 7th edition format.

Paper Structure

Title Page (APA 7th)

Title: concise, descriptive (12 words or fewer)
Author names and affiliations
Author Note (ORCID, conflicts of interest, acknowledgements, correspondence)
Running head is NOT required in APA 7th (removed)

Abstract (150-250 words)

Write last. Must be self-contained (readable without the paper). Structure: objective → participants/design → key measures → main results (with statistics) → conclusions.

Introduction Structure (Hourglass)

Broad topic context (2-3 paragraphs)
    ↓
Narrowing to specific research area
    ↓
Gap in existing literature / theoretical puzzle
    ↓
The present study: what was done and why
    ↓
Brief overview of hypotheses

Method Section

Must be detailed enough for exact replication. Standard subsections:

Participants: N, demographics (M age, SD, % gender), recruitment source, inclusion/exclusion criteria, compensation, power analysis reference
Design: type (e.g., "2 × 2 between-subjects factorial"), IVs and DVs
Materials/Measures: each measure with citation, number of items, response scale, reliability in present sample (α = .xx)
Procedure: step-by-step, present tense, passive voice acceptable

Results Section

Report descriptive statistics first (means, SDs, correlations)
Then hypothesis tests in the order of the hypotheses
Use standard APA statistical reporting format (see below)
Do NOT interpret results in this section

Discussion Structure (Inverted Hourglass)

Main findings summary (1 paragraph)
    ↓
Interpretation of each finding in relation to theory/hypotheses
    ↓
Comparison with prior literature
    ↓
Theoretical contributions
    ↓
Practical implications
    ↓
Limitations
    ↓
Future directions
    ↓
Conclusion (1 paragraph)

APA 7th Statistical Reporting Format

# t-test
t(58) = 3.24, p = .002, d = 0.84, 95% CI [0.31, 1.37]

# One-way ANOVA
F(2, 147) = 8.93, p < .001, η²p = .108, 90% CI [.032, .185]

# Correlation
r(98) = .43, p < .001, 95% CI [.27, .57]

# Chi-square
χ²(3, N = 200) = 7.82, p = .050, V = .20

# Regression (reporting each predictor)
b = 0.34, SE = 0.08, β = .42, t(97) = 4.25, p < .001

# Mixed ANOVA interaction
F(1, 58) = 12.3, p = .001, η²p = .175

Key rules:

Never write "p = .000"; write "p < .001"
Use leading zero for p values: "p = .023" (not "p = .23")
No leading zero for numbers that cannot exceed 1: "r = .43" (not "r = 0.43")
Two decimal places for most statistics; three for p values
Report exact p values unless p < .001
Always report effect sizes and confidence intervals
Italicize statistical symbols: t, F, p, r, N, n, M, SD

Reference List Format (APA 7th)

Journal article (with DOI)

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. *Journal Name*, *Volume*(Issue), page–page. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Journal article (DOI as URL)

All DOIs should be formatted as URLs: https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxx

Book

Author, A. A. (Year). *Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle* (edition, if not first). Publisher. https://doi.org/xxxxx

Chapter in edited book

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), *Title of book* (pp. xx–xx). Publisher.

In-text Citation Rules

One author: (Smith, 2020)
Two authors: (Smith & Jones, 2020) — always use "&" in parentheses
Three or more authors: (Smith et al., 2020) — from first citation
Direct quote: (Smith, 2020, p. 45)

Journal Selection Guide (Psychology)

Broad Journals (general psychology)

Psychological Science (IF ~7) — short empirical papers, high impact
JPSP (IF ~7) — social/personality, longer papers
JEP: General (IF ~7) — experimental, broader scope
Perspectives on Psychological Science — reviews and conceptual pieces

Methods/Quantitative

Psychological Methods — statistical methodology
Behavior Research Methods — empirical methods papers

Open Access / Registered Reports

PLOS ONE — open access, broad scope
Collabra: Psychology — open access, supports RRs
Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science — open science focus

Chinese Journal Context

心理学报 — top Chinese psychology journal
心理科学 — broader scope
中国临床心理学杂志 — clinical focus

Response to Reviewers Template

# Response to Reviewers
Manuscript: [Title]
Journal: [Journal Name]

We thank the reviewers for their thoughtful and constructive feedback. Below we address each comment in turn. Reviewer comments are in **bold**, our responses follow.

---

## Reviewer 1

**Comment 1.1:** [Reviewer's comment]

**Response:** We appreciate this concern. [Your response]. In the revised manuscript, we have [specific changes made, with page/line references].

> [Quote the revised text if applicable]

**Comment 1.2:** ...

---

## Reviewer 2

...

Notes

When drafting Results, always use statistics provided by 刑部 (代码分析司).
Never fabricate or estimate statistical values.
Mark missing values with: [PLACEHOLDER: 等待刑部数据]