Page 72 - The Human Resource Development - New Student Orientation Handbook (REVISED)

The Human Resource Development
Orientation Handbook and Research Guide

• Avoid distractions – It is easy to ignore your research in favor of more structured tasks such
as taking classes, teaching classes, organizing student activities, creating web pages like this,
etc. Minimize these kinds of activities or commitments.

 Confront your fears and weaknesses
o If you are afraid of public speaking, volunteer to give lots of talks.

o If you are afraid your ideas are stupid, discuss them with someone.

o If you are afraid of writing, write something about your research every day.

• Balance reading, thinking, writing and hacking – Often research needs to be an interactive
process across all of those tasks.

Avoiding the research blues:

 When you meet your goals, reward yourself

 Don't compare yourself to senior researchers who have many more years of work and
publications

 Don't be afraid to leave part of your research problem for future work

 Exercise

 Use the student counseling services

 Occasionally, do something fun without feeling guilty!

Formatting Guidelines

Your thesis MUST comply with the most current edition of the Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association (APA). The APA covers content and organization, expressing
ideas and reducing bias in language, editorial style, reference list, manuscript preparation, etc. of
your thesis. This text is available from the BSU bookstore and from just about any online vendor
(Amazon.com) or bookstore (Barnes and Nobles, Borders, etc.). You should buy this book as soon
as you begin the program since you will need it as a guide for all papers you write during the
program.

Rules Of Style:
Rules of style provide consistency for the presentation of content in a manner which enables the
writer's views to be organized logically and which contribute to clear and concise communication.
Rules of style also provide editorial specifications including punctuation, spelling, capitalization,
abbreviations, quotations, headings, references and graphic representations.

Resource Citation:
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of document preparation is the method of citing resources
and references. It is expected of course, that candidates cite their references and do not plagiarize

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