Writing Style (spq-writing-style)

An SPQ paper must be readable by both sociologists and psychologists who study the self and interaction, formatted to the ASA Style Guide, and disciplined to the word cap. This skill is about reaching the field and respecting the format — not about generating claims.

When to trigger

• Drafting the introduction, framing the contribution, or final polish
• Over the word cap and needing to cut without losing the argument
• Writing the ~150-word, non-identifying abstract with keywords
• Aligning citations/headings/format to the ASA Style Guide before submission

Reach the sociological-social-psychology audience

1. Front-load the structure–individual link. By the end of the introduction the reader knows the question, the tradition, the mechanism connecting structure to the individual, and why it matters.
2. Speak across the two parent disciplines. SPQ publishes sociologists and psychologists — define tradition-specific terms (expectation states, identity verification, affect control sentiments) on first use so a reader from the other side can follow.
3. Argument-first prose. Lead with the social-psychological claim; use evidence to support it. Avoid "the data show…" without saying what they show about the self/interaction and why it matters.
4. Signpost. Clear section structure so a reader can navigate theory → design → results → implications.

Format to ASA style

• Citations: author-date per the ASA Style Guide; keep one consistent style (Zotero/BibTeX).
• Abstract: ~150 words, non-identifying, on a separate page headed by the title; author names omitted; include a few keywords after the abstract.
• Mask: SPQ is masked — submit a blinded manuscript with no author identifiers, plus a separate title page file (title, authors, affiliations, running head, approximate word count). You may cite your own work but must not phrase it identifyingly ("as we showed in…").
• Word count: put the approximate count (incl. notes and references) on the title page.

Fit the word cap (Articles ~10,000 / Notes ~5,000; supplementary materials excluded)

• Move scale items, balance checks, full specs, and extended robustness to supplementary materials.
• Cut throat-clearing and literature dumps; engage the program, not every paper (see spq-literature-positioning).
• Don't pad a Note toward Article length; a Note is one crisp contribution.

Anti-patterns

• An intro that frames the paper as pure psychology or pure macro sociology, losing the SPQ link
• Burying the contribution in the middle of the paper
• An abstract that identifies the authors, omits keywords, or hides the finding
• Mixed citation styles; self-references that break masking
• Padding a Note toward Article length

Style execution pass for Social Psychology Quarterly

Run this as a concrete capability pass. First lock the social-psychological process, measurement, design, and boundary condition across groups or contexts; then test whether the manuscript addresses social-psychology reviewers who expect interaction, identity, group process, or status mechanisms grounded in sociological theory.

• Primary move: Rewrite the opening and transitions so the venue-level claim, evidence object, and contribution are visible before technical detail; keep house-style limits tied to the source map.
• Decision ledger: return claim / evidence / blocker / next edit rows so the next pass can patch the manuscript directly.
• Sibling comparison: compare against JPSP for psychology breadth, ASR/AJS for sociology theory stakes, Social Forces for broader empirical sociology; if the neighboring outlet has the stronger audience claim, recommend re-routing before polishing.
• Verification floor: before submission-ready advice, re-open resources/official-source-map.md and name the live-check item that could change the upload plan.

Output format

【Structure–individual link stated by end of intro?】[Y/N]
【Reads across sociology + psychology?】tradition terms defined? [Y/N]
【Abstract】~150 words, non-identifying, keywords present? [Y/N]
【Word count】Article ~10,000 / Note ~5,000 (supplementary excluded)?
【ASA style + blinded + separate title page】[Y/N]
【Next】spq-data-and-transparency

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — word/abstract caps, ASA Style Guide, masking, title page