How Short Should Articles Be?

Comment on the issue of space problems in psychological journals. The Council of Representatives of the APA has requested authors to use the facilities of the American Documentation Institute. However, this author notes several problems with a trend toward shorter articles. He suggests that it might lead to the practice of not presenting anywhere a reasonably complete statement of method, procedure, and subjects, and adequate statistical data. He is convinced that the best way to provide relevant information is in the article itself. The author agrees that improved writing by psychologists in presenting their research would be good, but questions whether this can be achieved by the omission of pertinent material.