Why does the APA recommend the use of serif fonts?

• Autores: Manuel Perea Lara
• Localización: Psicothema, ISSN-e 1886-144X, ISSN 0214-9915, Vol. 25, Nº. 1, 2013, págs. 13-17
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.7334/psicothema2012.141
• Títulos paralelos:
  • ¿Por qué la APA recomienda el uso de fuentes con serif?
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• Resumen
  • español

    Antecedentes:las normas de publicación de la American Psychological Association recomiendan el uso de un tipo de letra con serif en los manuscritos (Times New Roman). Sin embargo, no parece haber ninguna razón bien sustentada por la que las fuentes con serif produzcan ventaja alguna durante la lectura de palabras. Método: para examinar el papel de los serifs se realizó un experimento en el que se presentaron frases bien con una fuente serif o sans serif de la misma familia, mientras se registraban los movimientos oculares de los participantes. Resultados: los resultados no revelaron diferencias debidas al tipo de letra en los movimientos oculares, a excepción de un efecto mínimo en el número de movimientos sacádicos progresivos. Conclusiones: no hay ninguna razón por la cual las normas de publicación de la APA recomienden el uso de otras fuentes con serif más allá de la uniformidad en la elaboración y presentación de los manuscritos.

  • English

    Background: The publication norms of the American Psychological Association recommend the use of a serif font in the manuscripts (Times New Roman). However, there seems to be no well-substantiated reason why serif fonts would produce any advantage during letter/word processing. Method: This study presents an experiment in which sentences were presented either with a serif or sans serif font from the same family while participants� eye movements were monitored. Results: Results did not reveal any differences of type of font in eye movement measures �except for a minimal effect in the number of progressive saccades. Conclusions: There is no reason why the APA publication norms recommend the use of serif fonts other than uniformity in the elaboration/presentation of the manuscripts.

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