UMHB College of NursingBSN Program

Kathy Long, MSN, RN, CNE

APA refers to the formal and citation standards of the American Psychological Association.

The sixth edition is the most current.

Used in fields such as psychology, nursing, medicine, etc.

Title page Abstract Text

◦ Introduction◦ Discussion◦ Summary

References Appendices

EXAMPLE OF Title Page

The title page must include a running head, the title, your name, the institutional affiliation, and date.

The running head is a shorter version of your title.

Running head: THE ISSUE OF ENTRY 1

The Issue of Entry Level into Practice

Your Name

University of Mary Hardin Baylor

Scott and White College of Nursing

Number and Name of Course

Instructor's Name

Date of Submission (e.g., April 12, 2013)

On the title page, the running head must contain the words “Running head:”. However, these words should not appear on subsequent pages of the text.

The words “Running head” should appear in lower case with only the first letter capitalized.

The shortened version of the title should appear in all caps after “Running head:”.

Your running head should not exceed 50 characters. Example:

Running head: THE ISSUE OF ENTRY LEVEL INTO PRACTICE

In MS Word 2015, click on the Insert tab.

Choose “edit header” from the “header” drop down menu. In the “header & footer tools” section, check the box for “Different first page.”

Page number Move cursor to far

right Click on Current

position

SHORT FORM OF TITLE 2

Title of Paper

Indentation and Headings

Indent paragraphs ½ inch (not five spaces). Use the Tab key, which is preset to

indent ½ inch. All lines in the paper are separated by one double space—never more,

never less. Repeat the paper's title, centered, on the first line of the first page of text.

APA papers never contain underlined text.

Headings are bolded (except for the title of the paper and titles of the abstract page,

table of contents page, reference page, and appendix pages). Capitalization and format of

headings depend upon level of heading (see APA manual). Do not begin a new page

with each new heading. (Only the abstract, table of contents, first page of paper,

reference page, and appendixes begin on new pages.) This paper illustrates three levels

of heading: styles, 1, 2, and 3. The paragraphs have been shortened in this model in

order to illustrate headings in a brief space. Paragraphs in an actual paper should never

be shorter than three sentences.

In-text citations

Example One

Rogers and Hewitt (2009) reported that . . . (paragraph continues)

Level 1 heading

Place title on first page of text, 1 double-space

above the first line or first heading. Title does not

count as a level of heading.

Level 1 heading

Level 2 heading

Should begin on a new page Should be double-spaced The title should appear centered at the top

of the page and is NOT bolded.

Primary goal: clear communication Choose precise language Avoid:

◦ Bias--schizophrenics◦ Colloquial expressions◦ Slang◦ Contractions

Use active vs. passive voice◦ e.g. The nursing researchers conducted the survey in a

controlled setting. (preferred) versus◦ The survey was conducted in a controlled setting.

(APA, 2010, p. 77)

http://umhblib.umhb.edu/

Avoid wikis (such as Wikipedia, etc.)

Avoid biased sources Use the most current

research Use scholarly sources

A great place to start is the collection of databasesthrough the UMHB library.

http://umhblib.umhb.edu/

http://libguides.umhb.edu/apanursing

A scholarly source is◦ Peer-reviewed◦ Published by a reputable scholarly association or

society, university or recognized scholarly publisher

A scholarly source is NOT◦ An article in a popular magazine◦ From a popular website like Yahoo, Google or

WebMD◦ From a community edited document like

Wikipedia

You must give credit to any use of ideas, theories or research that directly influenced your work.

This includes definitions, statistics and theoretical support for your claim.

Include the APA manual.

When referring to the author in the text of the paper, use the specific name rather than “the author”.

For example, use “According to Smith and Johnson (2015)…” rather than “According to the researchers…”

The author’s name can be cited in the text with the year in parenthesis:◦ Smith (2015) found that…

◦ Both author(s) and year can be cited in a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence:…was supported by the study (Smith, 2015).

Group as author◦ When a group appears as an author, the last name is

spelled out the first time cited◦ When a group appears as an author, first citation in text

list all up to 5 authors. If six or more authors state primary author only and use et al.

◦ Examples: Walker, Allen, Bradley, Ramirez and Soo (2008) Walker and associates (2008) in text ; (Walker et al., 2008) at end of sentence Wasserstein and colleagues (2009) for 6 authors or (Wasserstein et al., 2009) for 6 authors (American Nurses Association [ANA], 2014)

APA (2010) pp. 176-177.

Require author, year, and page number in the in-text citation

Example: (Smith, 2011, p. 46). 40 words or less: incorporate into text More than 40 words, use block quoting Must be completely accurate Mark changes by using brackets Example: … they [women]

Block quoting is used when a quote is longer than forty words. Example :

These would be the actual words from your source. This quote is longer than 40 words and therefore cannot be quoted in the text. Using the format allows you to incorporate longer quotes intoyour work. Notice that this quote is indented and does not begin norend with quotation marks. The citation will fall at the end of the quote in parenthesis. The final punctuation mark will fall before the parenthetical citation. (Potter & Perry, 2010, pp. 92-93)

APA (2010) p. 171.

http://www.texasnurses.org/?page=PAC

The TNA (2015) explained that the “…RN/APRN PAC identifies candidates deserving of nurses' endorsement and financial support in races for the Texas Senate, Texas House of Representatives, and selected statewide races including the governor and lieutenant governor races” (para. 2).

APA Manual (2010) p. 172

Use sparingly and only when you cannot obtain the primary source.

Provide the secondary source in the reference list.

In text, provide the name for the original work and a citation in the reference list for the secondary source.

Example: Nightingale’s diary (as cited in Watson, 2011)

stated that …APA (2010) p. 178

References begin on a new page with the word “Reference” or “References” centered at the top of the page. It should NOT appear in bold.

The reference page should be double-spaced with a hanging indent.

References should appear in alphabetical order.

Basic format for books:

Author, A. A. (year of publication).Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. City and state of publication: Publisher.

Keep in mind that not all words in the title of a book

will be capitalized.

Journal with doi:Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (year of

publication). Title of article. Title of Periodical, xx(i), pp-pp. doi: xx.xxxxxxxx

Journal without doi:Mancino, D. (2009). Entry level positions for new

graduates: Real-time dilemma requires real-time solutions. The Journal of Nursing Education, 31(1), 1-7. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.umhblib.umhb.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2010419740&site=ehost-live

NOTE: a retrieval date is unnecessary.

Appendices should be referenced in text within parenthesis (see Appendix A).

Appendices will be included after the reference page.

Use a separate page for each appendix. The work “Appendix” with the identifying

letter should appear centered at the top of the page and is not bolded.

APA Manual (2010) p. 39

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.