APA Format - General Rules
APA Format - General Rules
APA Format - General Rules
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Introduce and define APA format
NOTE: This tutorial is intended to introduce the basic concepts of APA format. It is in no way intended to replace the APA Manual (6th Ed.). All students should purchase a copy of this important Manual and use it for all nursing course writing assignments.
APA DEFINED
APA, simply put, is a style of formal writing, especially for publication. The rules of APA format are outlined in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th Edition).
APA has been adopted as the writing style of choice by many disciplines, including the fields of nursing and medicine.
GENERAL GUIDELINES
APA is formal writing, so avoid: slang expressions (i.e., potty training, write-up) medical jargon* (i.e., drawing labs, call a code) contractions (i.e., isnt, cant)
*Even if the intended audience for the paper (nurse peers, for example) is familiar with the jargon used, the formal writing rule still wins this battle!
GENERAL GUIDELINES
While APA style is formal, third-person writing is not required in fact, first-person is preferred when it improves the clarity of the paper.
Instead of writing This writer reviewed the literature and found (third-person), it is fine to write I reviewed the literature and found or In my review of the literature, it was found (first-person).
CAPITALIZATION
With few exceptions*, do not capitalize words other than the first word of a sentence and proper names.
Instead of writing The Respiratory Therapist came to the Emergency Department you would write The respiratory therapist came to the emergency department
*See the APA Manual, pp. 101-104, for exceptions to the capitalization rule.
ABBREVIATIONS
A word or phrase that is typically abbreviated needs to be written out completely the first time it is used, followed by its abbreviation in parentheses. Subsequent mentions can then just use the abbreviation.
So, the first time you would write In the United States (U.S.), the registered nurse (RN) typically cares for two patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Throughout the rest of the paper, U.S., RN, and ICU may be utilized without further explanation.
NUMBERS
As a general rule, single digit numbers (0-9) should be spelled out (i.e., zero, one, two, etc.); numbers 10 and above should be expressed in numerals (i.e., 10, 20, 30, etc.).
*See the APA Manual, pp. 111-114, for exceptions to this general rule.
FORMATTING
Font, Margins, and Spacing
The preferred font is Times New Roman 12-point. Margins should be 1 on all sides. (Check the default setting in your word-processing program. In Microsoft Word, for example, the left and right margins default to 1.25, so the 1 margins must be set.) Double-space the text, including text in block quotations.
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FORMATTING
Indenting and Alignment
Indent the first line of every paragraph five to seven spaces, or inch, from the left margin. (This is the typical default setting in most word-processing programs.) Do not right-justify the text (where all lines are the same length); use the flush-left style that results in a ragged right margin of text.
FORMATTING
Title
The title should be concise, yet able to clearly summarize the main idea of the paper.
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The title of the paper should be centered on the first line of page 2*. The title should not be bolded, italicized, in ALL UPPERCASE LETTERS, or underlined and should be in the same font as the text (i.e., Times New Roman 12-point).
*If no title page is required, then the title of the paper would be positioned on page 1, on the first line of text following an identifying personal information block. See the Writing Assignment directions for title page requirements.
Source: APA Manual, p. 23
HEADER
Page Numbers
The page number is placed flush right in the header. It is positioned from the top edge and within the 1 top margin. The title page (if required) should be identified as page number 1, with the remaining pages numbered consecutively in numerals. If there is no title page, then the first page of the paper is page 1.
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FORMATTING
Running Head
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The running head is an abbreviated title that is placed flush left in the header on every page of the paper. It is positioned from the top edge and within the 1 top margin. On the first page of the paper, the running head contains the words Running head: followed by the first 50 characters of the title of the paper (counting letters, punctuation, and spaces between words) in ALL UPPERCASE LETTERS.
FORMATTING
Running Head (cont.)
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The running head should be in the same font as the text of the paper and should not be underlined, italicized, or bolded. On all subsequent pages, the running head contains just the first 50 characters of the title of the paper in ALL UPPERCASE LETTERS.
Note that the words Running head: only appear on the first page of the paper. (For examples, see the APA Sample Paper in the Corrections Insert located at http://supp.apa.org/style/PM6E-Corrected-Sample-Papers.pdf)
Source: APA Manual, p. 229, and Corrections Insert
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DIRECT QUOTES
Use direct quotes when you are reproducing, word-forword, material from another authors work.
It is a good rule of thumb to only use direct quotes when the information presented by the original author is worded so uniquely that paraphrasing it would cause the original meaning to be compromised or lost completely.
If a direct quote is fewer than 40 words, incorporate it into the text and enclose the quotation with double quotation marks.
Source: APA Manual, pp. 170-171
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IN-TEXT CITATIONS
Use the author-date method of citation (surname of author without suffixes or titles and the year of publication*).
If the name of the author appears in the text, then cite only the year of publication in the parentheses.
When required (direct quotes, statistics, etc.), also provide the page number.
It was found that among those studied, 82% had a poor outcome (Kessler, 2003, p. 43).
*Even if the reference includes a month and year, only put the year in the citation.
Source: APA Manual, p. 174
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REFERENCES
References acknowledge the sources used for your paper and provide a way for the reader to locate those sources. With two exceptions*, every reference cited in the text must be listed in the reference list and each entry in the reference list must be cited in the text.
*The only exceptions to this rule are classical works (i.e., the Bible, the Quran) and references to personal communications, which are cited in the text and should not appear in the reference list.
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REFERENCES (cont.)
To format the reference page: Start on a new page. Center the word References (not bolded, italicized, in ALL UPPERCASE LETTERS, or underlined) on the first line of the page in the same font as the text (i.e., Times New Roman 12-point). Double-space all reference entries and use the hanging indent format (where the first line of each reference is at the left margin and subsequent lines are indented five to seven spaces, or inch).
Source: APA Manual, p. 37
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REFERENCES (cont.)
Be accurate and complete in reference entries, paying
careful attention to the spelling of names and the completeness of journal titles. In general, a reference should contain the authors name, date of publication, title of the work, and publication data. For the specifics of formatting a reference list, refer to Sections 6.22 through 6.32 in the APA Manual. For examples of references, organized by type of source, refer to Sections 7.01 through 7.11 in the APA Manual.
Source: APA Manual, pp. 180-192, 198-215
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CONCLUSION
This tutorial is provided only as a basic overview of
APA format and is not all-inclusive. Refer all specific APA questions to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th Edition).
While working on any writing assignments, contact the
Writing Center for assistance in the areas of focus, clarity, organization, development, grammar, and punctuation.
Special thanks to Professor Linda Pennington,
Professor Meghan Hollowell, and Dean Kathleen Carissimi for their assistance and guidance in the creation of this tutorial.