Formal Writing in Baccalaureate Nursing

Education

APA Style: 5th Edition

NUR 215

General Rules

Print should be 12 point. Do not use settings that decrease the space between letters or words.

Double space everything (even the reference page).

Margins are 1 inch at top, bottom, left, and right of every page.

General Rules

Indent the first line of every paragraph. Use the tab key for uniform indentions.

Left-flush style should be used. The right hand side will be jagged.

One sentence paragraphs should be avoided. The reference used for spelling is Merriam-

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.

Title Page

(Pages 10-12, 296)

Example: Page 306

Page Numbers

All pages are numbered consecutively beginning with the title page.

Arabic numbers are used to number pages Numbers should appear in the upper right

hand corner of each page and be at least one inch from the right hand edge of the paper.

References withinthe Body of the Paper

Pages 207-214

One Work by One Author

The findings were consistent with the researcher’s earlier study (Baker, 1999).

Baker (1999) found that the findings were consistent with his earlier study.

One Work by Multiple authors

Johnson, Rosen, Cloud, and Zen (2004) found…

After first citation (above), use …

Johnson et al. (2004) found…

Quotations

Short quotations are incorporated in text and enclosed by double quotation marks. Always provide the specific page citation in the text.

When quotation is > 40 words, display the quotation in a free-standing block and do not use quotation marks. Indent five spaces with no additional indentation of the first line. Entire quotation is double-space. (Pg. 119)

Quotation Example

Page 118 – She stated, “The ‘placebo effect” …

disappeared when behaviors were studied in this manner” (Miele, 1993, p. 276), but she did not clarify which behaviors were studied.

Reference Page

Chapter Four(Pages 215-281)

Reference List Guidelines

Remember to double space!! Alphabetical order by surname of first author. Use only initials of first and middle names. Use hanging indent format. Italicize the book, journal, etc. Do not

underline. Agreement of In-Text Citation and Reference

List!!

Reference List Capitalization Rules

Do not capitalize the first letter of each word in an article or book title. Capitalize only the first letter of the first word of the title .

BUT! You do capitalize the first letter of each major word in a journal title.

Periodical Reference

Black, H. K. & Rubinstein, R. L. (2004). Themes of suffering later in life. Journal of Gerontology, 59, 517-524.

Book Reference

Balswick, J. O., & Balswick, J. K. (1999). The family: A perspective on the

contemporary home. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker.

Web Sources: Basic APA Rules

Provide…1. A document title or description

2. Date of publication or retrieval

3. Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

4. Authors of the document; whenever possible

See Page 271 in Manual.

Suggestions

Reread your paper. Read your paper aloud. Give a copy to a colleague to read and

critique. Allow more time to write paper.

Additional Resources

www.apastyle.org http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocAP

A.html