Formal Writing in Baccalaureate Nursing Education APA Style: 5 th 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 within the Body of the Paper Pages

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 )

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,

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.

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