SOUTHEASTERN
LOUISIANA UNIVERSITY
College of Nursing and Health Sciences
School of Nursing
APA Guidelines
The Department of Nursing subscribes to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th edition), known as APA guidelines, as a format standard for writing formal papers. Some of the more common aspects of the APA guidelines are presented below to help you apply these standards to your papers. Consult the full text of the Publication Manual (section and page number indicated after each item) for a more detailed explanation and formatting examples. A sample title page is also included and should appear on the cover of formal papers written within the School of Nursing. You will be informed when APA guidelines are to be followed for a given assignment.
Basic Format
·
Use 8 ½ x 11
inch paper. (5.01, p. 284)
·
Use Times New
Roman typeface with a 12 point font. Print must be letter quality. (5.02, p.
285)
·
Use double
spacing on all lines of the manuscript. (5.03, p. 286)
·
Margins are
to be 1 inch at top, bottom, left, and right of every page. (5.04, p. 286)
·
Only the left
side of the paper should be justified (use flush-left style). The right margin
should be left uneven. (5.04, p. 287)
·
Arrange the
pages of the manuscript as follows: (5.05, p. 287)
Title page
Text (body of paper)
References
Appendixes
Tables
(and/or Figures)
·
Page numbers
are consecutive and begin on the title page. Page numbers appear in the upper
right-hand corner 1 inch from the right side of the paper and ½ inch from the
top of the paper. (5.06, p. 288)
·
Each page
must also have a manuscript page header consisting of the first two or three
words from the title in the upper right-hand corner.
The manuscript page header appears ½ inch to the left of the page
number and ½ inch from the top of the paper. (5.06, p. 288) (Note: If using
Microsoft Word, go to the View option on the toolbar and select "Header
and Footer".)
·
The first
line of each paragraph is indented 1/2 inch (approximately 7 spaces). (5.08,
p. 289)
·
Use from one
to five levels of headings. (3.31, p. 113)
Skip the Level 2 heading if the paper contains less than 4 levels of
headings. (3.32, p. 114)
·
Space once
after all punctuation, including at the end of sentences. (5.11, p. 290)
·
Quotations of
less than 40 words should be enclosed with double quotation marks (“).
Quotations of more than 40 words should be placed in a free-standing
block indented ½ inch from the left margin.
Block quotes use double-spaced lines and include no quotation marks.
(3.36, pp. 117 and 119) Include page number from the source at the end of the
block quotation. Place the page number in parentheses, following the sentence
period. (3.34, p. 118)
·
Use the
Arabic symbol for numbers 10 and above. All
numbers less than 10 must be expressed in words (i.e., one, two, seven,
nine…etc.). Numbers less than
10 may be expressed using Arabic symbols if being compared to numbers 10 or
greater. (3.42 – 3.44, pp.
122-127)
·
Staple the
finished paper in the upper left-hand corner.
Do not use binders, folders, or plastic sleeves for protecting papers.
Title Page
·
Follow this
sample title
page for the required elements and spacing.
(Also see 5.15, p. 296 and p. 306)
·
Page number 1
appears on the title page along with the manuscript page header. See
instructions in preceding section. (5.06, p. 288)
·
Do not insert
a running head on the title page.
·
The last line
on the title page (date) should be placed on the centerline of the page (p.
306).
Text
·
Type the
title of the paper centered at the top of the first page of the text (body of
the paper). The first page of text will be page number 2 (unless an abstract
is required). (5.17, p. 298)
·
If you use
another person’s words or ideas, you must give them credit using a citation
in the text. For example, the
following in text citations could be used if citing the work of Smith and
Wesson, published in 2000.
Smith
and Wesson (2000) reported ….
In
a recent study of pre-test anxiety (Smith & Wesson, 2000) reported….
In
2000, Smith and Wesson reported ….
(3.94
– 3.103, pp. 207-214)
·
If citing the
work of more than two authors, the names of all the authors should appear the
first time it is cited in the manuscript. Thereafter, the name of the first
author followed by “et al.” may be used. (For example, the first time use
Smith, Wesson and Winchester; thereafter, use Smith et al.). (3.95, p. 208)
·
Join names in
a multiple-author citation in the body of the paper by the word and.
When authors names appear in parentheses and in the reference list,
join the names by an ampersand (&). (3.95, p. 208)
·
Information
obtained from interviews should also be cited in the text. For example: (A. B.
Smith, personal communication, September 7, 2000). (3.102, p. 214) Do not
include personal communications in the reference list.
References
·
The reference
list provides information necessary to identify each source cited in the body
of the paper. The format for writing references varies for different sources
of information (i.e., professional journals, book chapters, government
documents, and electronic sources). (More common reference formats are found
on pp. 239-281) Also refer to
Figure 1 on page 313.
·
Italicize (do
not underline) titles of publications (journals, books, brochures, etc.) using
upper and lower case letters. (4.11, p. 227) Capitalize only the first word of
the title of the article or chapter within the publication; do not italicize
this title or place quotation marks around it. (4.10, p. 226)
·
Italicize the
volume number, if any, of journals; do not use vol. before the number.
If a journal or internet source does not include a volume number, include the
month or season with the year, for example (Spring, 2000). (4.11, p 227)
·
Each time
there is a citation in the text, a reference must also appear in the reference
list. (4.01, p. 215) The
exception to this rule is a personal communication (interview) which is cited
only in the body of the paper. (3.102, p. 214)
·
Arrange
references in alphabetical order in the reference list, using the surname of
the primary author. Do not alphabetize multiple authors of a work within a
reference unless their names appeared in that order in the original source.
·
List
references in a hanging indent format, meaning that the first line of
each reference is set flush left and subsequent lines are indented. The second
and any subsequent lines should be indented ½ inch (approximately 7 spaces).
(5.18, p. 299)
Appendixes
·
Place
appendixes, if any, following the reference list. (p. 287) Appendixes include
detailed information that is deemed important but that would be distracting in
the text (i.e., questionnaires, approval forms, letters, etc.)
·
Appendixes
are labeled with letters in the order in which they appear in the text:
Appendix A, Appendix B, etc. (3.90, p. 205). If only one appendix is used,
label it: Appendix.
·
In the text,
refer to appendixes by their labels, for examples (see Appendixes A and B for
questionnaire forms). (3.90, p. 205)
Tables
and Figures
·
Tables should
be placed on separate pages and located at the end of the paper following the
appendixes. Tables are numbered: Table 1, Table 2, etc. (3.65, p. 155)
·
Refer to
Table Example 2 (p. 150) for the basic elements and format of a table. (Also
see 3.62, pp. 147-154) (Note: If
using Microsoft Word, select “Insert Table” under the Table option on the
toolbar.)
·
Each table
should be discussed in the text so the reader will know to go to the table to
look for more detailed information. (3.63, p. 154)
·
A table may
have a note below it to explain information found in the table including the
source of the data. Use the format: Note.
Information in column one is for Louisiana only. (3.70, pp. 170-173).
·
Data in
tables that are not original to you should be credited to the author at the
bottom of the table, for example: Note.
From Jones, E. C. (2001). Spirituality in terminal illness. Journal of
Spiritual Health, 1(1), 1-10. (3.73,
pp. 174-175)
·
If figures
are used, each should be placed on a separate page, following the tables. See
the suggested format for figures. (3.83-4, pp. 198-200; Figure 1, p. 180)
Other Sources of Information and Help
·
The APA
printed reference web site: http://www.apa.org
·
The
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th
ed.)
Original 2/01; Rev. 9/01, 9/02