APA Formatting and Using Scholarly Literature for Nursing and Allied Health

APA Citation Style

Questions to consider:

• How do I format an entire paper in APA?
• What's the difference between parenthetical and narrative in-text citations?
• How do I handle missing information, such as author or date, in a source?
• How are book and article titles formatted on the References page?
• Where can I go in the library to find detailed APA formatting information?

APA formatting style is derived from the American Psychological Association's Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (currently 7th edition). APA style is primarily used in the social and behavioral sciences, providing guidance for the formatting of papers for publication or presentation. This generally includes a title page, the paper body, including brief in-text citations noting where sources are used, and a list of full citations at the end of the paper.

First, if you're being asked to format your entire paper in APA, you may want to start with this Word Template for APA Student Papers (clicking on the link will prompt you to download the file - do that, open the file, and then edit it to get started). Also see: using APA in course discussion forums.

The main thing to remember is that you don't have to memorize every detail of APA; you just need to know where to look those details up when you need them (APA Help page in the library). Having said that, if you can remember a few major details about APA (see below), you'll save yourself lots of time and effort when it comes time to write up your papers and discussion posts.

Overall Paper Formatting

• Double-spaced, 1 inch margin on all sides (this is the default, "normal" margins setting in Word)
• 12 pt Times New Roman font recommended
• Page numbers in top right, starting with the title page.
• Use only 1 space after a period.
• Running head omitted in student papers (unless assignment or instructor says otherwise)
• View a sample APA paper with annotations explaining the format details.
• Note: Always pay attention to your specific assignment instructions, which can override any of these guidelines.

In-Text Citations

Whenever you include information from an outside source (whether quoting directly or paraphrasing in your own words), you need to include a brief in-text citation alongside that information. This brief citation then points to the full citation at the end of the paper. You need to do this for each sentence that includes one or more sources of information, even if they are from the same source and the sentences are in a row. The only exception is if you use a block quotation to cite a longer passage from your source.

There are two ways to construct an in-text citation and it's strongly suggested you use both methods in your writing (don't use just parenthetical citations):

• Narrative citation: is often a more effective way to cite, and puts some of the citation information within your narrative (i.e., you include information in your own sentence). This method gives your reader important context for your sources, using a signal phrase, on who said and when it was said, before reading the cited information [e.g. Wilson (2023) found that...].
  • Example using a direct quote: Johnson (2021) writes that "Only about 10% of student paper citations should consist of direct quotes" (p. 36).
  • Example using a paraphrase: Johnson's study (2021) suggests that 90% of paper citations should utilize paraphrasing instead of direct quotes (p.36).
• Parenthetical citation: as the name implies, you put the brief citation information (author last name, date of publication, and if applicable, page number) inside parentheses at the end of the source information.
  • Example: "Only about 10% of student paper citations should consist of direct quotes" (Johnson, 2021, p. 36).
  • Example from a published journal article:

• See more examples of narrative and parenthetical in-text citations in APA.

References Page

Your list of full citations starts on a new page at the end of your paper (continue page numbering from paper body), with the title: References, centered one inch from the top. Basic tips:

• Every source cited in your text should point to an entry in your References, and vice versa.
• Entries are alphabetized by author last name (or title, skipping initial articles like A, An, The, if no author) and aligned left.
• Hanging Indent is used for each entry (2nd and subsequent lines for each entry indented 0.5 inches). Microsoft Word can create hanging indents for you.
• Text is double-spaced, same as rest of paper.
• Author names: last name first; first and middle initials follow (Kirk, J. T.).
• If no author: use name of organization that created the document, if applicable, otherwise use title instead.
• Article, web site/page or book titles: capitalize ONLY the first word in the title and subtitle, and proper nouns (Example: Trade agreements between North Korea and China: Firm-level analysis).
• Title of journal (and journal volume number), website or book in italics.
• Journal name in full, using capitalization and punctuation as used within journal (Anthropology & Education Quarterly)
• For websites, pages, and articles on the open web, include a URL.
• Online scholarly sources from a library database: use a DOI if available (many journal articles from the Empire library have this), otherwise do not use a URL.

Example of a journal article from an online database in the library (note: hanging indent not shown here but must be included): 

DeCamp, W., and Christopher F. (2017, February). The impact of degree of exposure to violent video games, family background, and other factors on youth violence. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 46(2), 388-400. doi:10.1007/s10964-016-0561-8.

• APA Reference Examples

• Sample References Page

• APA References video tutorial