John Spellman Library and Media Center

GHC Nursing Division's APA guidelines

Recommended and useful websites:

• The Writing Center @ the University of Wisconsin-Madison - ( http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocAPA.html )
• A.P.A. Style Essentials, Douglas Degelman, PhD. Vanguard University of Southern California  - ( http://www.vanguard.edu/faculty/ddegelman/index.aspx?doc_id=796 )
• The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University - ( http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ )

A.P.A. Checklist:

Formatting - 2 points

• One inch margins, text flush left with uneven right margin.
• Double spaced throughout including reference page.
• No extra spaces between paragraphs.
• Copy double sided with back of title page blank.
• Heading - Full title as it appears on title page centered on first line of body of paper.
• Headings to separate and classify sections of paper are used in any paper that is more than 5 pages in length.
• Do not use pictures, tables, or bullets.
• 5 - 7 space indent at the beginning of each paragraph.
• Font 12 pt. New Times Roman.
• Pagination - flush right as the first line of every page including the title page (place in header).
• Page header flush left, Upper case; page number flush right.
• Use active voice: "the nurse changed the dressing.." rather than "the dressing was changed by the nurse..."

Title Page - 2 points

• Title - title case/Author/Course - title case/instructor/Date
• Double spaced
• Page number right margin of header
• 1 inch margin
• Centered in middle of page

Text Citations - 2 points

• A balanced presentation of the ideas from all references is required. Citations from one source exclusively with brief mention of several others is not acceptable.
• All source material must be documented in the body of the paper by citing the author(s) and date(s) but no page number unless a direct quote. The idea is to formally acknowledge the words and ideas of others.
• Failure to include citations within the body of the text is an example of plagiarism and is unacceptable.

Quotations - 2 points

• Paraphrase ideas of authors in your own words primarily in the body of the paper
• If you must quote the author and the quotation is less than 40 words, encase the quote in "..." followed by (Author, year, page#)
• Block quotations (quotations of 40 words or more ) are not allowed.

References - 2 points

• All sources cited in the body of the paper must be listed on the reference list and all references on the reference list must be cited in the paper.
• Reference section begins on a new page.
• The header (Reference) is centered on the first line of the page.
• Sources meet the requirements of the assignment (number, type, publication date)
• References are from reliable sources: professional journals and books that publish articles by experts in the discipline.
• Web sites are not allowed unless approved by instructor in advance. Use on-line resources to find full text articles only.
• Each reference uses a hanging indent - first line is flush with the left margin, all of lines are indented 5 - 7 spaces.
• References are listed alphabetically by author.
• Formatting of references follow rules as published in the web sites published on the discussion board.