GENERAL GUIDELINES: 1. Successful professional nursing practice requires the ability to effectively communicate in both oral and written styles. The purpose of the APA requirements, as well as all rules of grammar and spelling, is to facilitate clear, professional, written communication. 2. The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University provides free writing resources and instructional material that can help with APA formatting (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/). The site is linked with permission from OWL (2014). 3. Only scholarly sources should be used in assignments. These include peer reviewed publications, government reports, or sources written by a professional or scholar in the field. Wikipedia, Wikis, .com website or blogs should not be used as anyone can add to these. Sources should be no more than five years old unless they are historical references or approved by your instructor.
Typing Instructions (Sample paper begins on page 41)
Element General Format
Font (pp. 228-
229) Times New Roman 12 point font
Spacing (p.
229) Double-space all lines of the manuscript. Do not add extra spaces between sections.
Margins (p.
229) 1 inch on all sides
Alignment (p.
229) Use flush-left style with the first line of a paragraph indented one-half inch. The right margin should be uneven rather than in block format.
Headers
(pp. 229-230)
Title page: Running head: ABBREVIATED TITLE (up to 50 characters and spaces). The running head is placed at the left margin of the header of the title page on the same line as the page number.
Example: Running head: DISCHARGE PLANNING
Note: The running head is a shortened version of the title and should make sense when standing alone.
Following pages: Type the ABBREVIATED TITLE (without the label “Running head”) flush left in the header for second and subsequent pages
CHAMBERLAIN COLLEGE OF NURSING CCN APA CITATION GUIDE 6TH ED
Chamberlain Guidelines for Writing Professional Papers.pdf |Revised 11-11-14 (mk.ls.jw) 2
Example: DISCHARGE PLANNING
Hint: In Microsoft Word, click “Insert” then “Header” then “Edit Header” then check “Different First Page”
Page numbers
(p. 230) Number all pages consecutively, beginning with the title page and continuing through the references. The page number should be placed in the upper right corner of each page, on the same line as the header.
Hint: Use the “page number” function in the header menu to automatically add page numbers
Title page
(pp. 229-230) Running head as above Title summarizing main idea of paper Author’s name (no titles or degrees) Chamberlain College of Nursing Course Number and Course Name (e.g. NR443: Community Health Nursing) Semester and Year (e.g. May 2014) No abstract or author note used for papers at Chamberlain
Hint: This title block should be centered, double spaced, in plain text (not bold), in upper and lower-case letters, and on the upper half of the page.
Hint: Add a page break at the end of the title page.
Second page
(p. 27) The title of the paper should be repeated at the beginning of the second page, centered, in plain text (not bold), and in uppercase and lowercase letters. The heading “Introduction” should not be used, it is assumed.
Headings (pp.
62-63) Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Headings are used to separate major sections of a paper. For most papers, two levels are sufficient.
Example:
Boldface, Centered, Uppercase and Lowercase
Flush Left, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase
Indented, boldface, uppercase first letter then lowercase with period.
Paragraphs (p.
229) Indent the first line of every paragraph one-half inch. For consistency, use the TAB key set at 0.5 inches.
Abbreviations
(pp. 106-111) 1. Abbreviations or acronyms that appear as word entries in a dictionary do not need explanation in text. Do not use periods in the abbreviation.
Example: AIDS, CBC 2. Other abbreviations or acronyms should be used sparingly and must be spelled out in the text only on the first use.
Example: nurse practitioner (NP) In subsequent use, list the abbreviation alone.
Example: The NP examined the patient. 3. Do not abbreviate units of time. Type out: day, week, month, and year.
CHAMBERLAIN COLLEGE OF NURSING CCN APA CITATION GUIDE 6TH ED
Chamberlain Guidelines for Writing Professional Papers.pdf |Revised 11-11-14 (mk.ls.jw) 3
Numbers (pp.
111–115) Write out the word for the number to express numbers 0 to 9 and any number that begins a sentence. Use Arabic numerals to numbers 10 or greater. There are many exceptions to this rule, see the APA Manual and a few examples below. 1. Ages Example: 2-year-old girl 2. Scores and points on a scale Example: The patient complained of moderately severe pain: 6 on a 0 to 10 scale.
Order of Paper (pp. 27-28, 65-86) 1. Introduction: Begin with a short introduction describing the importance and key concepts of the paper. The introduction does not require a heading. 2. Main content: Professional papers are written clearly and concisely. Academic papers should predominantly use the third-person point of view. First-person point of view is
allowed in some situations, such as when the assignment asks you to describe actions you
took in your project or requires you to state your opinion on an issue. Using the secondperson (“you,” “your”) point of view is not acceptable. See Writing Style on pages 65-86. 3. Conclusion: Summarize the main points of the paper and provide your conclusion. 4. Reference Page: Start on a new page. There should be a citation in the body of the paper for each reference and there should be a reference for each citation.
CREDITING SOURCES (PP. 169-192)Citing References in Text (pp. 174–179) Cite the author(s) and date of each source used in your paper. There are two styles to cite authors: the author can be cited within the sentence or at the end of the idea in parentheses. Each work cited in the text must have a corresponding entry on the Reference page. Each entry on the Reference page must have a citation in the text (except for rare exceptions noted in the APA Manual). The order of the authors’ names listed on the article should not be changed. The sentence end mark (period, question mark) should go after the citation and end parenthesis (see table below for examples).Quoted Content (pp. 170–173) Papers written for CCN should be your original work and contain no more than one short quotation for every three pages or as designated in the assignment guidelines. Quotations should be avoided if at all possible. Consult with your instructor if unclear. When using three or more consecutive words of a source, cite it as a direct quote except when it is an accepted name, such as a disorder or procedure. For example, coronary arterybypass graft surgery and the American Heart Association do NOT need quotation marks. 1. Short Quotes: Quotes fewer than 40 words should have quotation marks. This citation needs to include the author, year and page number.Example: A woman’s left ventricle has “about 10% less mass compared to that of a male” (D’Amico & Barbarito, 2007, p. 428).CHAMBERLAIN COLLEGE OF NURSING CCN APA CITATION GUIDE 6TH EDChamberlain Guidelines for Writing Professional Papers.pdf |Revised 11-11-14 (mk.ls.jw) 4 2. Some websites have headings but no page or paragraph numbers. In this case, use the heading and the number of the paragraph below the heading.Example: “Cat allergen can remain in a house for an average of 20 weeks after an animal is removed” (Konrad, 2010, Eliminate the Source section, para. 2) 3. Long Quotes: Quotes of 40 or more words should not be used in CCN papers without permission from your instructor.Reference page (p. 37) 1. Start on a new page (insert a page break). The word “References” (no quotation marks) is centered on the first line, but NOT in bold as it is not considered a heading. 2. Double-space 3. Use the hanging indent format with the first line of each entry at the left margin and all other lines indented 0.5 inches. In Microsoft Word you can do this by highlighting your references on your list and pressing the “Control” and “t” keys at the same time. 4. Do not number references. 5. All sources cited in text must appear in the reference list, and each entry in the reference list must be cited in text (with rare exceptions). 6. List references in alphabetical order. Do not alphabetize the authors within a single source. Keep them in the order listed on the source. 7. Do not add extra spacing between entries.CHAMBERLAIN COLLEGE OF NURSING CCN APA CITATION GUIDE 6TH EDChamberlain Guidelines for Writing Professional Papers.pdf |Revised 11-11-14 (mk.ls.jw) 5REFERENCES AND CITATIONS IN TEXTFormat Reference List Text Citation CommentsJournalarticle From article database like CINAHL or EBSCO, with DOI (p.198) Peters, T. (2008). Pain management: Do nonpharmaceutical methods really work? PainManagement, 20(6), 55- 65. doi:10.1095/1167- 9225.20.2.12 Peters (2008) discussed nonpharmaceutical methods…. OR Cite at the end of a sentence as (Peters, 2008). -Do not include the database (e.g., EBSCO or CINAHL) where the article was retrieved. -Retrieval date is not needed unless the site