APA Style Guide
 Vanderbilt University School of Nursing uses the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed., 2001)(hereafter referred to as the APA Manual) as a guide for writing papers for courses. The following general guidelines have been extracted from the APA Manual to help you in writing scientific papers. There may be some modifications of these guidelines in specific courses; check with respective course coordinators. This document is not a substitute for the APA Manual. Each student is responsible for reading, understanding, and applying guidelines in the APA Manual. Page numbers have been provided as a reference where the specific information can be found in the APA Manual, and the student is encouraged to refer to these specific sources. PAGE FORMAT Margins should be a minimum of 1-inch on all sides with the exception of the manuscript page header (p. 286) Do NOT justify the right margin (p. 287). Font should be a regular serif 12 points, such as Times New Roman (p. 285). Double-space between all lines of text (p. 286). Paragraphs are indented 5 spaces (p. 289). Use one space after all punctation marks (p. 290-291). Exception: Do NOT space after internal periods in an abbreviation (e.g., U.S.). Type page number and the manuscript page header on each page of text (p. 288). Page numbering begins on the title page and each page is numbered sequentially to the end of the paper. Arabic numerals are used and typed in the upper right-hand corner at least 1-inch from the right-hand edge of the page or at the right margin in the space between the top edge of paper and first line of text. If margins are set to 1-inch, then page number would be typed 0.5-inch from top of paper (p. 288). TITLE PAGE The Title Page includes the running head, title of paper, byline and manuscript page header (pp. 287; 296-298). See example in APA Manual. Running head: It is a unique title for identification purposes. It should not be identical to the paper title or manuscript page header. Typed flush with the left margin and below the manuscript page header in all uppercase letters. Do not exceed 50 characters including spaces and punctuation. Title of paper: Limit to 10-12 words. Typed 3-4 lines below the running head and centered on page in uppercase and lowercase letters. If the title has 2 or more lines, double-space between lines. Byline: Consists of author's name and institution. Typed in uppercase and lowercase letters and centered on page. Author's name is typed one double-space below paper title; institution is typed one double-space below author's name. No other information appears in the byline. Manuscript page header: This header is derived from the first 2 or 3 words of the paper title. Typed in upper right-hand corner 5 spaces to the left of the page number in uppercase and lowercase letters. If margins are set to 1-inch, then page number would be typed 0.5-inch from top of paper (p. 288; 306). Tip: In Microsoft Word, select View, Header and Footer. A dashed header box with a separate tool bar appears. This feature allows you to enter the manuscript page header and page number in correct format using the options in the tool bar. The header will automatically appear on each page of text. FIRST TEXT PAGE Begins on second page of paper. Title of paper is centered at top page margin in uppercase and lowercase letters. Double-space and then begin text (p. 298; 307) HEADINGS APA uses from one to five levels of heading to organize the content of a paper. For a short paper, one or two levels of heading are usually sufficient. For two levels, use the following examples: Level 1: Level 2: Flush Left, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase Side Heading DOCUMENTATION The general rule to follow is if in doubt, document your source. When paraphrasing or directly quoting an author, you must credit the source. Failure to do so constitutes plagiarism. Direct Quotation The rule is that any information directly quoted, word for word, must always be documented with the author, year and page number(s) (p. 292-293). Direct quotations must be cited accurately. The quotation must display the wording, spelling and interior punctuation of the original source, even if incorrect. Short quotations (less than 40 words) are incorporated within the text and enclosed within double quotation marks. A quotation of 40 or more words is typed in a free-standing block of lines. A block quotation is started on a new line and indented 5 spaces from the left margin or consistent with new paragraph spacing. All subsequent lines are typed flush with the indentation. The entire block quotation is typed double-spaced. Example of Short Quotation: Surgical wounds of elderly clients heal slower than those of younger clients. "Cardiac output decreases with age, reducing the capillary blood flow necessary for macrophages to respond to disrupted tissue" (Metzler & Fromm, 1993, p. 71). Example of Quote Greater Than 40 Words: In many cases, the underlying causes are physiologic changes that may occur as the body ages. The aging process affect every body system, increasing postoperative risk factors significantly. Understanding the effects of the aging process can go a long way toward making sure that your patient recovers from surgery successfully. (Metzler & Fromm, 1993, p. 67)Paraphrasing When paraphrasing an author or referring to an idea in another work, the author and year is cited. The page number(s) is not required. Reference Citations in Text This method documents the works you have researched in writing your paper. This style of documentation briefly identifies the source for the reader and enables the reader to locate the complete citation in the list of references at the end of the paper. APA uses the author-date method for these citations (i.e., the surname of the author and year of publication are inserted in the text at the appropriate place) (p. 207-214). One Work by One Author: When the author's name is part of the narrative, cite only the year in parentheses. Otherwise, the author and year, separated by commas, is placed in parentheses at the end of the citation. Subsequent references to the citation in the same paragraph do not require the year. Smith (1998) stated that pain is subjective... Pain is subjective (Smith, 1998). One Work by Multiple Authors: When a work has two authors, always cite both names every time the reference occurs in text. Pain is subjective (Smith & Jones, 1998). One Work by Three to Five Authors: Cite all authors the first time the reference occurs; in subsequent citations, include only the surname of the first author followed by "et al." and the year. Smith, Jones and Roberts (1998) found... [first citation] Smith et al. (1998) found... [subsequent citation thereafter] One Work by Six or More Authors: When a work has six or more authors, cite only the surname of the first author followed by "et al." and the year for the first and subsequent citations. In multiple author citations in running text, join the names by "and." Smith and Jones (1998) found... When multiple authors are enclosed in parentheses at the end of a sentence, the names are joined with an ampersand (&). ...as has been found (Smith & Jones, 1998). Names of Groups that Serve as Authors (corporations, government agencies, associations): Are usually spelled out each time they appear in a text citation. If the group name is common, familiar and easily recognized by its initials, then the name of the group authors is spelled out in the first citation and abbreviated thereafter. First text citation: (National Institute of Health [NIH], 1998) Subsequent text citation: (NIH, 1998) Works With No Author: When a work has no author, cite in text the first few words of the reference list entry, usually the title, and the year. Use double quotation marks around the title of an article or chapter, and underline the title of a periodical, book, brochure, or report. on free care ("Study Finds," 1982) the book College Bound Seniors (1979) Works With Author Designated "Anonymous": Cite in text the work "Anonymous" followed by a comma and the year. In the reference list, an anonymous work is alphabetized by the word "Anonymous." (Anonymous, 1998) Authors With Same Surname: If two or more primary authors have the same surname, include the first author's initials in all text citations even if the year of publication differs. R. D. Luce (1959) and P. A. Luce (1986) also found... J. M. Goldberg and Neff (1961) and M. E. Goldberg and Wurtz (1972) studied... Two or More Works Within the Same Parentheses: Two or more works by the same author(s) are arranged by year of publication with the earliest first and most recent last. Past research (Smith & Jones, 1992, 1997) Works by the same author(s) and same date are cited with the suffixes a, b, c, and so forth after each year. The suffixes are assigned in the reference list and ordered alphabetically by title of the work. Several studies (Morgan, 1992a, 1992b, 1992c) Two or more works by different authors are cited in alphabetical order by the first author's surname and the citations are separated by semicolons. Several studies (Balda, 1980; Kamil, 1988; Pepperberg & Funk, 1990) Personal Communications: These may be lectures, letters, memos, telephone and some electronic communications (E-mail, bulletin boards, discussion groups). Personal communications are cited in text only, not the reference list. Give the initials and surname of the communicator and provide as exact date as possible. E. A. Smith (personal communication, August 13, 1998) reported... (E. A. Smith, personal communication, August 13, 1998). Specific Parts of a Source: To cite a specific part of a source, indicate the page, chapter, figure, table at the appropriate point in the text. The words "page" and "chapter" are abbreviated in the citation. (Smith & Jones, 1998, p. 405). (Barnes & Noble, 1997, chap. 7). Secondary Sources: For an original work that is referred to in a secondary source (e.g., for a study by Barnes cited in Smith), name the original work in the text and give a text citation for the secondary source. Only the secondary source is included in the reference list. In the example below, Smith would appear in the list of references. In Barnes' study (as cited in Smith, 1998)... REFERENCE LIST Reference list is begun on a new page (pp. 215-281; 299). Type References without quotation marks in upper and lower case letters, centered at top margin. Double-space and then enter first reference. References cited in text must appear in the reference list; conversely, each entry in the reference list must be cited in text with the exception of personal communications. Reference list must be accurate and complete as to spelling, titles, numbers for pages, volumes and dates. References are listed alphabetically in order. First line of each entry begins flush with the left margin. Indent subsequent lines of each entry 5 spaces. All authors for each entry must be included, et al. is not used unless there are more than 7 authors (refer to APA Manual p. 224 for entries with more than 7 authors). Double-space all reference entries. Use an ampersand (&) when joining last name of author in multiple authors. Use a space between two initials of an author. Include issue number only if each issue of a journal begins on page 1. Use a continuous underline or italics from periodical titles through volume numbers; if underlining is used, underline the commas before and after volume numbers. Refer to APA Manual pages 268-281 for guidelines for referencing electronic sources. Other APA Rules Abbreviations should be used sparingly in scientific papers. The abbreviation should be conventional and familiar to the reader. The word or term must be spelled out initally with the abbreviated form enclosed in parentheses, e.g. National Institute of Health (NIH) (p. 103-111). Do not break words at the end of a typed line (p. 287). If use the title of an article is used in the in text, it is enclosed in quotation marks. Use pp. as the abbreviation for more than one page. There should be no more than 27 lines of text on a page. Use words for numbers below 10 and figures to express numbers 10 and above. There are a number of exceptions to this rule. See pp. 122-130. Paragraphs are composed of a minimum of 3 sentences. Generally speaking, current references are no more than 5 years old with the exception of "classics." |