Nursing Resources

APA is The Dept. of Nursing's Official Citation Format

The American Psychological Association created a set of style guidelines, including citation rules, in the early 20th century in order to make scientific writing more standardized. These days, the APA style guidelines are used by social and behavioral sciences, health care, natural sciences, humanities, and more.

APA In-Text Citations

APA format uses the author-date method.

(author's last name, year source was published)

Ex.: (Lopez, 2022)

When you've used a direct quote:

(author, year, p. # )

Ex.: (Harris, 2013, p. 26)

(author, year,  pp. # - #)

Ex.: (Garcia, 1989, pp. 452-453)

If you use a 'signal phrase'

if you mention the name of the author or authors in the sentence right before the in-text citation, you can leave the name out and just put the year.

Ex.: As Linda Cooper noted, "It was egregious." (2007, p. 6)

If your source has no page numbers

• pick a substitute for page numbers that makes sense for your source
• ex.: paragraph, a chapter number, a section number, a table number, a verse

Ex.: "It was the worst case of dropsy I'd ever seen," Dr. Fang recalled. (2019, para. 6)

When you used a long quotation / block quote:

If your quote is 40 words or more, you add it as a block quote.

• Start quote on new line
• Indent a half inch from the left margin
• No quote marks, just that indentation
• Type your quotation
• If there's more than one paragraph, make sure the first line of each new paragraph is also a half inch in
• The in-text citation goes at the end, after the period.

When you paraphrase

(author, year) - you don't need the page number(s) because it's not a direct quote.

Ex.: The author clearly had no fond memories of grade school. (SIlverman, 1962)

Compare to a direct quote version (author, year, pg.#):

"My grade school years were HELL! If I never go back to that dilapidated schoolhouse, it'll be too soon!" (Silverman, 1962, p. 356)

APA - References

Articles - Basic Format

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy

Print Articles

Article from a Print Journal (Single author)

Format: Author's last name, A. A.. (Publication Date). "Article Title", Journal Title, Volume Number. Issue Number: Pages-Pages. The medium of Publication.

Example:  Klassen, Pamela E. (2004). "The Robes of Womanhood: Dress and Authenticity Among African American Methodist Women in the Nineteenth Century". Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation. vol.14, (1), pp.39-82. Print.

Article from Print Journal (Multiple authors)

Multiple authors - For a work with up to 20 authors, include all of the in the reference. When the work has 21 or more authors, include only the first 19 names, an ellipsis and the final author. 

Format: Author's last name, A. A.., Author's last name, B. B., and Author's last name, C. C.  (Publication Date)  "Article Title", Journal Title, Volume Number. Issue Number, Pages-Pages. The medium of Publication.

Example: Hibel, J., Farkas, G., and Morgan, P. (2010). "Who Is Placed into Special Education?" Sociology of Education, Volume 83, 4, pp. 312-332. Print.

Online Articles

Online Journal Article - Same as from print, except provide a D.O.I. (Digital Object Identifier) whenever possible rather than a URL.

Format: Lastname, F. M., & Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, Vol.(Issue), page numbers. DOI

Website - Basic Format

Author's last name, A.A (Year of publication). "Article Title", Website Title, Publication Date. The Medium of retrieval. Retrieval Date. URL.

Books - Basic Format

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher Name. DOI (if available)

Note:

• DOI = Digital Object Identifier (Better than URLs for getting back to documents on the internet)
• If it has a DOI use it (even if you used a print version)
• Print version with no DOI? Add nothing (neither DOI nor URL)
• Don't use a URL if it has a DOI; just use that DOI
• The only time you use a URL is if an online version from a website doesn't have a DOI
• If all it has is a URL and that URL doesn't work, handle it like a citation with missing information
• Basic format of a DOI: https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy
  • If you are using a source that has older forms of the way DOIs used to be formatted, change that DOI to the current format

Edited book, no author

Editor, E. E. (Ed.). (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher. DOI (if available)

Edited Book with an Author or Authors

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (E. Editor, Ed.). Publisher. DOI (if available)

Translation

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (T. Translator, Trans.). Publisher. (Original work published YEAR) DOI (if available)

Edition Other Than the First

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (# edition). Publisher. DOI (if available)

Article or Chapter in an Edited Book

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of publication). Title of chapter. In E. E. Editor & F. F. Editor (Eds.), Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (pp. pages of chapter). Publisher. DOI (if available)

Multi-volume Work

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle (Vol. #). Publisher. DOI (if available)

APA Official Support

Our Favorite Other Online APA Style Guides

 Excelsior University OWL: APA Style by Ecelsior University

 Nice guide; even licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-4.0 International License.

Purdue OWL: APA Style by Purdue University

Note: Now includes annoying pop-up videos and citation generator ads. One of the more thorough style guides out there, though. Even includes fully-formatted example papers.