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Nursing - Evidence-Based Practice: Write & Cite

Nursing: evidence-based practice

"Why do citation rules have to be so rigid?"

APA Citation Examples

Contents by Example

  • Books - 1:00
  • Journal Articles - 3:36
  • News Program - 6:39
  • Newspaper Magazines - 9:09
  • Podcasts - 11:14
  • Reports & Gray Literature - 14:12
  • Personal Interviews - 18:28
  • Citation Tools - 19:15
  • Quick Check - 20:13
  • Please Ask Questions (Library Contact) - 22:05

Contents by In-Text Language

  • Parenthetical & Narrative Citations - 1:23
  • Short Quotations & Block Quotations - 3:45
  • Direct Quotations: Material Without Page Numbers - 6:46
  • Quotes in Quotes - 9:18
  • Using Three Dots (Ellipses) - 11:30
  • Groups as Authors - 14:37
  • Personal Interviews - 18:28
APA Citation Examples

Formatting Tables 00:30

Citations in Tables 03:12​

Editing Tables 04:18

Source

American Psychological Association. (2020). Academic writer tutorial: Basics of seventh edition APA style [Online tutorial]. APA Style, Tutorials and Webinars. https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/tutorials-webinars


Writing Citations

Plagiarism

Creative projects often require input from many resources. Contributing information you use can be overlooked during the writing process, therefore it's important to cite your sources to avoid plagiarism, which is "to represent oneself as the author of some work that is in fact the work of someone else is to plagiarize. Plagiarism may include the 'passing off' of the form of the work—for example, the exact words of a piece of writing—or the intellectual content, or both" (Pickering, 2008).

Use the following techniques and citation tools while completing research projects.

Quoting & Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is often defined as putting a passage from an author into “your own words.”  

To successfully paraphrase, consider following these steps from the University of Wisconsin Madison's Writing Center:

  • Read the text you want to paraphrase several times until you feel that you understand it and can use your own words to restate it to someone else. Then, look away from the original and rewrite the text in your own words.
  • Take abbreviated notes; set the notes aside; then paraphrase from the notes a day or so later, or when you draft.
Source

Pickering, J. W. (2008). Plagiarism. In V. N. Parrillo, Encyclopedia of social problems. Sage Publications. Credo Reference: https://ezproxy.simmons.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/sagesocprob/plagiarism/0?institutionId=5600


Title Page - Professional Version

Title pages for professional papers include the following:


  • title of the paper (see Section 2.4 [in APA Manual]),
  • name of each author of the paper (the byline; see Section 1.22 for determining the order of authorship and Section 2.5 for formatting the byline),
  • affiliation for each author (see Section 2.6),
  • author note (see Section 2.7),
  • running head (also included on all pages; see Section 2.8), and
  • page number (also included on all pages, see Section 2.18) (APA, 2020, p. 30).

You can use either serif or sans serif fonts (APA, 2020, p. 44). Elements of the title page are double-spaced, and an additional double-spaced blank line appears between the title and byline. At least one double-spaced blank line also appears between the final affiliation and any author note (APA, 2020, p. 45). The author note is omitted in this example. You may be required to use different formatting, so follow your course instructor's requests.

TITLE OF PAGE 1

Title of Paper

Student Name

School of Nursing, Simmons University

Source

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. (7th ed.).


Reference Page

Prepare the references on a new page. Alphabetize by first word. Make a hanging indent for each reference. References are based on what you cite in your paper, therefore your paper will have some form of in-text citation matching its reference.

Note: A running head might be required to be consistent with the professional version of APA papers, so it was added to the following example.

TITLE OF PAGE 10

References

American Heart Association [@American_Heart]. (2018, March 22). Depression could increase the risk of a serious heart rhythm condition called atrial fibrillation, new research shows [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/American_Heart/status/976949152843223040?s=20

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.1 (2019, December 9). Atrial fibrillation. https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/atrial_fibrillation.htm

Cole, C. S., & Zimmerman, R. (2017). Anticoagulant options in atrial fibrillation: When new treatments become standard practice. Nurse Practitioner, 42(12), 29–35. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NPR.0000526766.99089.4e

Michaud, G. F. & Stevenson, W. G. (2018). Atrial fibrillation. In Jameson J., Fauci A. S., Kasper D. L., Hauser S. L., Longo D. L., Loscalzo J. (Eds.), Harrison's principles of internal medicine, (20th ed.). McGraw-Hill.

RegisteredNurseRN. (2015, June 26). How to interpret heart rhythms on EKG strips | How to tell the difference between a-fib & a-flutter [Video]. YouTube https://youtu.be/Ku4sqAKk5jI

Reference Examples

Journal Articles
From the APA Publication Manual (2020, p. 316, 10.1 Periodicals)
Author, A. A., &
Author, B. B.
Name of Group.
Author, C. C.
[username].
Username.		 (2020).
(2020, January).
(2020, February, 16).		 Title of article. Title of Periodical,
34(2), 5–14.
Title of Periodical, 2(1–2), Article 12.
Title of Periodical.		 https://doi.org/xxxx
https://xxxx
Article with a DOI

Cole, C. S., & Zimmerman, R. (2017). Anticoagulant options in atrial fibrillation: When new treatments become standard practice.1 Nurse Practitioner, 42(12),2 29–35. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NPR.0000526766.99089.4e 3

Parenthetical citation: (Cole & Zimmerman, 2017)
Narrative citation: Cole & Zimmerman (2017)

1. Capitalize first word of title and subtitle. This is called sentence case.

2. Italicize journal title and volume number. Use title case, capitalizing major parts of speech.

3. "Include a DOI for all works that have a DOI, regardless of whether you used the online version or the print version" (APA publication manual, 2020, p.299).

Book Chapter
From the APA Publication Manual (2020, p. 326, 10.3 Edited Book Chapters in Reference Works)
Author, A. A., &
Author, B. B.
Name of Group.
Author, C. C.
 (2020).
(2020).		 Title of chapter. In E. E. Editor (Ed.),
Title of book, (pp. 3-13).
Publisher Name.
In E. E. Editor & F. F. Editors (Eds.),
Title of book, (3rd ed., Vol. 2, pp. 212-255).
Publisher Name.
 https://doi.org/xxxx
https://xxxx
Chapter in an Edited Book

Michaud, G. F. & Stevenson, W. G. (2018). Atrial fibrillation.1 In Jameson J., Fauci A. S., Kasper D. L., Hauser S. L., Longo D. L., Loscalzo J. (Eds.), Harrison's principles of internal medicine, (20th ed.).2 McGraw-Hill.

Parenthetical citation: (Michaud & Stevenson, 2018)
Narrative citation: Michaud & Stevenson (2018)

1. Cite the chapter authors and title first.

2. Use the preposition "In" for the editors and book title.

Audiovisual Media
From the APA Publication Manual (2020, p. 342, 10.12 Audiovisual Works)
Director, D. D.
(Director).
Producer, P. P.
(Executive Producer).
Host, H. H. (Host).
Artist, A. A.
Uploader, U. U.
(2020).
(1989–present).
(2013–2019).
(2019, July 21).
Title of work
[Description].		 Production
Company.
Label.
Museum Name,
Museum Location.
Department Name,
University Name. 		https://xxxx
Audiovisual Media Part of a Greater Whole
From the APA Publication Manual (2020, p. 342, 10.12 Audiovisual Works)
Writer, W. W. (Writer), &
Director, D. D. (Director).
Host, H. H. (Host).
Producer, P. P. (Producer)
Composer, C. C.
Artist, A. A.
 (2020).
(2020, March 26).
Title of episode
(Season No.,
Episode No.)
[Description].
Title of song
[Description].
In P. P. Producer
(Executive Producer),
Title of TV series.
Production
Company.
In Title of podcast.
Production Company.
On Title of album.
Label.		 https://xxxx
YouTube Video

RegisteredNurseRN.1 (2015, June 26). How to interpret heart rhythms on EKG strips | How to tell the difference between a-fib & a-flutter [Video].2 YouTube https://youtu.be/Ku4sqAKk5jI

Parenthetical citation: (RegisteredNurseRN, 2015)
Narrative citation: RegisteredNurseRN (2015)

1. Use the name of the up-loader as author in this case.

2. Use square brackets for description of media.

Social Media
From the APA Publication Manual (2020, p. 348, 10.15 Social Media)
Twitter and Instagram:
Author, A. A. [@username].
Name of Group [@username].
Facebook and others:
Author, A. A.
Name of Group.
Name of Group [Username].
Username.
(n.d.).
(2019, August 8).
Content of the post up to the first 20 words.
Content of the post up to the first 20 words [Description of audiovisuals].
[Description of audiovisuals]. 		Site Name. https://xxxx
Retrieved August 27, 2020 from https://xxxx
Tweet

American Heart Association [@American_Heart].1 (2018, March 22). Depression could increase the risk of a serious heart rhythm condition called atrial fibrillation, new research shows [Tweet].2 Twitter. https://twitter.com/American_Heart/status/976949152843223040?s=20

Parenthetical citation: (American Heart Association, 2018)
Narrative citation: American Heart Association (2015)

1. Use the name of author or group and username in square brackets.

2. Include the media description in square brackets.

Webpages
From the APA Publication Manual (2020, p. 348, 10.15 Social Media)
Author, A. A., &
Author, B. B.
Name of Group.
(2020).
(2020, August).
(2020, September 28).
(n.d.). 		Title of work.
Site Name. https://xxxx
Retrieved December 22, 2020 from https://xxxx
Webpage with Group as Author

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.1 (2019, December 9). Atrial fibrillation. https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/atrial_fibrillation.htm

Parenthetical citation: (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019)
Narrative citation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2019)

1. When the author is the same as the site, omit the site name.

Source

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. (7th ed.).


Clinical Practice References

Source

American Psychological Association. (2020). Clinical practice references. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/clinical-practice-references


What's Missing

Sometimes reference elements are unknown or missing and the reference list entry must be adapted. See the table below for a summary of how reference elements are assembled and adjusted when information is missing (APA, 2020, p. 283).

From the APA Publication Manual (2020, p. 284, Table 9.1, 9.4 Four Elements of a Reference)
Nothing—all elements are present Provide the author, date, title, and source of the work. Author. (Date). Title.
    Source.		 (Author, year)
Author (year)
Author Provide the title, date, and source. Title. (Date). Source. (Title, year)
Title (year)
Date Provide the author, write "n.d." for "no date," and then provide the title and source.     Source. (Author, n.d.)
Author (n.d.)
Title Provide the author and date, describe the work in square brackets, and then provided the source. Author. (Date).
    [Description of work].
    Source.		 (Author, year)
Author (year)
Author and date Provide the title, write "n.d." for "no date," and then provide the source. Title. (n.d.). Source. (Title, n.d.)
Title (n.d.)
Author and title Describe the work in square brackets, and then provide the date and source. [Description of work].
    (Date). Source.		 ([Description of work], year)
[Description of work] (year)
Date and title Provide the author, write "n.d." for "no date," describe the work in square brackets, and then provide the source. Author. (n.d.)
    [Description of work].
    Source.		 (Author, n.d.)
Author (n.d.)
Author, date, and title Describe the work in square brackets, write "n.d." for "no date," and then provide the source. [Description of work].
    (n.d.). Source.		 ([Description of work], n.d.)
[Description of work] (n.d.)
Source Cite as a personal communication (see Section 8.9 [APA Publication Manual]) or find another work to cite (see Section 9.37). No reference list entry (C. C. Communicator, personal communication, month day, year)
C. C. Communicator (personal communication, month day, year)
Source

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. (7th ed.).


In-Text Citations

Basic In-Text Citation Styles
From the APA Publication Manual (2020, p. 266, 8.17 Number of Authors to Include in In-Text Citations)
One author (Luna, 2020) Luna (2020)
Two authors (Salas & D'Agostino, 2020) Salas & D'Agostino (2020)
Three or more authors (Martin et al., 2020) Martin et al. (2020)
Group authors with abbreviation

First citation a

Subsequent citations

 (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2020)

(NIMH, 2020)

 National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, 2020)

NIMH (2020)
Group authors without abbreviation (Stanford University, 2020) Stanford University (2020)

a Define the abbreviation for a group author only once in the text, choosing either the parenthetical or the narrative format. Thereafter, use the abbreviation for all mentions of the group in the text.

Citing Specific Parts of a Source

(APA, 2020, p. 264)

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019, p. 10)

(Shimamura, 2017, Chapter 3)

(Armstrong, 2015, pp. 3–17)

(Shadid, 2020, paras. 2–3)

(Kovačič & Horvat, 2019, Table 1)

(Thompson, 2020, Slide 7)

(Beck Institute of Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 2012, 1:30:40)

Source

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. (7th ed.).


Sample Papers

Sources

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. (7th ed.).

American Psychological Association. (2020). Sample papers. APA style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/sample-papers


Tools & Tips

APA Information

Find great tips and advice from the Owl and the APA website and blog

The Cite Button

The majority of the Library's e-resources can generate a single citation for you. Places to look for the Cite Button or other Citation Tools in E-Resources:

  • The right-hand menu on the article abstract page.
  • At the top of the results list.
  • Immediately under each citation in the results list.
  • At the very bottom of an article or article abstract page.

Citation tools found in databases
Citation tools found in Academic Search Complete, The Boston Globe, CQ Researcher, Credo Reference, Google Scholar, and Kanopy
Citation Tools

This is a selection of other citation generators & tools that can help you create citations and manage bibliographies. Remember, though, that no online citation generator is 100% accurate. Please be sure to check your citations to make sure that they're correct!

Assignment Formats

Annotated Bibliography
Literature Review
Sources

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. (7th ed.).

Card, N. A., & Card. (2010). Literature review. In N. J. Salkind (Ed.), Encyclopedia of research design. Sage Publications.


Writing Help