NURSING PAPER FORMAT AND APA REFERENCING GUIDE
Nursing paper format and APA referencing guide
Title of the Paper in Full Goes Here
Student Name Here
Program Name or Degree Name, Walden University
Course Number, Section, and Title
(Example: NURS 0000 Section 01, Title of Course)
Instructor Name
Month, Day, Year
(enter the date submitted to instructor)
Title of the Paper
This is your introductory paragraph designed to inform the reader of what you will cover in the paper. (BSN Students – Carefully follow your course-specific Grading Rubric concerning the content that is required for your assignment and the Academic Writing Expectations [AWE] level of your course.) This template’s formatting—Times New Roman 12-point font (other options include Calibri 11, Arial 11, Lucida Sans Unicode 10, and Georgia 11), double spacing, 1” margins, 1/2” indentations beginning of each paragraph, page numbers, and page breaks—is set for you, and you do not need to change it. Do not add any extra spaces between the heading and the text (you may want to check Spacing under Paragraph, and make sure settings are all set to “0”). The ideas in this paper should be in your own words and supported by credible outside evidence. Cite the author, year of publication, and page number, if necessary, per APA. The introductory paragraph should receive no specific heading because the first section functions as your paper’s introduction. Build this paragraph with the following elements:
Briefly detail what has been said or done regarding the topic.
Explain the problem with what has been said or done.
Create a purpose statement (also commonly referred to as a thesis statement) as the last sentence of this paragraph: “The purpose of this paper is to describe…”.
Level 1 Heading (Name According to the Grading Rubric Required Content)
This text will be the beginning of the body of the paper. Even though this section has a new heading, make sure to connect this section to the previous one so the reader can follow along with the ideas and research presented. The first sentence, or topic sentence, in each paragraph should transition from the previous paragraph and summarize the main point in the paragraph. Make sure each paragraph addresses only one topic. When you see yourself drifting to another idea, make sure you break into a new paragraph. Avoid long paragraphs that are more than three-fourths of a page. Per our program recommendations, each paragraph should be at least 3-4 sentences in length and contain a topic sentence, evidence, analysis, and a conclusion or lead out sentence. See the MEAL plan (Main idea, Evidence, Analysis, and Lead out) in the Writing Center. In your paragraphs, synthesize your resources/readings into your own words and avoid using direct quotations. In the rare instances you do use a direct quotation of a historical nature from a source, the page or paragraph numbers are also included in the citation. For example, Leplante and Nolin (2014) described burnout as “a negative affective response occurring as result of chronic work stress” (p. 2). When you transition to a new idea, you should begin a new paragraph Nursing paper format and APA referencing guide.
Another Level 1 Heading (Name According to the Grading Rubric Required Content)
Here is another Level 1 heading. Again, the topic sentence of this section should explain how this paragraph is related to or a result of what you discussed in the previous section. Consider using transitions between sentences to help readers see the connections between ideas.
Be sure to credit your source(s) in your paper using APA style. The APA Manual 7th edition and the Walden Writing Center are your best citation resources. Writing Center resources are available at https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/apa/citations. You must appropriately and correctly cite all works used in your document.
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The following paragraph provides examples of in-text citation examples. According to Leplante (2019), employers cause burnout when employees are stressed by too much work. Or you might write and cite in this manner: Employers cause burnout when employees are stressed by too much work (Leplante, 2019). When paraphrasing, the author name and year of publication in citations is required by APA to direct the reader to a specific source in the reference list. Personal communications are not listed in the reference page but are noted in text as (S. Wall, personal communication, May 24, 2019). This should immediately follow the content of the interview. Also, go to
Another Level 1 Heading (Name According to the Grading Rubric Required Content)
APA can seem difficult to master, but following the general rules becomes easier with use. The Writing Center also offers numerous APA resources on its website and can answer your questions via email. Prior to submitting your paper for grading, submit your draft to SafeAssign Drafts found in the left column of your course.
And so forth until the conclusion….
Conclusion
The conclusion section should recap the major points of your paper. Do not introduce new ideas in this paragraph; the conclusion should interpret what you have written and what it means in the bigger picture.
References
Please note that the following references are intended as examples only. List your own references in alphabetical order. Also, these illustrate different types of references; you are responsible for any citations not included in this list. In your paper, be sure every reference entry matches a citation, and every citation refers to an item in the reference list Nursing paper format and APA referencing guide.
Journal Article; Two Authors; DOI
Leplante, J. P. & Nolin, C. (2014). Consultas and socially responsible investing in Guatemala: A case study examining Maya perspectives on the Indigenous right to free, prior, and informed consent. Society & Natural Resources, 27(4), 231–248. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2013.861554
Journal Article, Two Authors; URL
Eaton, T. V., & Akers, M. D. (20007). Whistleblowing and good governance. CPA Journal, 77(6), 66–71. http://archives.cpajournal.com/2007/607/essentials/p58.htm
Journal Article, More Than Twenty Authors; DOI
Wiskunde, B., Arslan, M., Fischer, P., Nowak, L., Van den Berg, O., Coetzee, L., Juárez, U., Riyaziyyat, E., Wang, C., Zhang, I., Li, P., Yang, R., Kumar, B., Xu, A., Martinez, R., McIntosh, V., Ibáñez, L. M., Mäkinen, G., Virtanen, E., . . . Kovács, A. (2019). Indie pop rocks mathematics: Twenty One Pilots, Nicolas Bourbaki, and the empty set. Journal of Improbable Mathematics, 27(1), 1935–1968. https://doi.org/xxx/xxxxxx
Book; One Author
Weinstein, J. A. (2019). Social change (3rd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield.
Book; Chapter in an Edited Book
Christensen, L. (2020). For my people: Celebrating community through poetry. In B. Bigelow, B. Harvey, S. Karp, & L. Miller (Eds.), Rethinking our classrooms: Teaching for equity and justice (Vol. 2; pp. 16–17). Rethinking Schools.
Professional Organization Web page
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Back to school. https://www.cdc.gov/features/teens-back-to-school/index.html
Professional Organization Book
American Nurses Association. (2010). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice (2nd ed.).
Two or more works by same author in the same year
Wall, S. (2018a). Effects of friendship on children’s behavior. Journal of Social Psychology, 4(1), 101–105.
Wall, S. (2018b). Trials of parenting adolescents with deviant behaviors. Journal of Child Psychology, 4(12), 161–167.
Government Article
National Institute of Mental Health. (1990). Clinical training in serious mental illness (DHHS Publication No. ADM 90-1679). U.S. Government Printing Office.
Lecture Notes
Health effects of exposure to forest fires [Lecture notes]. (2019). Walden University Blackboard. https://class.waldenu.edu
Personal Communication (Only Goes in Body of Paper and not in References)
Video
Walden University. (2009). Title of video here [Video]. Walden University Blackboard. https://class.waldenu.edu
Television (Audio)
Important, I. M. (Producer). (1990, November 1). The nightly news hour [TV series episode]. Central Broadcasting Service.
APA Resources
You have other several options to assist you in the formulation of your reference page.
Your American Psychological Association (APA) Manual is your best reference resource. Use the current edition with a copyright date of 2020.
The Walden Writing Center also a great place for referencing advice at https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/apa/references.
Citation and reference examples are provided in the ‘BSN TOP Ten References and Citations” handout found in the Writing Resources tab of the course. This document covers the 10 most commonly used reference and citation formats. You are responsible for looking up any that are not included on this list. Nursing paper format and APA referencing guide