APA GUIDE UAA SON 201611041

UAA School of Nursing

APA Guide to Projects

May 2016

By Jill Janke PhD

Graduate Program Chairperson

NOTE: This is a guide, but it is not comprehensive. Refer to APA 6.0 most recent version for additional information.2016-11-14 APPROVED BY GRADUATE FACULTY UAA SON

APA GUIDE UAA SON 201611041

Table of Contents

DNP PROJECT SUBMISSION FORM

APA FORMAT GUIDE

Font

Margins & Spacing

Punctuation

Indents

Running Head & Page Numbers

Seriation

Lists Within Text

Numbers

ORDER OF PAGES

Title page

Abstract

Table of Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

List of Appendices

Body of Paper

References

Appendix A

Figures & Tables

HELP WITH VERB TENSES

APA GUIDE UAA SON 201611041

PROJECT SUBMISSION FORM

  • No running head or page number needed
  • There is a “MS and DNP Nursing Research Project (MS & DNP)” form that subsumes the previous signature page and IS NOT INCLUDED as part of the project paper. It is submitted when the project is accepted by the committee, SON Chair and COH dean.

APA FORMAT GUIDE

Font

  • Use TIMES NEW ROMAN12-point font throughout thepaper, including the TITLE page.
  • EXCEPTION: You can use reduced font in large tables to fit on thepage. The font can be no smaller than 6 point, however, always use as close to 12 point as you can to achieve your purpose of getting it on one page.
  • Can use common symbols for scientific notation.
  • Left-justify text

Margins & Spacing

  • Use 1-inch margins all around ON ALL PAGES
  • Double-space all lines of text, with the following exceptions:
  • Can use single spacing to fit large figure/table onto thepage.
  • Can use single spacing for notations under a table
  • End of page:
  • Any heading at the bottom of a page should have at least two full lines of text below it.
  • Otherwise the heading should begin on the next page.

Punctuation

  • Two spaces after the end of a sentence
  • One space after commas, colons and semi-colons
  • One space after periods separating parts of a reference citation and after periods in personal name (J. R. Janke)
  • Two-letter state code is without punctuation, e.g. AK, MA, MI, AZ

Indents

  • Indent all new paragraphs within body of text
  • DO NOT INDENT abstract

Running Head & Page Numbers

  • RUNNING HEAD
  • Begin on page 2 with ASTRACT (after title page)
  • Use thesame font and font sizein header as used in the rest of the paper
  • Flush Left: SHORT TITLE OF PROJECT (suppressed on title page); note you DO NOT use the words “Running Head:” in front of SHORT TITLE OF PROJECT.This is an exception to make it easier to format the paper.
  • Page numbers
  • First page number appears on page 2 (abstract
  • Flush Right: Header is ½ inch from top of page (which is MS Word default)
  • Page numbers should be Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.)

Seriation (APA 3.04)

  • Numbered list: use only when theorder to the material has some significance (importance, usefulness, or chronology).
  • Bullets: use bullets for lists that can be represented in any order (use circles for bullets)
  • NOTE: Use automatic numbering or bullets, the text will auto align as opposed to wrapping. See thefirst bullet on this list, to see it continued with the text, aligning with the text above it and not the bullet

Lists Within Text (APA 3.04)

  • Use the following format for making lists within text (a) word, (b), etc.,
  • Example: “The three choices given to participants were (a) horse-back riding, (b) knitting, (c) flying kites.”

Numbers

  • Write out numbers less than ten or that occur at thestart of asentence (two versus 2).
  • Use numeric for numbers that precede a unit of measure (e.g. 3 cm), represent time (e.g. 3 days ago or 70 years old), or represent mathematical functions (percentages, decimals, etc.).
  • Use numeric for all numbers in an abstract unless it begins a sentence.
  • Spell out all approximations of days, months, and years (write ‘2 days’ as1: two days).
  • A zero is required before a decimal point with numbers less than one when the statistic can be greater than one (e.g. 0.78 mg); if the statistic cannot be greater than one, do not use a zero before the decimal point. The most common example would be p values and correlation coefficients r = .78 (not 0.78)
  • Wrong: p < 0.01
  • Right: p < .01 (p values cannot be greater than 1.
  • When providing percents, use symbol in text,
  • Wrong: If current trends continue, 33 percent …
  • Right: If current trends continue, 33% …

ORDER OF PAGES

Title page

  • Follow project title page template provided at Graduate School Website (if you cannot find it, please contact Elisa Mattison, Director of the Graduate School)
  • 1NOTE: do not use abbreviations in the title of a project.
  • ReminReminder: page number suppressed on title page

Abstract (page 2)

  • Limited to 250 words
  • NO citations are allowed in the abstract.
  • NO indent at start of text
  • Answers the following:
  • Problem addressed/or objective of the project
  • What was done (in general)
  • What were the results
  • What was concluded

Table of Contents

  • Double space unless header is two lines, in which case single space.
  • Use ‘dotted leader’1 between header and page number.
  • Include every level heading (from paper) and make sure each title matches exactly (HINT: Google ‘Table of Content MS Word APA’ to find out the easy way to do this).
  • Table of contents should include the Title Page, Abstract, Table of Contents as headings (see below)

List of Figures (same formatting as TOC)

List of Tables (same formatting as TOC)

List of Appendices(same formatting as TOC)

Body of Paper

  • Put title of paper (APA1 Heading) instead of the word ‘Introduction' at start of body of text.
  • Make sure you put a statement about Research Approval/IRB under Methods
  • Follow APA heading levels throughout paper
  • Make sure if you use a level heading (for example APA header 3) you need to have at least two successive level 3 headers. [Just like an outline]
  • All headers should appear inthe Table of Contents (this is a repeat reminder)

APA HEADING LEVELS
1 / Centered, Boldface, Capitalized
2 / Flush Left, Boldface, Capitalized
3 / Indented, boldface, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period. Start typing after heading.
4 / Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period. Start typing after heading.
5 / Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with aperiod. Start typing after heading just like you did with levels 3 & 4.

11References

  • Begin references on new page
  • Use APA level one heading
  • Use hanging indent for thefirst line of any reference
  • Double space between references

Appendix (Appendices) - if needed

  • Use APA level heading 1
  • Appendices are not numbered, use A, B, C etc.
  • When referencing the appendix in your paper, capitalize the ‘A’, for example: See Appendix C for consent form.
  • All references begin on new page
  • Double space between Appendix and title of Appendix
  • Example:

Appendix A

Permission to use XXX Instrument

Figures & Tables (carefully following APA formatting for tables and figures)

  • Insert a table orfigureafter the paragraph in which it is first mentioned.Double space between table #, the title, and the table itself (same for figures, double space between figure and legend).
  • Tables should only have horizontal lines
  • If a table or figure cannot fit in the space remaining on the page, continue the text to the bottom margin, placing theTable at the top of the next page.
  • If a table or figureis inserted between text, put an extra double-line-space before and after the table.
  • If the table or figure is too wide to fit in portrait orientation, orient the page to landscape. Do not place subsequent text on a page with landscape orientation.
  • If a table is too long to fit on one page:
  • Try reducing the font size (no smaller than 6 point) and using single spacing (without making the table too crowded).
  • If needed, you can continue a table on additional pages.
  • Head subsequent pages with the Table number and in parentheses (continued). Example: Table 5 (continued).
  • APA tables: table number and title are left hand justified and use Title Caps.
  • Table example (next page)

Table 1

A Comparison of Female and Male Perceptions Regarding the Difficulty of EDSE 885 during the Last Six Times Course is Taught

Mean responses
Course elements / Female / Male / t value / p
Statistical analysis / 4.25 / 4.50 / 1.50 / .450
Research concepts / 4.50 / 4.00 / 2.75 / .005*
Research terminology / 3.25 / 3.50 / 1.25 / .250
Class activities / 3.00 / 3.75 / 2.50 / .025*

*denotes significant difference at .050.

  • Figures:
  • Figures are centered on paper
  • The words: Figure 1.Italicized flush left
  • The caption is in sentence case and it ends in a period. You may have several sentences since the text acts as both explanation and title of the figure.
  • Use same font as rest of paper, may reduce size to fit on page.
  • In your paper you refer to the figure by writing: “Refer to figure 1 for illustration of ….

Figure 1. Average preference ratings for different technology types. Assuming the caption continues for several lines you can single space.

HELP WITH VERB TENSES

1Verb Tense: (short movies on tense and APA:

  • Use past tense (or present perfect):
  • When talking about published literature (literature review)
  • When talking about the past – what methods you used, how you recruited, your results
  • Examples of past tense
  • Wrong: Type II diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease state….
  • Right: Type II diabetes has been a chronic metabolic disease state…
  • Wrong: The ADA (2016) recommends a….
  • Right: The ADA (2016) has recommended a….
  • Wrong: The purpose of this project is to determine …
  • Right: The purpose of this project was to determine…
  • Use present tense: (Read APA carefully on when it is acceptable to use present tense)
  • Used when describing the literature itself, the action is done, but the analysis goes on, so saying something like: “many authors agree that ….” (synthesis)
  • Used when someone defines something: “Jones defines X as Y.”
  • Used when describing a theory: “The Theory of Planned Behavior states ….”
  • Used when referencing a table or figure “See table 1 for more details.”
  • Used to discuss implications, conclusions (study and results are in the past, but inferences drawn from them occur in the present)