Citations
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In this course, as in all courses in the Nursing Program, you will use APA style to cite your sources. Use the resources on this page to ensure that your citations are correct.
APA Style
The APA Style, created by the American Psychological Association, is common in the social sciences.
Find the handbook at the library or explore the linked websites to learn how to use this style.
Style Guide
- Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th Edition, byCall Number: Ref. 808.06615 P9609a7 (On Reserve)ISBN: 9781433832154Publication Date:
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition, is the official source for APA Style. With millions of copies sold worldwide in multiple languages, it is the style manual of choice for writers, researchers, editors, students, and educators in the social and behavioral sciences, natural sciences, nursing, communications, education, business, engineering, and other fields.
Legal Citations
For legal references such as dockets or court cases, the APA Publication Manual defers to The Bluebook, a standard legal format. See chapter 11 of the Publication Manual for an overview of legal citations.
- The Bluebook, 20th Edition, byCall Number: Ref. 340.01 B6253u20 (On Reserve)ISBN: 0692400192Publication Date:
Presents a guide for lawyers for constructing citations, covering the format of citations from a variety of legal sources.
Links
- APA Style Homepage
The authority on APA Style and the current edition of the APA Publication Manual.
- APA Formatting & Style Guide
Thorough, user-friendly description of APA style from the OWL at Purdue.
- BibGuru APA Citation Style Guide
An easy-to-use online citation guide.
APA Template
Keep the requirements of APA Style at your fingertips with this complete, ready-made template.
- APA Style Template (Word document)
This Word document contains all the formatting necessary for almost any article or paper.
To Use this Document
Download and open the file in Microsoft Word.
- Select File ⇒ Save As ⇒ This PC.
Select any location to save the file.
In the Save As dialog box, select Word Template (*.dotx) from the Save as type: dropdown menu.
Give the file any name you wish (e.g., “APA Format”) and select Save.
The template will now be available whenever you open Word.
Bibliography Cheat Sheet
This document contains examples of the most common types of bibliographic entries, with explanations.
- APA Reference Cheat Sheet (PDF file)
The most common types of APA citations, displayed with explanatory notes.
Example APA Citations
The APA places a heavy emphasis on date of publication.
Date of publication helps distinguish between works, so it is always in the in-text citation and has a prominent place in the bibliographic entry. See the style guide for more specific rules, and see the following example of a cited journal article.
In-Text Citation
Direct Quotation
A direct quotation is text taken directly from a source.
To avoid plagiarism, you must always mark a quotation with quotation marks.
The citation for a direct quote must include:
The authors’ names
The year of publication
The page number or, if the source has no page numbers, the paragraph number or name of the cited section
The citation for a direct quote may be either narrative or parenthetical:
Narrative Citation
In a narrative citation, the body of the text contains information about the source of a quote. In this example, the narrative tells the reader the names of the quote’s authors:
According to Martin and Albers (), the traditional opinion that the cerebellum is exclusively associated with the control of balance, fine motor, and oculomotor coordination has been challenged on various fronts
(p. 245).
Place in parentheses any part of the citation not mentioned in the narrative. The year of publication should always be next to the authors’s names, but the page number can go after the quote.
Parenthetical Citation
If the authors’s names or other elements of the citation are not in the narrative, place them in parentheses after the quote:
The traditional opinion that the cerebellum is exclusively associated with the control of balance, fine motor, and oculomotor coordination has been challenged on various fronts
(Martin & Albers, , p. 245).
Each of the three essential elements of a citation is present, separated by commas, inside the parentheses.
Note the following:
Keep the year of publication near the authors’ names.
Always include the page number or other section identifier with a direct quotation. Abbreviate page as p. and pages as pp.
Place the final punctuation mark to the right of the parenthetical citation. The parenthetical citation goes outside the quotation mark but inside the period.
Paraphrase
Narrative Citation
According to Martin and Albers (), it is no longer universally believed in the field of neuroscience that the cerebellum’s function is limited to balance and coordination.
Parenthetical Citation
Although it had long been believed that the cerbellum serves no fuction aside from balance and coordination, more recent research has modified that view (Martin & Albers, ).
Note the following:
A page number is unnecessary when you paraphrase, though you may still include it if you wish.
If you don’t name the authors in the text, place the names in a parenthetical citation.
Always place names and publication year next to each other.
When you paraphrase, completely reword the thought of the original work to avoid plagiarism.
Block Quotation
According to Martin and Albers () in their overview of the relationship between schizophrenia and the cerebellum,
The same or analogous neuronal substrates may be involved in motor control as well as in cognition and emotion.
In addition to this general objection, the traditional opinion that the cerebellum is exclusively associated with the control of balance, fine motor, and oculomotor coordination has been challenged on various fronts. (p. 245)
Note the following:
Place a quotation longer than forty words in a block quotation.
Indent the entire block quotation half an inch.
If you quote more than one paragraph, indent every paragraph after the first an additional half inch.
Do not place quotation marks around a block quotation.
Place the parenthetical citation after the final punctuation mark.
Bibliographic Entry
Martin, P., & Albers, M. (). Cerebellum and schizophrenia: A selective review. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 21(2), 241–250. https://
Note the following:
Date of publication immediately follows the authors’ names.
Write article or book titles in sentence case. Write journal titles in title case.
Do not place quotation marks around the article title.
Italicize the journal title and volume number.
If the article is from the open web, include an address unless a DOI is available.
Include a DOI, written as a URL, whenever possible.
Do not place a final period after a DOI or URL.
Citation Websites
Quick Links
- Citation Help
Our research guide dedicated to the different citation styles and how to use them.
- How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography
A guide to annotated bibliographies from Cornell University.
- Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University
The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue.
- Getting Started with Primary Sources
A teachers’ guide to primary sources from the Library of Congress. Explains using primary sources in the classroom.
- Assignment Calculator
From the University of Minnesota Libraries, this calculator will build a schedule for your research project based on its due date.
Find Numbers and Identifiers
- Search DOIs
Find the digital object identifier (DOI) for a journal article or book.
- Search ISBNs
Search book information and bookstore prices by international standard book number.
- Search ISSNs
Search for journals by title or international standard serial number. Find the ISSN for any journal.
Legal and Government Publications
- Citing U.S. Government Publications
A guide to citing government documents, created by the libraries of Indiana University Bloomington.
- The Bluebook Homepage
An authoritative guide to citing legal documents.
- Introduction to Basic Legal Citation
An introductory guide to legal citation, based on The Bluebook, from Cornell University Law School.