This document provides guidance on APA style formatting for academic papers. It discusses topics such as setting margins to 1 inch, using 12 point Times New Roman font, double spacing, including a running head on title pages, ordering reference list alphabetically by author's last name, and properly citing sources in-text and in the reference list to avoid plagiarism. Correct grammar, punctuation, and style are essential for academic writing.

2.  ASU College of Education
standard
 professional standard
 need to know when you
publish
 need for continued graduate
work

3.  started in 1928
 anthropological and
psychological journal editors
met
 purpose: to standardize
publication formats
 first guidelines 7 pages long
 latest 6th edition printed 2009
summer

4.  Margins: 1 inch around
(Page Layout → Margins)
 Font: Times New Roman –
12 pt. (Home → Font)
 Line spacing: double
spaced throughout (Home
→ spacing)

5. Correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, and
sentence structure are essential components
of scholarly writing.
Grammar
 Subject and verb agreement
 Noun and pronoun agreement
Punctuation
Only one space or two are used after periods.
One space after commas, colons, and
semicolons.

6. Capitalization
Used to designate proper nouns or trade name.
For example: National League for Nursing
(NLN), University of Sharjah.
Numbers in text
Spell numbers one through nine in the body of
the text. Use Arabic numerals to express
numbers 10 and above.

7.  First time you are using the abbreviation, spell it
out.
 University of Sharjah (UoS)------ First use
 UoS------ second use.

8. Running head: SHORT TITLE ALL CAPS IN HEADER 1
No more
than 50
characters
Full Title of Paper: Sentence Case, Centered Left to Right Full title is
centered and
Name of Author positioned in
upper half of
Author’s Affiliation
the page
Author Note
Author note with more information about affiliation, research grants, conflict
of interest and how to contact.
Robin Sontheimer University of
Missouri-Kansas City Writing Center
2009

9. Go to the TOOL BAR
 Select justification symbol
 Flush left style
 Leave a ragged right margin

10. Benefits
 Prevents plagiarism
 Gives credit to author
 Incorporates two types:
Direct quotation
Paraphrasing

11.  Mirror exactly the original source
 Cite original source
 Vary with placement of quoted material in
sentence
 Consider the following when inserting a citation in
text:
i. Author’s surname
ii. Year of publication
iii. Page number in the original work.

12.  Quotations of less than 40 words are enclosed
in double quotation marks.
“__________________”

13. Form 1
According to Evans (2005), "between 70 and 90% of
people with advanced cancer experience pain.
Inadequate education of health professional in pain
management is only one reason why clients suffer" (p.
1).
Form 2
Evans noted that "between 70 and 90% of people with
advanced cancer experience pain. Inadequate education
of health professional in pain management is only one
reason why clients suffer” (2005, p. 1).

14.  Do not change anything in the wording of the
quote
 Do not forget to use quotation marks for a
statement of less than 40 words
 Do not forget to cite right after direct quotation
 Do not forget to include a page in the citation
 Do not use too many direct quotations in the
document

15.  Are set in a block format without quotation marks. The block
quote is started on a new line, indented five spaces.
Taylor (2008) noted important principles about academic
writing:
Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no
unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the
same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a
machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make
all his sentences short, or that he or she should avoid all detail and
treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell . (p.
120)

16. Allows the writer to use ideas and opinions of
others.
 Each time an author is paraphrased, the
source must be cited in the text.
 Page or paragraph numbers are not required.
Such as: (Evans, 2005)

17.  More than half of patients with cancer suffer from
pain. The inadequate preparation of health
professionals regarding how to assess and
manage pain has had a major impact on patients’
suffering (Evans, 2005).

18.  Choose the source as you write
 Write using your own words but not any of your
ideas
 Use a correct citation immediately after the
paraphrase or summary
 Use a correct reference at the end of the paper

19.  References are listed on separate page
 Only citations that appear in the text should appear on
the reference page
 Everything cited in the text should appear on the
reference page.
 References are double-spaced, flush left with
subsequent lines indented 5 spaces

20. The Reference List
 The purpose of a reference list is to help
readers find the sources you used.
Therefore, the reference list should be
as accurate as possible.
 Put references in order by the author’s
surname, or first author’s surname if
there is more than one author.

21. Components of a Reference
1. Is alphabetized by author’s name,
2. Publication date in parenthesis,
3. Title of the work,
4. Publication data

22. Authors’ names Publication year
Decker, S., Sportsman, S., Puetz, L., & Billings, L. ( 2008).
The evolution of simulation and its contribution to
competency. The Journal of Continuing Education in
Nursing, 39(2), 74-80.
Title of work Publication
data

23.  One author (articles & books)
 Two authors (articles & books)
 More than two authors (articles & books)
 Web site references
 Chapter of a book

24. Adams, B.L. (1999). Nursing education for critical
thinking: An integrative review. Journal of
Nursing Education, 38(3), 111-119.
Bevis, O. (1989). Curriculum building in nursing
(3rd ed.). Massachusetts: Jones and
Bartlett.

25. Ferguson, L., & Day, R.A. (2005). Evidence-
based nursing education: Myth or reality?
Journal of Nursing Education, 44(3), 107-
116.
Huba, M.E., & Freed, J.E. (2000). Learner-
centered assessment on college campuses:
Shifting the focus from teaching to learning.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

26. Black, P., Harrison, C., Clare, L., Marshall, B., &
Wiliam, D. (2004). Working inside the black box:
Assessment for learning in the classroom. Phi
Delta Kappan, 86(1), 9-21.

27. National League for Nursing. (2003). Innovation in
nursing education: A call to reform (Position
Statement). Retrieved from
www.nln.org/aboutnln/PositionStatements/innovatio

28. Blaxter, M. (1976). Social class and
health inequalities. In C. Carter & J.
Peel (Eds.), Equalities and
inequalities in health (pp. 120-135).
London: Academic Press.

29. Plagiarism: act of using
someone else’s ideas, words,
figures, unique approach, or
specific reasoning without giving
appropriate credit.
It’s a bad thing!

30. Academic Violations (UoS Catalog 2012)
 3. Plagiarism:
 “Plagiarism is the act of stealing someone else’s
property and claiming it as one’s own. This property
might be a paper, a book, an idea, a computer
program, an experiment, an exam paper, an answer,
etc. …a person caught plagiarizing or stealing will be
subjected to the University’s code of conduct and will
be punished accordingly”

31.  http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/basics/index.htm
for a tutorial about APA Style
 http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/whatsnew/index.htm
for a tutorial about the changes
Robin Sontheimer University of
Missouri-Kansas City Writing Center
2009

32. American Psychological Association
(2010). Publication manual of the
American Psychological Association
(6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
APA Website: www.apastyle.org
Updated APA guideline notes on
ELCSE website under Student
Resources
(http://www.aug.edu/elcse/ELCSE_
APA_Guidelines.pdf)