Many nursing schools and health care journals have adopted the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA stylebook) as their guide to achieve uniformity and consistency in manuscript preparation as well as in usage and writing style. Published in 2001, the fifth edition of the APA stylebook contains 440 pages and can overwhelm someone who tries to use it for the first time. This article delineates main points in the areas of manuscript preparation, reference lists, in-text citations, and style choices.

As managing editor of Orthopaedic Nursing for 22 years, I have worked with more than 2000 authors, putting the finishing touches on their manuscripts to prepare them for publication. We adhere to APA style, an established style for consistency in writing and editing that is specified in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA).

The APA stylebook started in 1929 as a seven-page article in a journal of the American Psychological Association. Since its inception, the stylebook has served as a “standard of procedures, to which exceptions would doubtless be necessary, but to which reference might be made in cases of doubt” (Instructions, 1929, p. 57 as cited in APA, 2001, p. XIX). Today the stylebook is in its fifth edition.

Although the stylebook is designed to help you prepare your manuscript, lack of familiarity with the stylebook can cause apprehension. Like anything new, the APA stylebook ceases to be intimidating when you learn about it and practice it. This article presents some of the main issues you might face when you are asked to prepare a manuscript in APA style. The article does not intend to replace the 440-page manual, but it will try to clarify and simplify some of the most common situations. Table 1 correlates topics with page numbers in the APA stylebook.

“Style” as referred to in this article doesn't mean literary style, but instead refers to spelling, punctuation, capitalization, use of abbreviations and italics, expression of numbers, headings, references, tables, figures, and many details of typographic form (Skillin & Gay, 1974).

Keep in mind that although a journal may ask you to follow a particular style, its “house style” may stray from the rules, resulting in a modified style of the suggested one. You can usually find this information on the mast-head page of the journal or in its author guidelines.

No single book has all the information a writer needs. If the APA stylebook doesn't address your question, use the Chicago Manual of Style or Words Into Type (see Bibliography). As far as word choices dealing with spelling, hyphenations, and compounds, Mirriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary is the recommended dictionary.

Use 8½ × 11-inch paper with margins of 1 inch on all four sides. Preferred type size is 12 points with double spacing between lines. Use a serif font for the text. Serif fonts include Times, Times New Roman, New Century Schoolbook, Palatino, Bookman Oldstyle, and any other fonts that have little strokes or “feet” on them. Sans serif fonts, on the other hand, don't have feet — use a sans serif font for labels on illustrations and charts. Sans serif fonts include Helvetica, Arial, and Avant Garde.

Use your word processing capabilities to designate italics and bold type. If you can't do that, then underline anything that should be in italics.

Remember to double space the entire document. Of course, an instructor may allow differences in format; refer to Chapter 6 of the APA stylebook.

Set type to left alignment (flush left, ragged right). Do not justify the type. Do not hyphenate any words at the end of lines — turn off hyphenation if your program has that option.

Indent the first line of every paragraph five to seven spaces. Use style sheets or the tab key to make this consistent. Don't indent the first line of the abstract or a block quotation.

Number each page, including page 1, at the right margin about ½ inch from the top. A header of two or three words from the title of the manuscript goes five spaces to the left of the page number or above it. Don't put your name on the pages (your manuscript may undergo “blind review” if it is submitted for publication). Most typing programs allow you to set the header and page number once, and they will appear on each page.

    1. Title page — page 1

    2. Abstract — page 2 (no more than 120 words)

    3. Text — starts on page 3

    4. References — start on a separate page

    5. Appendixes — start on a separate page

    6. Author note (bio information and acknowledgments) —
       start on a separate page

    7. Footnotes (not to be confused with references) —
       list together, start on a separate page (some stylebooks
       call these “endnotes”)

    8. Tables — start each on a separate page

    9. Figure captions — list together, start on a
       separate page

    10. Figures — put each on a separate page

The title page includes the title of the manuscript, author's name, institutional affiliation, city and state, phone number, e-mail address, and running head (abbreviated title that would run on a published article).

Heading choices are shown in Table 2. Notice that level 5 is the highest level and is not always used. If you are writing for publication in a journal, five levels encumber a reader; even four can be too much. Two or three levels work best for readability.

If you are writing for a journal, examine it to see its preferences in levels. An editor might transform your levels into such formats as bold, left aligned, all caps, and so forth, to follow the journal's “house style.”

Until you learn the levels better, it might be helpful to initially use your own system. Then change the levels according to the APA format before submitting your paper.

For a multichapter document, base your heading structure on the chapter that uses the most levels of headings. Then apply that structure to each chapter. For a “one-chapter” or single document, find the part of your manuscript with the most levels of headings. Each heading needs at least two subheadings or none at all. Remember the outline guideline: You can't have an A without a B, or a 1 without a 2. Don't use a heading for the introduction (don't label the first paragraph as “Introduction”).

Having a detailed outline before writing your manuscript helps you think in levels, but you would remove letters or numbers from the headings when you use them in the manuscript.

Punctuation in APA style generally follows conventional rules found in most grammar books. The APA stylebook limits its discussions to those situations that have more than one option for punctuation.

Use the comma before the “and” in a series. For example, you would write: Check for swelling, tenderness, and inflammation. Don't use commas to separate parts of measurement such as 7 lb 4 oz baby. (Notice, also, those abbreviations have no “s” to make them plural. They also have no period.)

There would be no colon after the introduction to a list if the first part of the sentence needs to be completed by the list. For example: Common fractures include comminuted, transverse, and spiral. Some more fractures are greenstick, impacted, and compound. There would be no colon after the words include or are.

If a colon is used in the title of a reference, the letter after the colon would be capitalized (Osteoporosis: Men get it, too).

One space goes after all punctuation marks, including periods and colons. That means you need to change your two-space habit! This change is needed because computer typesetting capabilities aesthetically place space between letters, whereas the old typewriters and word processors did not. If you do not put the single spaces after periods, the editor or layout artist will convert your double spaces to singles for publication.

Two exceptions exist to the above rule. There is no space after internal periods such as a.m., p.m., i.e., e.g., and U.S., and there is no space after the colon in ratios (25:1).

Use no periods in state abbreviations (NY, CA), but use periods in U.S. (U.S. Postal Service). Don't use periods in abbreviations and acronyms (NAON, ONC) or in credentials (PhD, MSN, RN).

Discussion of hyphenation fills up five full pages of the APA stylebook, and APA's uses of hyphenation resemble many other up-to-date stylebooks.

Our language is inconsistent when forming compounds. Some are connected with hyphens (eye-opener, cross-examine); some are written separately (eye chart, cross fire); others are written as one word (eyewitness, crossbreed). Check Mirriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, and keep a list for yourself so you don't have to check the same words repeatedly. Some of the APA's hyphenation guidelines follow.

All “self” words are hyphenated, whether they are adjectives or nouns (except self psychology). Compound adjectives are often hyphenated when they precede the nouns, but not when they follow the noun. For example: a 5-year-old boy but a boy who is 5 years old; an up-to-date book but a book that is up to date.

Omit hyphens with most prefixes: nonmember, pretest, posttest, preoperative, postoperative, coworker, multidisciplinary, aftereffect, midterm, reevaluate (note that APA uses pre and re with no hyphen even if the next letter is “e”).

Do words with double vowels get hyphenated? APA says yes, except for double “e.” For example: anti-inflammatory and intra-articular but reelect and preeminent. However, an editor may choose to be consistent with all prefixes and omit the hyphen all the time.

Keep a hyphen when there could be confusion (re-create and recreate; re-sign and resign). Remember, your aim is to write clearly, so sometimes the rules aren't followed to the letter.

Put hyphens in compounds when the base word is capitalized (pre-Civil War), a number (post-1984), an acronym (pre-AIDS), or more than one word (non-weight-bearing patient).

Do not put a hyphen in a word that doesn't have it to begin with. It is incorrect to say pre- and postoperative treatments. Rather, it would be preoperative and postoperative treatments. It is correct to say long- and short-term goals because these terms are already hyphenated.

Don't use a hyphen after an adverb ending in “ly” (tightly wrapped bandage).

Usage of hyphens varies with fractions. A hyphen is needed when the fraction functions as a compound modifier but not as a noun (a two-thirds vote but two thirds of the voters).

When used as a noun, a compound word often contains a hyphen (a follow-up, a put-down). When used as a verb, the same words will eliminate the hyphen and become two words. (He plans to follow up his first call. Please don't put down your coworkers.) Many words that were once two words or hyphenated words have evolved into nonhyphenated words (e.g., setup, workup, workplace, and caregiver). Refer to Mirriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.

Capitalize complete names of tests, but not the generic names (Otis-Lennon School Ability Test but an IQ test). Capitalize specific course and department names (Ethics in the Media but an ethics course; Rowan University Department of Journalism but a journalism department). Do not capitalize laws, theories, models, or hypotheses.

In most cases, avoid using abbreviations. If you must use an acronym or abbreviation, always spell out the complete term the first time it is used (followed by the abbreviation in parentheses).

In units of measurement accompanied by numeric values, use abbreviations and a space between the number and the abbreviation. For example: 32 cm, 55 g, 89 lb, 45 s, 20 min, 5 hr. For degrees, don't use a space, even when adding the C for Celsius or F for Fahrenheit: thus, 32°F. Notice there is not an “s” after any of those units of measure (it would NOT be hrs for hours or lbs for pounds). Also take note that there are no periods after the abbreviations. The exception to this is inches, which would be written as in. to avoid confusion with the preposition.

Don't ever abbreviate these units of time: day, week, month, year.

Some abbreviations should always be used inside parentheses: e.g., etc., i.e., vs. For example: Stylebooks discuss various usage controversies (e.g., hyphenation, plurals, numbers, etc.).

APA treats numbers differently than some of the other stylebooks. APA style refers to the arabic form as “figure.” You often use the figure (the arabic numeral form), even when the number is under 10. As all sources agree, never use a figure as the first word in a sentence. Write out the number or rewrite the sentence if you want to use the figure. For example, you could say: Thirty-four patients experienced dementia. Or you could rewrite it to use the figure: Dementia afflicted 34 patients.

Use figures for 10 and above in every circumstance unless the number begins a sentence or is used as a back-to-back modifier (see “Figures and Words Combined” below). Use figures for numbers below 10 grouped with numbers 10 and above (5 of 23 responses).

Use figures for numbers that represent time, dates, ages, sample and population sizes, participants in an experiment, scores and points on a scale, and exact sums of money. This is the rule that differs from some of the other stylebooks. Thus, you would use 1 year, 2 hr 17 min, 4-year-old girl, 5 subjects, 3 on a 9-point scale, and $6. Use figures for series and parts of books and tables (Table 5, page 82, chapter 4). Use figures with units of measurement (8 g, 12 ml, 7 days, 2 months).

Use words for numbers below 10 in every instance except for those mentioned in the previous paragraphs (e.g., two situations, four conditions, six pages). Use words for any number that begins a sentence. Also use words for common fractions, such as one half of the study group. If the fraction is used as an adjective, put in a hyphen (one-half full).

Use words and figures for large numbers (2 billion children), and use words and figures for back-to-back modifiers (5 two-way interactions, thirty 6-month-old mice).

Treat ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) as you would cardinal numbers (1,2,3,etc.). If the rule fits for the cardinal, then apply it to the ordinal.

For plural numbers, add the “s” with no apostrophe (the 1990s, a woman in her 40s).

Following are guidelines often overlooked.

Do not use and/or.

Singulars and plurals: Datum, data; schema, schemas; appendix, appendixes; matrix, matrices.

If using a numbered list in your text as separate paragraphs, don't use parentheses around the numbers. Use a period after each number instead.

When you use a dash in a sentence (—), put no spaces before or after it. You can accomplish a dash by typing two hyphens together—Microsoft Word automatically converts a double hyphen to a dash. Or simply leave in the double hyphens.

Don't use credentials or titles of authors in the reference list or in the in-text citations.

Avoid the term elderly. Use older person instead. Use girl and boy for anyone of high school age and younger, but men and women for anyone over 18.

Time is expressed in lower case with periods and a space after the numeric value. For example, it would be 3 p.m. or 11:15 a.m. The APA stylebook does not specify midnight or noon designations. Use one of your backup style books or grammar books to decide.

APA distinguishes between these two words. That is restrictive; it is necessary to the sentence. Which is nonrestrictive, meaning it is information that could be removed without destroying the meaning of the sentence. A phrase starting with which is set off in commas. Examples:

• Mercy Hospital, which offers a community health care clinic, is eligible for federal funding.
• Any hospital that offers a free community health care clinic is eligible for federal funding.

The term et al. stands for “et alii,” which means “and others.” There is no period after et, but there is a period after al. because it is shortened from alii. There is a space between the two words. In an in-text citation, a comma follows: (Harper et al., 2002). Notice there is no comma after Harper. Do not italicize et al. in your manuscript.

All the citations used in the manuscript are listed alphabetically at the end of the manuscript under the title of References. Additional background materials or suggested readings are called Bibliography.

A quotation of fewer than 40 words is typed within the text and surrounded by quotation marks. Set a quotation of 40 or more words in block form. This means indenting the entire quotation five spaces. Don't indent the first line any more than that. Don't use quotation marks. The citation goes in parentheses after the final punctuation of the block quote, with no period after the parenthesis.

If a citation with the author and date introduce the quote, then the final citation would include just the page number. With block quotes and in-text quotes, a quote within a quote would get single quotation marks.

If data or lists make the text too cumbersome, then set them in tables. Tables can present data in two ways: quantitative with numeric values or qualitative comparisons using words. Don't let your tables overpower your text. On the other hand, if your manuscript goes to publication, sometimes an editor will request tables or make up tables from the text to add contrast and variety to an article. Looking at past issues of the publication will help you see the publication's table and figure preferences.

You can refer to tables in your text in a few ways. When you put the referral to a table in parentheses, use “see” as part of the reference. Examples:

• Five of the control subjects were classified as fallers (see Table 1).
• Characteristics of the subject population are presented in Table 1.
• As shown in Table 1, the average age of falls was 77.4.
• Table 1 shows characteristics of the subject population.

Do not use the words above or below when referring to tables. Tables are usually set one per page and are grouped toward the end of your manuscript (see “Order of Pages” section earlier in this article). However, students may deviate from this, as per their instructor, and put tables in the text close to their referral. Then they could use above or below.

The fifth edition of the APA stylebook dedicates 29 pages to constructing tables, and coverage is quite comprehensive and clear.

Illustrative figures come in several forms: photographs, line art (drawings), charts, graphs, diagrams, and actual documents that complement the text in some way. For example, nurses often submit a sample form from their institutions. At first glance, the author might call it a table, but it would actually be considered a figure. A simple way to decide if it is a table or figure would be to decide if it will be scanned rather than picked up from the text itself or typed. Something scanned is usually a figure.

Some computer-generated figures, line graphs and bar graphs in particular, do not reproduce well for publication (e.g., PowerPoint slides). The author should have a desktop publisher prepare sharp, crisp copies made in a high-end publishing or art program (QuarkXPress, Illustrator, Photoshop). If the manuscript is not going to publication, this isn't as big a concern. Use a sans serif font (e.g., Arial) for labels on the figures.

To cite figures in the text, follow the same guidelines as for tables. All figure captions should be typed on one sheet. Captions should include enough information to explain the figure without a reader having to search the text for the information.

The reference list includes only references that are used in the manuscript and can be retrieved by someone. Personal communications, then, would not be included on the list. However, they would be cited in the text where appropriate.

Type the reference list double-spaced, with hanging indents (new to the fifth edition). That means the first line extends far left, but the other lines under it indent five to seven spaces. Microsoft Word has a setting for this: Formats→Paragraph→Indentation→Special →Hanging.

List references in alphabetical order by authors' last names. If no author is listed, use the title of the reference. With multiple references from the same author, list in chronologic order (earliest first).

Single-author citations go before multiple-author citations: Rodts, 2002 then Rodts, Cuddy, & Ford, 2002. With multiple works by the same author during the same year, use letters to distinguish: Morris, 2002a; Morris, 2002b.

If an entry begins with a numeral, alphabetize it as if the numeral were a word. Orwell's 1984 would be alphabetized in the “n's” as if it were actually the word “Nineteen-eighty-four.”

Ignore apostrophes and capitals in names: L'amico comes after Ladelle or LaDelle. Ignore “von” in alphabetizing: Trapp, M. von. Use exact letters for ordering Mc and Mac. Thus, Mac comes before Mc.

Entries in the APA reference list differ from some of the other styles. The date is placed immediately after the author's name. All journal titles are italicized and completely written out, unlike many other styles that call for abbreviated titles. Book titles are italicized, and the first word begins with a capital letter, but all the other words are lower case.

Titles of journal articles are not italicized, and the first word begins with a capital letter, but all the other words are lower case. However, the name of the journal itself is italicized as well as done in uppercase and lowercase. This means that the first letter of each important word gets capitalized. Table 3 provides examples of the some of the most common references.

Some abbreviations are acceptable in the reference list. A few of the most common ones include ed. for edition, Rev. ed. for revised edition (note upper case R), 2nd ed. for second edition, Ed. or Eds. for Editor(s), p. or pp. for page(s), Vol. for a single volume (as in Vol. 4), vols. for volumes (as in 4 vols.), and Suppl. for Supplement.

Use just the city name when it is a well-known city. When you add the state to a city, use the postal abbreviation (PA, NJ, CA).

For the publisher's name, use the briefest form. You can omit Publishers, Co., or Inc., but keep the words Books and Press. If a publisher is a university and the name of the state or province is included in the name of the university, do not repeat the state or province in the publisher location.

As you become comfortable with APA style, you will see that the in-text citation format is logical and not disruptive to the reading process. The author and date are presented immediately so you don't need to continually thumb to the back of the manuscript or article for the information. Examples of various in-text citations are shown in Table 4.

The ampersand (&) is used in parentheses, but not in the written text.

With two authors, use both authors with the ampersand: (Harker & Parker, 2002).

With up to five authors, use all authors the first time, then use et al. any time after that. First time: (Abbott, Barrett, Cook, Deppen, & Everett, 2002). Subsequently: (Abbott et al., 2002). Note that there is no comma after the name before et.

For six or more authors, use just the first author and et al. every time. With no author listed, use the first few words of the title and put inside quotation marks and in parentheses: (“What You Should Know,” 2002). With multiple works by the same author, list the earliest work first. With multiple works by the same author during the same year, use letters to distinguish: (Morris, 2002a; Morris, 2002b).

Appendixes contain detailed information that would be distracting in the main body of the manuscript (McGuire et al., 2001). Appendixes consolidate examples, charts, graphs, memoranda, and so forth, to further support the manuscript. Each appendix item may be different in format depending on the type of information included. Label each appendix with capital letters (Appendix A, Appendix B).

After an initial spelling check in your word processing program, carefully proofread your manuscript. Check everything discussed in this article. In addition, choose a strong writer or editor to critique it for you as well. Allow time in your timetable for this stage. Some authors proofread and correct as many as 10 times.

Strangers are friends we haven't met yet. So goes our relationship with the APA stylebook. Once we understand it, we become familiar and loyal adherents. Quite comprehensive, the book provides a sense of consistency throughout the myriad of journals and graduate schools that use it. Its style choices are current, and it is reader-friendly.

As the Publication Manual for the American Psychological Association (2001) so aptly puts it, “When you are without a rule or a reference and the answer to a question can be narrowed to several reasonable choices, aim for simplicity, plain language, and direct statements” (p. xxvi). To communicate clearly is always the writer's goal, and whatever and whoever can help achieve that end are welcome friends indeed.

© 2002 Jannetti Publications, Inc. Permission granted to photocopy for educational purposes only.

1. Call the association: 1-800-374-2721.
2. Order from the Web site: www.apastyle.org.
3. Buy it from your local bookstore.

If you read the Orthopaedic Nursing Guidelines for Authors, usually found on or near page 10, you will notice the phrase “adapted APA style.” Although you should submit your article in APA style, the editors will make some slight alterations.

Readability level of our journal is important. Numerous, lengthy, in-text citations bog down the reader. APA style calls for listing references of three, four, and five authors with all authors' names used for the first citing of that reference. Orthopaedic Nursing has reduced three or more authors to one author plus et al. (When there are only two authors, both are always listed, as per APA style.)

We also take very long paragraphs and divide them into smaller paragraphs for better readability. In addition, our headings look different from APA headings; nevertheless, authors should submit manuscripts with APA headings.

1. Double-space everything, use serif type, and align the copy left. Don't use hyphens at the ends of lines, and use one space after the periods at the ends of sentences.
2. Closely follow the guidelines for the reference list and for the in-text citations. Pay special attention to punctuation and spaces.
3. When using a direct quotation, include the page number of the source in the in-text citation.
4. Use the comma before “and” in a series. Don't use the comma before “et al.”
5. Refer to all figures and tables in the body of the manuscript.
6. Use the APA levels of headings. Set them up based on the chapter with the most headings.
7. Use figures (arabic numerals) for numbers that express time, dates, ages, sample and population sizes, participants in an experiment, scores and points on a scale, and exact sums of money.
8. When using an abbreviation or acronym, spell out the full name the first time it is used in the manuscript. Follow with the acronym in parentheses.
9. Omit the hyphen with most prefixes, especially preoperative and postoperative, pretest and posttest.
10. Buy the latest edition of the APA stylebook (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association), a new highlighter, and lots of Post-it™ notes to mark pages. Also buy Mirriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.
11. Note the use of “Author.” When the publisher is the same as the author, the word “author” is used. In these cases, the author is usually an association or an organization of some kind.

The Chicago manual of style (14th ed.). (1993). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Mirriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (10th ed.). (1999). Springfield, MA: Mirriam-Webster, Inc.

E-what? A guide to the quirks of new media style and usage. (2001). Alexandria, VA: EEI Press.

Hodges, J.C., Horner, W.B., Webb, S.S., Miller, R.K. (1998). Harbrace college handbook. Philadelphia: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

Wallraff, B. (2000). Word court. New York: Harcourt, Inc.

Walsh, B. (2000). Lapsing into a comma. Chicago: Contemporary Books.

    Topic                                       Page Numbers

    Abbreviations                                        103

    Appendixes                                           205

    Capitalization                                        94

    Figures                                              176
    Headings                                             111

    In-text Citations                                    207

    Manuscript Format                                    284

    Numbers                                              122

    Punctuation                                           78

    Quoted Material                                      117

    Reference List Format & Entries                  215

    Students (Format Differences)                        324

    Tables                                               147

    CENTERED UPPERCASE HEADING                           Level 5

    Centered Uppercase and Lowercase Heading             Level 1

    Centered, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase
    Heading                                              Level 2

    Flush Left, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase
    Heading                                              Level 3

    Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading
    with a period. Then the text begins as part of
    the same paragraph.                                  Level 4

If you use just one level, you would use level 1.

    Centered Uppercase and Lowercase Heading             Level 1

If you use two levels, choose levels 1 and 3.

    Centered Uppercase and Lowercase Heading             Level 1

    Flush Left, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase
    Heading                                              Level 3

If you use three levels, choose levels 1, 3, and 4.

    Centered Uppercase and Lowercase Heading             Level 1

    Flush Left, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase
    Heading                                              Level 3

    Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading
    with a period. Then the text begins as part of the
    same paragraph.                                      Level 4

If you use four levels, level 2 is finally used. Choose levels
1, 2, 3, and 4.

    Centered Uppercase and Lowercase Heading             Level 1
    Centered, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase
    Heading                                              Level 2

    Level Flush Left, Italicized, Uppercase and
    Lowercase Heading                                    Level 3

    Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading
    with a period. Then the text begins as part of the
    same paragraph.                                      Level 4

    If you use five levels, use the list at the top of
    this table.

    Journal Article

    Two authors

    Dreyer, A. R., & Kulea, M. G. (2002). Hot topic:
        Hyperthermia-related disorders. Orthopaedic Nursing,
        21(1), 45–54.

    Six or more authors — use et al. after last author

    Lawrence, R. C., Helmick, C. G., Arnett, F. C., Deyo, R. A.,
        Felson, D. T., Giannini, E. H., et al. (1998). Estimates
        of the prevalence of arthritis and selected
        musculoskeletal disorders in the United States.
        Arthritis and Rheumatism, 41(5), 778–799.

        / No period after “et” but a period after
          “al.”

    Books

    Two authors

    Herfindal, R., & Gourley, D. (2000). Textbook of
        therapeutics: Drug and disease management. Philadelphia:
        Lippincott.

        / Book title has first word capitalized, then the rest
          of the words are lowercase. Because of the colon, we
          find an uppercase “D” following the colon.

    Edited book

    Bennett, W. J. (Ed.). (1993). The book of virtues. New York:
        Simon & Schuster.

    Chapter in a book

    Bessey, P. Q., Downey, R. S., & Monafo, W. W. (1997).
        Metabolic response to injury and critical illness. In J.
        M. Civetta, R. W. Taylor, & R. R. Kirby (Eds.),
        Critical care (3rd ed., pp. 325–335).
        Philadelphia: Lippincott-Raven.

        / If there is also a volume, it would look like this:
          (3rd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 262–276). These items
          don't get put in separate parentheses.

    Magazine Article

    Zeldman, J. (2002, April). Create sophisticated style
        sheets. MacWorld, 76–78.

    Newspaper Article

    Tran, T. (June 25, 2002) Afghanistan's new cabinet is sworn
        in. Philadelphia Inquirer, p. A4.

    Electronic Sources

    Electronic sources resemble other reference formats except
    they will always contain “Retrieved Month 00, 0000,
    from http://www.…” To be accurate with your Web
    site addresses, you can copy the URL from the Web site
    address window and then paste it into your document. Line
    breaks for URLs go after the slash and before the period to
    avoid the appearance of terminal punctuation. This format is
    supported by APA (2001) as well as the editors of EEI Press
    (2001).

    Report with author

    Geisler, F. H. (1997). Sygen (GM-1) use in spinal cord
        injury. Retrieved March 19, 2002, from
        http://www.cureparalysis.org/sygen.

    No author, report from Web site

    What you should know about spinal cord surgery. (2000).
        Retrieved March 19, 2002, from
        http://www.cdc.gov/safeusa/home/sci.htm.

    News release from Web site

    Reitmeyer, J. (2002, July 17). Nearest road test sites now
        miles off. Burlington County Times. Retrieved July 17,
        2002, from
        http://www.msnbc.com/local/PHLBURBS/phl41592399.asp.

    Author, date

    Readers ascribe particular personality attributes to
    typefaces (Brumberger, 2001).

    Exact quote: Author, date, page number

    The results from Studies 1 and 2 confirm the hypotheses that
    readers consistently attribute personality attributes to
    both typefaces and text passages (Brumberger, 2001, p. 107).

    Exact quote, author as part of the text: date, quote, then
    page number

    Brumberger (2001) reported that her results from Studies 1
    and 2 “confirm the hypotheses that readers
    consistently attribute personality attributes to both
    typefaces and text passages” (p. 107).

    Author as part of the text, date follows

    Brumberger (2001) studied typeface personality…

    According to Brumberger (2001), personality attributes of
    typefaces…

    Date and author as part of the text

    In 2001 Brumberger proved that readers assign personality
    attributes to…

    Author as part of the text, date follows, then same citation
    follows in next sentence

    In a study of the connotative attributes of typefaces,
    Brumberger (2001) observed that readers assign personality
    attributes to typefaces. Brumberger also says…

    / Note that the date can be omitted in subsequent citations
      after the first one within the same paragraph.

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.[1]

Brumberger, E.R. (2001). The rhetoric of typography: Five experimental studies of typeface personality and its effects on readers and reading. Dissertation Abstracts International, (UMI No. 3016339).

McGuire, S.L., Gerber, D.E., & Currin, M.D. (2001). Helping students use APA format. Journal of Nursing Education, 40(9), 414–416.

Skillin, M., & Gay, R. (1974). Words into type (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

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By Claudia M. Cuddy

Claudia M. Cuddy, MA, has been Managing Editor of Orthopaedic Nursing since it began 22 years ago. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Journalism at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. Her specialty is publication layout and design. editorcuddy@mac.com