4.9: APA Documentation

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Frost & Samra et al.
Kellogg Community College

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APA (American Psychological Association) is the standard citation method in nursing, business, and the social sciences.

APA requires an in-text citation in the body of your paper and a References page at the end. APA emphasizes author name(s), the date a study or publication was completed, and a page number (required for direct quotations).

Let’s say you are writing a paper on measures to improve hand sanitation in schools and have come across the following article. Here is how this source would be cited in the body of the paper and on the References page:

HAND HYGIENE 3

One study found that schools with nurses who regularly inspected bathrooms had a much higher likelihood of having hand washing supplies available (Ramos, Shilling, Trulio, Blea, & Green, 2016). Part of the challenge is simply raising employee awareness about hygiene. Sometimes, according to Ramos et al. (2016), facility improvements “are the result of increased attention [to hygiene] and not necessarily due to a specific intervention” (p. 358).

Note that a follow-up citation uses “et al.” (Latin for “and others”); further, when the author(s) and date are mentioned in the signal phrase just the page number apprears at the end of the sentence.

HAND HYGIENE 5

References

Ramos, M. M., Shilling, R., Trulio, R., Blea, M., & Green, C. (2016). School nurse impacts on the school. School Health Journal, 86 (6), 355-358. doi: 10.1111/j.1466-1561.2011.00602.x