Description
Objective
This assignment provides you the opportunity to reflect on your learning experience in a college course while practicing transfer-ready skills in academic writing and adhering to a style guideline.
Directions
Consult the rubric/scoresheet below to complete this assignment. View the Self-Assessment #2 Template. Word counts are for responses (not including the questions).
Q1: Regarding the study of visual-analysis elements and principles, which concepts have been most helpful to you in your journey to appreciation art?
Q2: Prior to this course, what was your experience with APA, MLA, or Turabian guidelines? After skimming the articles, what is your take-away about the importance of these conventions and your success with academic writing?
————————–
Skim the two articles below. You don’t need to take notes on them! Identify a sentence, or determine an instructive reminder in your own words, from one of the articles. You’ll write about this in Q2. You will provide an in-text citation and a reference at the end of your report. See the rubric for directions on how to do this.
McGuire et al. (2001). Helping students use APA format.pd
Freysteinson et al. (2015). The language of scholarship: How to rapidly locate and avoid common APA errors.pdf
References
McGuire, S., Gerber, D., & Currin, M. (2001). Helping students use APA format. Journal of Nursing Education, 40(9), 414⎻416.
Freysteinson, W., Krepper, R., & Mellot, S. (2001). The language of scholarship: How to rapidly locate and avoid common APA errors. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 46(10), 436⎻438. DOI: 10.3928/002201-24-20150918-14
RESOURCES
Unformatted Attachment Preview
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
teaching tips
Associate Editors: Diane M. Billings, EdD, RN, FAAN, ANEF
Karren Kowalski, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, ANEF, FAAN
Authors: Wyona M. Freysteinson, PhD, MN; Rebecca Krepper, PhD, MBA, RN; and Susan Mellott, PhD, RN
The Language of Scholarship: How to Rapidly Locate and
Avoid Common APA Errors
abstract
This article is relevant for nurses
and nursing students who are writing scholarly documents for work,
school, or publication and who have
a basic understanding of American
Psychological Association (APA) style.
Common APA errors on the reference
list and in citations within the text are
reviewed. Methods to quickly find
and reduce those errors are shared.
J Contin Educ Nurs. 2015;46(10):436438.
N
urses have been empowered by
the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (n.d.) Magnet Recognition Program® to disseminate
nursing knowledge through scholarly
dialogue. Scholarly written communication requires the use of a clear, concise, uniform language. American Psychological Association (APA) style is
most frequently used for scholarly
nursing communication, and information about this style can be found in
the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2010).
The APA Publication Manual describes all elements of preparing a
manuscript, including ethics, writing
clearly and concisely, the correct use
of punctuation, how to cite literature,
and how to structure a reference list.
Standards in the APA allow for a consistent writing style that eases reading
comprehension and allows readers to
quickly find and locate the key points
of an article. When in-text citations
and reference lists are written using
APA style, readers can easily retrieve
the publications used in researching
the paper.
This article focuses on common
citation and reference list errors and
how to best identify and correct these
errors. The authors believe that such
errors account for the majority of
the mistakes found in the papers and
articles they have reviewed over the
course of many years. Elimination
of those errors will result in a more
scholarly paper. Because nursing faculty and reviewers for peer-reviewed
journals are familiar with APA style,
they can spot errors before they begin
to read the article. Papers written using
flawless APA style appear more scholarly to the individual who is familiar
with APA guidelines (Freysteinson,
2013). In the current article, we offer
suggestions regarding how to quickly
Dr. Freysteinson is Associate Professor, Dr. Krepper is Professor, and Dr. Mellott is Associate
Professor, Nelda C. Stark College of Nursing, Texas Woman’s University Institute of Health
Sciences-Houston Center, Houston, Texas.
The authors have disclosed no potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise.
Address correspondence to Wyona M. Freysteinson, PhD, MN, Associate Professor, Nelda
C. Stark College of Nursing, Texas Woman’s University Institute of Health Sciences-Houston
Center, 6700 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030; e-mail: [email protected].
doi:10.3928/00220124-20150918-14
436
and efficiently locate commonly made
errors. In addition, the authors offer a
new lens, or a slightly different way,
of locating these errors. Journal and
book references are used as examples
throughout this article. Key items
within these examples are shown in
boldface for clarity.
REFERENCE LIST
Authors are encouraged to ensure
that all reference list entries are accurate and in APA format (see sections
6.22-6.32; APA, 2010). This article
advocates for the use of several rapid
reviews of the reference list. These
rapidly focused reviews may ultimately save time and be more effective in identifying reference list errors. The four rapid reviews include
reviewing title capitalization, italics,
the ampersand, and the doi number.
Capitalization
One of the most common errors
made on reference lists is related to the
capitalization of article, book, dissertation, and report titles. Only the first
word of the article or book title, subtitle, and proper names are capitalized
(see section 6.29; APA, 2010). In addition, the titles of all journals are capitalized. To avoid inaccurate article title
capitalization, review your reference
list, looking only at the capitalization
of journal article and book titles. Then,
review the references again, looking
only at the capitalization of journal
titles. Examples of correct capitalization are in shown below in boldface.
Journal Article Title. Smart, D.,
English, A., James, J., Wilson, M.,
Copyright © SLACK Incorporated
Daratha, K., Childers, B., & Magera,
C. (2014). Compassion fatigue and
satisfaction: A cross-sectional survey among US healthcare workers.
Nursing & Health Sciences, 16, 3-10.
doi:10.1111/nhs.12068
Book Title. Ricard, M. (2015). Altruism: The power of compassion to
change yourself and the world. New
York, NY: Little Brown.
Journal Title. Smart, D., English, A., James, J., Wilson, M., Daratha, K., Childers, B., & Magera,
C. (2014). Compassion fatigue and
satisfaction: A cross-sectional survey among US healthcare workers.
Nursing & Health Sciences, 16, 3-10.
doi:10.1111/nhs.12068
Italics
Book, dissertation, and report titles
and journal names are shown in italics
(see section 6.29; APA, 2010). Conduct a quick scan of your reference list
for italics to ensure that each entry
has a book, dissertation, or report title
italicized. An italicized item that is
frequently overlooked is the journal
volume number. The volume number
is shown in italics, whereas the issue
number is not italicized. However,
the issue number is shown in parentheses after the volume number only
if the journal is paginated separately
by issue (see section 6.30; APA, 2010).
Examples of correct italicization are in
indicated below in boldface.
Journal Title. Smart, D., English, A., James, J., Wilson, M., Daratha, K., Childers, B., & Magera,
C. (2014). Compassion fatigue and
satisfaction: A cross-sectional survey among US healthcare workers.
Nursing & Health Sciences, 16, 3-10.
doi:10.1111/nhs.12068
Book Title. Rogers, F., Jr. (2015).
Practicing compassion. Nashville,
TN: Fresh Air Books.
Ampersand
The symbol for ampersand is “&.”
This symbol is used in reference lists
instead of the word and. When two
to seven authors of a journal or book
are indicated, the ampersand is placed
before the name of the last author (see
section 6.27; APA, 2010). Conduct a
rapid scan for the ampersand of every entry in your reference list with
more than one author and up to seven
authors to ensure an ampersand is
present and that it is placed in the correct position. When a publication has
eight or more authors, an ampersand
is not used. Rather, only the first six
authors’ names are shown, followed
by a comma, three ellipsis points (with
a space inserted between each ellipsis),
and the last author’s name. Examples
are indicated below in boldface.
Reference With Seven Authors.
Smart, D., English, A., James, J., Wilson, M., Daratha, K., Childers, B.,
& Magera, C. (2014). Compassion
fatigue and satisfaction: A cross-sectional survey among US healthcare
workers. Nursing & Health Sciences,
16, 3-10. doi:10.1111/nhs.12068
Reference With More Than Seven
Authors. Ross, A.J., Anderson, J.E.,
Kodate, N., Thomas, L., Thompson,
K., Thomas, B., . . . Jaye, P. (2013).
Simulation training for improving
the quality of care for older people:
An independent evaluation of an
innovative programme for interprofessional education. BMJ Quality
& Safety, 22, 495-505. doi:10.1136/
bmjqs-2012-000954
Digital Object Identifier
The majority of journal articles
have a digital object identifier (DOI),
which is a unique identifier and a path
to an article’s location on the Internet.
The DOI is typically found within
each article or is readily obtained by
searching for the article by typing the
title in the search field of an Internet
browser. For articles that do not have
a doi, the URL of the journal website
homepage can be used (see section
6.32; APA, 2010). Conducting a rapid
scan for the DOI will ensure that all of
The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing · Vol 46, No 10, 2015
your journal entries have a DOI number or URL. Examples of the DOI
number or journal website homepage
are indicated below in boldface.
Reference With DOI. van der
Cingel, M. (2014). Compassion: The
missing link in quality of care. Nurse
Education Today, 34, 1253-1257.
doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2014.04.003
Reference Without DOI. Dellasega, C., Gabbay, R., Durdock,
K., & Martinez-King, N. (2009). An
exploratory study of the orientation
needs of experienced nurses. The
Journal of Continuing Education in
Nursing, 40, 311-316. Retrieved from
http://www.healio.com/nursing/
journals/jcen
CITATIONS WITHIN THE TEXT
Occasionally, there is confusion
around the reference list and citing
the references within the body of the
text. For students and new authors,
APA style may primarily be perceived
as being all about the reference list.
Accordingly, many may turn to reference management software to build
the reference list. Several such programs are available and can be readily
located by using the search function
of an Internet browser. However,
those programs are not useful to determine the citation format within the
text of the article. Citations provide
support for knowledge, facts, and figures that are not typically known and
are required when a researcher uses
references that influence the writing
of a paper. Scanning your text for
author citations using the word and,
ampersands, the term et al., and reviewing direct quotations, which will
require indication of the page number
on which the quotation appears in
the cited material, will eliminate the
majority of citation errors.
When to Use “And” or “&”
When two to five authors are
initially cited within the text, the
ampersand symbol is used if the
437
authors are cited within parentheses. When authors’ surnames appear within the narrative of the text,
place the word and before the final
author’s name. Conducting a quick
scan of your article, looking only for
the ampersand and the word and in
author citations, will aid in identifying this error. Note that although
the authors’ initials are used on the
reference list, only the surname of
authors is used within the text (see
section 6.12; APA, 2010). Examples
are shown below in boldface.
Citing Authors Parenthetically.
The best book about teamwork was
written as a handbook for teams to use
(Scholtes, Joiner, & Streibel, 2003).
Citing Authors in the Text Narrative. Scholtes, Joiner, and Streibel
(2003) wrote the best book available if you want to know about how
teams work.
When to Use “et al.” The abbreviation “et al.” is used in some author
citations within the text. In works
by one to five authors, all authors’
last names are cited at first mention
in the text. For subsequent citations
of three to five authors, use the first
author’s last name followed by “et
al.” Work by six or more authors is
cited at the first and all subsequent
mentions in the text by the first author’s name and “et al.” When a publication has two authors, both author
names are always cited throughout
the text. Table 6.1 in the Publication Manual (APA, 2010, p. 177) is
an excellent resource for basic citation styles and the best quick guide
for how to cite a reference the first
time it appears and in subsequent
citations; the difference between a
parenthetical citation and an in-text
citation is also demonstrated. Examples are shown below in boldface.
First Time Three to Five Authors
Are Cited in the Text. Scholtes,
Joiner, and Streibel (2003) wrote
the best book available if you want
to know about how teams work.
438
Subsequent Times Three to Five
Authors Are Cited in the Text.
Scholtes et al. (2003) wrote a great
book on how teams work.
Each Time Six or More Authors Are
Cited in the Text. Ross et al. (2013)
wrote a book on simulation training.
QUOTATIONS
The use of quoted material does
not make an article stronger or more
factual. In scholarly written communications, direct quotations should
be used sparingly and only when the
information being relayed cannot
be said in any other way. Referring
to another person’s work or paraphrasing that work is appropriate.
Quotations of less than 40 words
are placed within quotation marks,
followed by the author(s) name(s),
publication year, and page number
(designated by the abbreviation “p.”)
in parentheses. The sentence punctuation mark (period) is placed after
the closing parenthesis of the author
citation. Quotations of more than 40
words are placed in a freestanding
block of text. All quotations require
the page number on which the quotation appears in the original work
(see section 6.03; APA, 2010). Review
your quotations for the correct use
of quotation marks or block of text,
and ensure every quotation has a page
number indicated with the citation.
In block quotations, the period follows the quotation, and the citation
inserted without ending punctuation.
Quotations of Less Than 40 Words.
“Authors do not present the work of
another as if it were their own work”
(APA, 2010, p. 16).
Quotations of 40 or More Words.
Over the years, the [APA] Publication Manual has grown by necessity from a simple set of style
rules to an authoritative source
on all aspects of scholarly writing, from the ethics of duplicate
publication to the word choice
that best reduces bias in language.
(APA, 2010, p. 3)
REFERENCE LIST AND CITATION
CONGRUENCE
A common error found in papers is
the spelling of author names in in-text
citations that do not match the spelling
of those names on the reference list. In
a similar manner, the publication year
cited may be different in the text, compared with the reference list. One way
to correct this error is to use the “find”
feature in a Word document, which is
located under the Home tab. Using
the find feature, highlight the name of
the author in the text and each time the
author’s name was cited in the text and
on the reference list will appear on the
screen. Use this opportunity to visually check all citations against the reference list. Whenever a discrepancy is
found, check the reference against the
original publication. As a bonus, this
search will enable you to make sure
that the et al. abbreviation discussed
above was used correctly throughout
the text.
CONCLUSION
Many schools of nursing and nursing journals have adopted the APA as
its primary language of scholarship.
This article aimed to address rapid
review tools to ensure that the reference list and in-text citations are written in APA format. The language of
the APA may be initially frustrating;
however, when this writing style is
learned, authors find papers easier to
write, as they are not bogged down
by wondering how to cite documents
or develop a reference list.
REFERENCES
American Nurses Credentialing Center.
(n.d.). Home page. Retrieved from http://
www.nursecredentialing.org/default.aspx
American Psychological Association. (2010).
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Freysteinson, W.M. (2013). The language of
scholarship for novice writers. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 44, 533-534. doi:10.3928/0022012420131121-13
Copyright © SLACK Incorporated
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without
permission.
Purchase answer to see full
attachment
