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Nursing Students Subject Guide

APA 7 Formatting

APA 7 (American Psychological Association, 7th edition) is the most common citation style used in nursing. You can find more information about APA style in the APA handbook (available in the Reference Section of the library), the Purdue OWL, or on the APA web-site.

Examples of in-text citations in APA style

Here is a bibliographic reference:

Blume PA, Walters J, Payne W, Ayala J, & Lantis J. (2008). Comparison of negative pressure wound therapy using vacuum-                    assisted closure with advanced moist wound therapy in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers: a multocenter randomized                controlled trial. Diabetes Care, 31(4), 631– 636. https://doi-org.kbcc.ezproxy.cuny.edu/10.2337/dc07-2196

 

Here are some examples of in-text citations using this reference:

Paraphrasing information:

Blume et al. (2008) describe that negative pressure wound therapy was more effective than moist wound therapy in improving healing in diabetic foot ulcers.

In one research study, negative pressure wound therapy proved to be more successful than moist wound therapy in treating diabetic foot ulcers (Blume et al., 2008).

Direct quote (include page number/s):

Blume et al. (2008) found that negative pressure wound therapy was “as safe as and more efficacious than advanced moist wound therapy in treating diabetic foot ulcers” (p. 635).

One study found that negative pressure wound therapy was “as safe as and more efficacious than advanced moist wound therapy in treating diabetic foot ulcers” (Blume et al., 2008, p. 635).

Citation Basics

Citing your sources is a very important part of the research process. Why?

  • Citations help you avoid plagiarism. As you may know, Kingsborough stands strongly against plagiarism, or using the work of others as your own. (See the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity here.) Citing direct or indirect quotations can prevent you from inadvertently claiming another writer's work as your own. 
  • Citations help you make your case. In addition to avoiding plagiarism, citing sources will make your work much stronger. Each citation stands as a piece of evidence: a citation adds to your paper by saying to the reader: "What she is arguing is backed up by the scholars in the field."
  • Citations show the person who is reading how to get further information. Citations can be a great way of pointing your reader to more interesting sources on your topic. 
  • Citations strike up a conversation with your source. In scholarly writing, citations are considered a form of communication between one author and another. By citing an author's work, you not only support your own argument, but you are also announcing that the sources you cited are good works of research or scholarship. It's a conversation, even though they may not know about it.