APA Format and You...

Nursing Students General Students

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Hi all! I've got my first paper due in about a week or so. It's to be written, of course, in APA format. Now, in my prior papers, I've always done all of the work entirely by hand as instructed... however, I'm wondering - is there a legitimate and correct way to save some time on this by having a program or website assist in creating citations/bibliography?

I have been warned that the current iteration of MS Word does not do APA correctly, so I'm hesitant to trust any program I stumble across randomly. What do you recommend, if anything, that has proven accurate results?

Thanks very much for reading. :)

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Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

there are several online websites that will format your paper for you, there are long threads in AN about the different ones that people have tried.

I did all my papers with PERLA, for around $25 you get permanant access. Download it (the updates are free), and type into it. Really helped with the references. You still have to choose which level of headers, but the guidelines are there. I also bought the APA book, and tagged pages I used a lot. Just be sure to double check before hitting submit, once my refs glitched and I lost points for all of them being indented wrong. On the other hand, it only happened once in 5 years.

ANother hint, once you write it out, save the ones for your texts that you quote over and over, in a separate file. THen you can just cut and paste for the next paper.

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Thanks for your reply JBudd! I will look into getting PERLA. I don't mind spending a small amount of money as long as I'm assured a quality product! I think I will buy the APA book as well, since I'm going to be writing multitudinous papers for the next couple years or so....

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Specializes in ICU + Infection Prevention.

Do you have a RUNNING HEAD?

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Better go catch it!

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I created an APA template for myself in word . Each time I write a new paper I just fill in the blanks, so to speak. For citations I use citation machine. I wouldn't feel comfortable uploading/writing my entire paper to a 3rd party site. And I wouldn't want to pay for it either, especially since there are so many excellent free resources.

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Specializes in ER.

I use son of citation for my citations, and the Purdue OWL website for formatting. It has lots of explanations and examples.

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I too have software to format my papers. It is called Reference Point Software. One time I had a problem with the program on my computer and customer service was very helpful in getting it fixed. When you purchase it you get an automatic download and then they send you a CD which you can download to however many computers you have at home. It's great and user friendly!

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Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.
I created an APA template for myself in word . Each time I write a new paper I just fill in the blanks, so to speak. For citations I use citation machine. I wouldn't feel comfortable uploading/writing my entire paper to a 3rd party site. And I wouldn't want to pay for it either, especially since there are so many excellent free resources.

I'm impressed, never would have thought of creating a template...

PERRLA is not up loaded, sorry if I wasn't clear. It downloads onto your computer, never sent anywhere until you submit it. I did my masters with it.

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I also just got PERLA. They have a 30 day free trial so you can try it before you buy it. It is also possible to split the cost if you know others who want it. (up to 3 people)

It's awesome!

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

Just finished my master's thesis utilizing PERLA - best $30 I EVER spent. Buy it - seriously!

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PERRLA....worth every freaking penny!

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I am very, very confused by this thread. I always just typed my references in. This software does that for you? Do you just paste the link & it sets everything up? APA is the bane of my existence, so if that's how it works... I need it.

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