4510 and "Dr. Paper"

Nursing Students Ohio University

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Hello, this is my first class, don't remember doing APA format before. When reading the announcements, TA recommended using "Dr. Paper" to help with the APA format. Has anyone else done this? I just don't want to spend $30 if it's not a useful tool. Thanks!

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Specializes in Cardiology and ER Nursing.

Perrla is superior to Dr Paper.

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My recommendation would be to not waste your money on any of them. Formatting the paper is not that difficult: watch your margins and line spacing.

Formatting your reference list and in-text citations are somewhat more complex, however it is not unmanageable. You will likely find that the majority of your references are either journal articles or book chapters. Neither of these are difficult to format. Sources other than these are not necessarily more difficult to format, you just need to know which format you are going to use.

If you do opt to go with one of these programs be aware that the generated reference list might not be correct.

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I use Dr.Paper and for me it was worth the money.

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When I started this program I had no idea about APA format or even how to use Microsoft Word. I bought the APA Manual the school suggests and I found APA Made Easy by Scott Matkovich which gave me step-by-step instructions on how to set up my word document to be in APA format. Believe me, if I could use it so can you. I have also utilized Purdue OWL when necessary. I'm in my last semester and have lost very few points due to formatting errors.

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Specializes in ICU,ER, Radiology, Online education.

PERRLA by far a life saver. Also Purdue owl. I never did APA before stating this program, and PERRLA has really helped me a lot!

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Specializes in Med Surg.

I use Purdue owl and found that extremely useful. I haven't yet found the need to use the apa formatting programs due to this site. It gets easier with time! :)

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

I bought Dr. Paper over 6 years ago because I knew ZERO about APA. I have found it very useful...though now I'm good enough at APA that I hardly need it anymore--now I use it to set up my blank paper and that's about it. Having it keep track of the heading styles and the reference generator are the best parts. If you have the $30 and don't want to have to deal with setting up margins, styles, etc., every paper, it's worth it.

But like others have said, it's not essential: there's lots of cheap/free resources you can utilize instead.

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