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The 61 Points Nursing Spring 2015 Version

The purpose of this document is to provide the student and faculty with a list of frequently
occurring problem areas in MSN students papers. APA references are given to assist one in
finding the correct sites to review in the APA Manual, 6th edition. The MSN Committee
adapted Dr. Stan Tuttles The 63 Points Spring 2014 Version. We hope you find these points
helpful. Remember you can find additional assistance on the Olivet portal. Please follow
these breadcrumbs to find these resources on My.Olivet portal: Student Support>Tools for
Success>APA Toolkit and other resources
GENERAL:
1. Dont include EBSCO or other library data base info for articles retrieved using library
databases. See APA, p. 192, 3d new bullet point from the top for proper formats to use.
2. You are writing as though for a nave audience. They only know what you tell them. You
cannot assume they know anything else.
3. Consistency in terminology matters. Master-level, Masters-level, and Masterslevel in the same essay may mean the same thing, but how does a nave reader know?
4. Personification: Articles, studies, hypotheses, results, conclusions, recommendations, or
any other thing cannot DO anything. Only people can. Speak about what the
authors/researchers/participants, or other people, DID. Write about what PEOPLE did.
ALWAYS.
5. Use past tense consistently when reviewing the actual articles, studies, etc. ALWAYS. You
can use present or future tense when discussing how the article is useful to you.
6. Make sure your software isnt crimping your style. Software intended to help may not
be 100% in compliance with APA 6th ed. standards. Caveat Emptor.
7. Do not switch from first person to third person, unless there is an easily identified
rationale. When in doubt, use third person.
8. When writing reviews of literature, remember to let the reader know who the author(s)
and year of the article being reviewed in the first sentence, if at all possible. Your reader
needs context, and quickly.
9. Because or since? <Since> refers to a point of time in the past. <Because> relates cause
and effect to each other. Use the appropriate word each time.
10. All header and footer info, including the page number, needs to be the same font, color
and size as the body text.

11. Affect or effect? Effect is a noun. Affect is a verb. Use each wisely and appropriately.
12. What is significant? This word has a unique meaning in the world of research. It
usually implies or infers <statistically significant>. If you mean something is statistically
significant, say it is statistically significant. If you mean something is important, use
another word instead of <significant>. Also true for variants, e.g., significance, significantly,
etc.
PUNCTUATION, ETC.:
13. Apostrophes denote possession. Do not use apostrophes to show plurality.
14. Double check to ensure correct usage of singular, singular possessive, plural, and plural
possessive. Where you place (or dont place) the apostrophe really matters.
15. Semicolon, not comma, needed, when separating two independent clauses. HINT:
Usually, the second clause begins with <however> or <therefore>.
16. See APA, pp. 97-100, para. 4.13, for the details of when to (or when not to) hyphenate.
Hyphen needed here when two words that are not normally used together as a modifier
are used together as a modifier. EXAMPLES: Rainy day has no hyphen. Rainy-day
activities has a hyphen.
17. See APA, pp. 88-89, para. 4.03, for how to use (or NOT use) commas.
18. See APA, pp. 89-90, para. 4.04, for how to use semicolons; see para. 4.05, for how to use
colons.
19. When listing more than one initial for an author, insert a space between the initials.
20. Hyphen or dash? Use the proper format. Dash: See APA, p. 90, para. 4.06.
21. Periods and commas go inside quotation marks. ALWAYS.
22. Other punctuation is placed inside or outside quotation marks based on its context.
23. Use a comma after a prepositional phrase that begins a sentence.
THINGS TO AVOID:
24. Avoid one-sentence paragraphs.
25. Avoid colloquial expressions. See APA. p. 68, para. 3.09, for more details.

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26. Avoid parenthetical statements. If its important enough to mention, make it part of the
main thought.
27. Avoid <not only . . . but> language. It hinders reader comprehension.
28. Avoid split infinitives. to really help is a split infinitive. Dont put a modifier between
the <to> and the verb. You can use the modifier, but place in a different part of the
sentence.
29. Avoid passive voice. "Something" was "done" is passive voice. "Who" did "what" is
active voice. Please clarify. ALWAYS.
30. Avoid <as to>. Use <about> instead.
31. Avoid ending a sentence with a preposition.
32. Avoid <in regards to>, <in regard to>, etc. Use <regarding> instead.
33. Avoid to be verbs. These are to be verbs:
Am

Are

Is

Was

Were

Be

Being

Been

Use action verbs instead. ALWAYS.

See also: http://penningtonpublishing.com/blog/grammar_mechanics/how-toeliminate-to-be-verbs-in-writing/
STYLE:
34. No contractions in scholarly writing. EVER.
35. Include the year of publication once per paragraph. ALWAYS.
36. ONLY include the year of publication once per paragraph. ALWAYS.
37. In the reference list, volume numbers are italicized. ALWAYS.
38. Dont use stand-alone pronouns, such as <this>, <that>, <these>, etc. Use nouns.
Precision and clarity matter. Please clarify.
39. That or which? Try using both; if <that> works, use it.
40. Use <who> or <whom>, not <that>, when referring to people.

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41. Use hard page breaks (control+enter) to guarantee page breaks that MUST happen
(e.g., Reference list).
42. Line length and alignment: Do not justify right margins. Do not use hyphenation at the
end of a line of type.
43. Do not end a page with a single line (widow) or begin new page with one line from
previous paragraph (orphan).
44. About versus on. <Researchers conducted research ABOUT test scores> is correct;
<researchers conducted research ON test scores> is incorrect.
APA-SPECIFIC ITEMS:
45. Review APA, p. 175, para. 6-12, for how to cite multiple authors in your writing. Special
rules always apply.
46. See APA, pp. 172-173, para. 6.08, for how to use ellipsis points. When using ellipsis
points the proper format is: <space>dot<space>dot<space>dot<space>
47. See APA, pp. 63-65, to determine which form of seriation you need to use. Also, see the
paragraph on p. 64 that begins with Within a sentence . . . to determine when to use
commas in a set of three or more items.
48. See APA. pp. 75-76, para. 3.14, for how to address racial and ethnic identity.
49. Use <&>, not <and>, inside parentheses for in-text citations of two or more authors,
and also in reference list entries.
50. Use <and>, not <&>, outside parentheses for in-text presentation of two or more
authors.
51. Use the authors suffix (e.g., Jr., III) in the reference list. Do not use the authors suffix
in the in-text citation.
52. Quotations of 40 words or more require block indentation. See the section beginning if
the quotation exceeds 40 or more words . . . on p. 171, for the description of how to block
indent.
53. See also, APA. p. 92, para. 4.08, for how to use (or not use) quotation marks.
54. DOI: the term <doi> should be typed in lower case, followed by a colon AND NO
SPACE, then the doi number, all on one line. Do not wrap a doi to the next line. There is
no punctuation after the doi. EXAMPLE: doi:39069089tu39u89

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55. When typing a page number in a quotation, place a space between the <p.> and the
number. EXAMPLE: (p. 56)
56. Abbreviations: see APA, p. 106-111. Para. 4.23., p. 107, has particularly useful guidance.
57. Adding emphasis: do not use quotation marks, bold type, or italics alone to add
emphasis. See Adding Emphasis, APA, p. 173.
NUMBERS:
58. See APA, pp. 111-114 for details about how to express numbers.
59. How many? When providing numbers, use this rule of thumb: dont make the
readers do any math. 50.7% of 20 is different than 50.7% of 2, 000. Without such clarity,
percentages are meaningless.

60. PLAGIARISM: Instructors do not grade papers

with plagiarism (writing as though another
persons work is your own.) Do not use papers
written for previous courses by you or others.
Direct quotations require a page or paragraph
number in the in-text citation. ALWAYS. If you do
not cite properly, you are GUILTY of plagiarism.
61. Additionally, if you have paraphrased and it is not a direct quotation DO NOT include
the page or paragraph number, unless necessary for location.

We hope you find these 61 points helpful in avoiding frequently occurring errors in MSN
papers. Please remember to use your APA Manual instructors usually have it open beside
them when grading your papers and you might find it helpful to have your APA Manual
open beside you when writing your papers.
The MSN Committee, Spring 2015