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APA for Nursing

Common problems with italicization

Are the resource titles in your reference list italicized correctly?

Titles are italicized according the independence of the source, in other words does it stand alone or is it part of a larger work? Works which stand alone are italicized; works which are part of larger works are not italicized.

1. Generally journals, books, and reports are not part of larger works so their titles are italicized. 

Examples:

Journal— The American Journal of Nursing

Report -- Use of advance directives in long-term care populations

2. Articles do not stand alone, each is part of a journal just as book chapters are parts of books and webpages are parts of larger websites, so titles of articles, book chapters, and webpages are not italicized.

Examples:

Journal article – Learning patient safety in academic settings: A comparative study of Finnish and British nursing students' perceptions

Book Chapter – The nature of leadership: Distinguishing leadership from management

Webpage – Council on cardiovascular and stroke nursing

More information about capitalization and italicization (including a chart with instructions for in-text use as well as reference list use) is available here, http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2012/03/how-to-capitalize-and-format-reference-titles-in-apa-style.html