Wherever you are within the RN-to-BSN Program, you have come in contact
with American Psychological Association (APA) format. As you recall,
this is the citing and referencing system used when publishing in most
peer-reviewed journals. Also, recall that peer-reviewed journals are
those that are reviewed by experts in the field prior to publishing in
said journal.

We have heard from many of you wondering why the RN-to-BSN Program requires and grades APA format in your writing assignments.

Your Capstone project in your final course prior to graduation will
require APA format. When your Capstone is complete, you are about 70%
along the way to having material suitable for publishing. Wouldn’t that
be a nice addition to your resume? If you pursue higher education, APA
will be required as a part of that educational track as well. Finally,
there is publishing as a part of your professional role. Thus far, you
have explored several peer-reviewed journals. Have you noticed that many
articles are written by practicing nurses?

Your assigned Discussion Forum is as follows.

Please consult your favorite professional journal and search for “Author
Guidelines.” Attach the guidelines to the Discussion Forum along with
your discussion content (we will set Moodle to accept 1 attachment). The
Discussion Forum itself will include your comments on the following:

DIRECTIONS:

1. Why would a practicing nurse want to publish?

2. Comment on the guidelines you’ve attached to your discussion. Point out those things that

are familiar and those things that are not.

3. If you were writing an article today, do you currently have enough information to successfully follow the guidelines?

4. If you do not have enough information to successfully follow the guidelines, where might you locate the information?

Your personal opinion is warranted for item one (1) above. However, for
the remaining items (2-4), you must show critical analysis of the topic
and, in addition, all items must be supported by evidence from the
scholarly literature. Your response must be typed (or copied and pasted)
directly into the discussion thread. The word limit is no less than 200
or more than 300 words, with at least 2 peer-reviewed journals no older
than 5 years. Please double space between paragraphs but do NOT use
double spacing or indentions throughout. The only APA format should be
for citation of sources in-text and the reference list. No file can be uploaded.