On July 1st, the Rehabilitation Nursing Journal (RNJ) required manuscripts to be written following the guidelines of the seventh edition Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA Manual; APA, 2020b). This APA Manual provides a foundation that helps new and experienced writers clearly and precisely communicate their ideas in an organized manner. Although many other sources provide information on how to write according to APA format, the APA Manual is the primary source for information. The new edition of the APA Manual (APA, 2020b) in its entirety is available from local libraries and online bookstores. Of note, an overview of the entire content changes can be found at the 2020 APA Style website (https://apastyle.apa.org/; APA, 2020a) or at https://apastyle.apa.org/products/publication-manual-7th-edition-introduction.pd.
The 2020 APA recommendations present a learning curve for RNJ potential authors, editors, and publisher. Highlights of new and/or updated content in this seventh edition of the APA Manual are briefly described in the following paragraphs for writing and grammar usage and mechanics of style, as well as for in-text citations and reference list.
Writing and Grammar Usage
In writing a manuscript, careless construction of sentences and incorrect grammar can distract readers, create ambiguity, and hinder clear communication of ideas. In the following segments, a few exemplars are highlighted for writers using the seventh edition of the APA Manual (APA, 2020b); see pages 111-127 for a complete listing of writing style and grammar.
Sentence Construction
For coordinating conjunctions used in pairs, for example, "both[horizontal ellipsis]and," place the first conjunction immediately before the first part of the parallelism (Section 4.24, pp. 124-125: "Correct: The names were difficult both to pronounce and spell. Incorrect: The names were difficult both to pronounce as well as spell." Never use the word "both" with "as well as." This type of sentence construction is redundant (APA, 2020b).
Mechanics of Style
Style guidelines ensure clear, consistent communication and presentation in scholarly manuscripts. A complete listing for punctuation, spelling, capitalization, italics, abbreviations, numbers, statistical and mathematical copy, and lists is in the APA Manual (APA, 2020b); see pages 153-191. A few examples are described in the following segments.
Punctuation
Space After Punctuation Marks
Insert one space after "periods or other punctuation mark at the end of a sentence" and "commas, colons, and semicolons[horizontal ellipsis]periods following initials in names (M. P. Clark)." "Do not insert a space in the following cases: after internal periods in abbreviations (e.g., a.m., i.e., U.S.)." More information is available in Section 6.1 (p. 154).
Numbers
"In general, use numerals to express numbers 10 and above and words to express numbers below 10." (p. 178). Section 6.32 (pp.178-179) includes specific rules where numerals should always be used (numbers preceding a unit of measurement [e.g., 5 cm], numbers that represent time [e.g., 4 days]). Note that the seventh edition no longer includes an exception for presenting numbers in an abstract (APA, 2020b).
In-Text Citations and Reference List
In-Text Citations
For works with three or more authors, the in-text citation is now shortened to list just the first author's name followed by et al., from the first citation and in every citation, unless this would create ambiguity. For a citation to Smith, Pierce, Larsen, and Clark (2020) publication, use each and every time cited the Correct narrative citation: Smith et al. (2020) or the Correct parenthetical citation: (Smith et al., 2020). See Section 8.17 (p. 266) for other exemplars (APA, 2020b).
Reference List
In APA format, References (also known as a Reference Page) are a separate listing at the end of the manuscript that includes each and all of the sources that are cited throughout the text. Usually, it is a single page of references, alphabetized by author (APA, 2020b).
Format for Author Listing
The number of authors to include in Reference entries has been updated from 6 to 20: For a paper/manuscript with up to 20 authors, include all of the names in the reference. When this work has 21 or more authors, include only the first 19 names, an ellipsis, and the final name. See Section 9.8 (pp. 286-287) for more information/examples.
Publishers Sources
Of note in Section 9.29 (pp. 295-296), the publisher location is no longer included in reference types where the publisher name is included.
DOIs and URLs
These designations are the final component of a reference list entry. DOIs are formatted the same as URLs. Correct New Format:https://doi.org/10.1097/000000000067; Incorrect Old Format: doi: 10.1097/000000000067. URLs are no longer preceded by the words "Retrieved from" unless a retrieval date is needed. In Sections 9.34, 9.35, and 9.36 (pp.298-300), more information is located (APA, 2020b).
RNJ will use the new seventh edition of the manual guidelines, as content changes in the APA Manual (APA, 2020b) are now a must for new manuscript submissions. However, published articles written in the previous APA Manual sixth edition format (2010) and published ahead-of-print will continue to be included in this RNJ and upcoming issues. Please contact the RNJ office at mailto:[email protected] for queries about manuscripts.
Linda L. Pierce, PhD, MSN, RN, CRRN, FAAN
Associate Editor
Rehabilitation Nursing Journal
University of Toledo Toledo, OH
References