Skip to Main Content

Respiratory Care

Introduction to APA Style (7th ed.)

A Step-by-Step Guide for APA Style Student Papers

APA Style Guidelines for Writing and Research, 7th ed.

APA Writing Guidelines

Our baseline framework and standard resources for writing expectations (APA Style Guidelines, 7th ed.) in the BSRC Program include:

Freely available, online APA Style Guidelines and writing resources at these vetted locations:

APA Style, 7th Ed. General Student Paper Templates

This Google doc paper template is pre-formatted and is inclusive of APA Style, 7th edition paper formatting, layout, Headings, and References

Style & Grammar Guidelines

Why Do We Cite?

Common APA Reference Examples Guide

Concise Guide to APA Style, 7th ed.

This text is available for rental or purchase through the Skyline Bookstore.

Optional Resource - APA Style Guide, 7th ed.

Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)

Citation and Plagiarism

Why cite?

  • To Avoid Plagiarism & Maintain Academic Integrity
  • To Acknowledge the Work of Others
  • To Provide Credibility to Your Work & to Place Your Work in Context
  • To Help Your Future Researching Self & Other Researchers Easily Locate Sources

Strategies to avoid plagiarism

Quotation marks
Use quotation marks in your notes to help yourself remember the exact phrases you write down from another work.

Author labels
Use author labels in your notes to help yourself remember where a certain idea has come from.

System of organization
Figure out a good system to separate your own ideas, summaries, and paraphrases from the work you are referencing.  One possibility is to only copy down direct quotes during your research and wait until the writing process to summarize and paraphrase in your own words.

Read, then look away to write
When summarizing or paraphrasing, read the section you want to reference and then look away as you write it in your own words to help prevent copying it too closely.

Please refer to the Skyline College Academic Integrity section of the College Catalog for examples of what may be considered academic dishonesty.


Why cite? by Ohio State University (CC BY 4.0)

Strategies adapted from Davidson College Library Research Guides are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

 

Writing and Research Rubric

Writing and Research Paper Rubric

BSRC APA, 7th ed. Writing Rubric

Criteria

Exemplary 100%

Accomplished 90%

Developing 80%

Beginning 60%

Paper Focus/ Topic/Purpose/Position (Thesis)

(25%)

Research paper's topic, purpose, or position statement is well-developed, readily apparent, and clearly stated. Consistently maintains the focal point throughout the paper.

Paper's central topic, purpose, or position statement is apparent and is the focal point of the paper for the most part, but may digress from it on occasion.

Paper's central purpose or position statement is somewhat unclear and needs to be developed further; focus of paper is not consistently clear

Paper's central purpose or position statement is generally unclear and paper lacks focus overall.

Depth and Evidence (Sources)

(25%)

Central purpose or position is supported in-depth with at least 5 sources that are highly relevant, accurate, reliable, and primary, and each adds to the strength of the paper. Sources are skillfully referenced throughout the paper.

Central purpose or position is supported with at least 5 sources that are mostly relevant, accurate, reliable, and primary. Sources are integrated well into the paper for the most part.

Central purpose or position is largely supported but with less than 5 sources and/or some sources may not be relevant, accurate, reliable, or primary, and/or some sources are not integrated well in the paper.

Central purpose or position is not supported with sufficient research sources and/or are generally not relevant, accurate, reliable, or primary, and/or sources are generally not integrated well in the paper.

Organization

(20%)

Paper is well-organized. Ideas are arranged logically, flow smoothly, with a strong progression of thought from paragraph to paragraph connecting to the central purpose or position statement. Includes all required components.

Paper is organized for the most part. Ideas are arranged logically and usually linked clearly from paragraph to paragraph connecting to the central purpose or position statement. Includes required components for the most part.

Paper is organized in general, although occasionally ideas from paragraph to paragraph may not make sense to the central purpose or position statement and/or be clear as a whole and/or may be lacking a required component.

Paper lacks logical organization and impedes readers' comprehension of ideas. Central purpose or position statement is rarely evident from paragraph to paragraph, and/or is missing required components.

Writing Quality & Adherence to Format Guidelines

(15%)

Paper is well written and clear using standard English characterized by elements of a strong writing style and basically free from grammar, punctuation, spelling, usage, or formatting errors. 5-10 pages in length, not including cover, abstract, or additional materials.

Paper shows above average writing style and clarity and uses standard English with little errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, usage, and/or formatting. 5-10 pages in length, not including cover, abstract, or additional materials.

Paper shows an average or casual writing style based on standard English with some errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, usage, and/or formatting. Under 5 or over 10  pages in length, not including cover, abstract, or additional materials.

Paper shows a below average or poor writing style based on appropriate standard English with frequent errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, usage, and/or formatting. Under 5 or over 10  pages in length, not including cover, abstract, or additional materials.

Diagrams & Illustrations

(15%)

Diagrams and illustrations are neat, accurate, appropriately sized, captioned, placed, and add to the reader's understanding of the topic.

Diagrams and illustrations are accurate, and are mostly neat, appropriately sized, captioned, and placed; for the most part, they add to the reader's understanding of the topic.

Diagrams and illustrations are accurate, and are usually appropriately sized, captioned, and placed; they sometimes add to the reader's understanding of the topic.

Diagrams and illustrations are not present or not accurate, and/or generally are not appropriately sized, captioned, or placed; they seldom add to the reader's understanding of the topic.

ZBib - Automated Bibliography Formatting

Citation Generators are web form for automatic citation generation for use in papers.  A favorite is ZoteroBib

 (NOTE: ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK CITATION GENERATOR RESULTS USING OWL GUIDES)

Selected Citation generators:

 

Unless otherwise indicated, Respiratory Care Research Guide for Skyline College is licensed under CC BY 4.0 International.