If you’re a nursing student, your research looks different from most other fields. You’re not pulling from literary criticism or historical archives. Instead, you’re working with peer-reviewed clinical research, government health data, professional organization guidelines, and evidence-based practice resources. And each one comes with its own APA formatting considerations.
Here’s a practical guide to the sources nursing students cite most and how to handle each one correctly in APA 7th Edition.
One rule that applies to everything
Before diving into specific source types, there’s one principle worth internalizing: cite the original source type, not the format in which you accessed it.
A journal article is a journal article whether you found it on PubMed, CINAHL, or the journal’s own website. A report is a report whether you downloaded it as a PDF or read it online. The database or platform you used to access a source doesn’t change how you format the reference, and in APA 7, you generally don’t include database names or database URLs in your references at all. What you include is a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) when one is available, or the URL of the original source when it isn’t.
Identify what the source is, not where you found it. Then format accordingly.
Journal articles
Journal articles are the backbone of nursing research, and they’re the source type you’ll cite most. The standard APA 7 format is:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of the article in sentence case. Journal Name in Title Case, volume(issue), page–range. https://doi.org/xxxxx
A few things to pay close attention to
- DOI when available: Most peer-reviewed journal articles have a DOI. Always use it when it’s available. It is the most stable locator for a source. Format it as a URL: https://doi.org/xxxxx
- No DOI: If an article has no DOI but is available online, use the URL of the journal’s homepage, not the database URL. If the article is only available in print, no URL is needed.
- Database information: Don’t include it. In APA 7, database names and database URLs are omitted from references. The DOI or journal URL is sufficient.
- Volume and issue: The volume number is italicized; the issue number in parentheses is not.
Example
Patel, R. K., & Nguyen, S. L. (2022). Pain assessment practices in post-surgical nursing care. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 31(4), 512–521. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.16000
Government health agency sources
Nursing students cite government sources frequently – CDC statistics, NIH research summaries, CMS policy documents, and WHO reports are all common. These sources can be tricky because authorship isn’t always a named individual.
When a government agency is the author, use the agency name in the author position of your reference. You generally don’t need to repeat it as the publisher if it’s already listed as the author.
Example – CDC webpage
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, November 14). Health care-associated infections. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/hai/index.html
Example – NIH report
National Institutes of Health. (2022). Pain management best practices inter-agency task force report. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pmtf-final-report-2019-05-23.pdf
A full breakdown of how to cite CDC, NIH, CMS and other government health sources – including how to handle authorship, retrieval dates, and changing URLs – is coming soon in a dedicated blog post.
Professional organization publications
Publications from organizations like the American Nurses Association (ANA), the Joint Commission, or the National Academy of Medicine are common in nursing papers. These are typically cited as reports, using the organization as the author.
Example – ANA position statement
American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. https://www.nursingworld.org/coe-view-only
Example – National Academy of Medicine report
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2021). The future of nursing 2020-2030: Charting a path to achieve health equity. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25982
Clinical practice guidelines
Clinical practice guidelines don’t have their own dedicated APA citation format. How you cite them depends on where they’re published and what form they take.
- Published in a journal: Cite as a journal article.
- Published as a standalone report by an organization: Cite as a report, with the organization as the author.
- Available only as a webpage or online document: Cite as a webpage.
When in doubt, identify what form the guideline takes, and apply the format for that source type.
Example – guideline published as an organizational report
American College of Cardiology. (2022). 2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA guideline for the management of heart failure. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2021.12.012
Textbooks and edited volumes
Nursing programs rely heavily on textbooks, particularly in foundational courses. The standard book reference format applies to textbooks:
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book in sentence case. Publisher.
For a chapter in an edited textbook, which is common when citing specific content from a compilation, the format changes to credit both the chapter author and the book’s editor.
Example – chapter in an edited textbook
Okafor, J. M. (2021). Infection control in acute care settings. In T. R. Williams & S. A. Chen (Eds.), Fundamentals of clinical nursing practice (3rd ed., pp. 214–238). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
A note on UpToDate and similar clinical databases
UpToDate is a widely used clinical decision support tool in nursing programs, and it’s one of the exceptions to the “don’t include database information” rule. Because UpToDate content exists exclusively within the database and isn’t published elsewhere, APA 7 treats the database itself as the publisher and includes a retrieval date since the content is updated regularly and may change.
Example
Smetana, G. W. (2023). Preoperative medical evaluation of the healthy adult patient. UpToDate. Retrieved May 15, 2025, from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/preoperative-medical-evaluation-of-the-healthy-adult-patient
Let PERRLA handle the formatting
Every source type covered in this post – journal articles, government reports, organizational publications, textbooks, edited chapters, and UpToDate references – is supported by PERRLA’s reference engine. PERRLA is human-built and rule-based, which means it formats each reference type correctly every time, without the guesswork.
Try PERRLA free for 7 days – no credit card required.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do nursing students need to include the database name in APA references?
No. APA 7 generally does not require database names or database URLs for journal articles. If the article has a DOI, include it. If no DOI is available and the article was retrieved from an academic database, omit the database information — unless the source would be difficult for most readers to locate without it.
How do you cite a CDC source in APA 7?
Use the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the author, include the publication or last updated date, italicize the title, and include the URL. A full guide to citing CDC, NIH, and other government health sources is coming soon.
How do you cite a clinical practice guideline in APA 7?
It depends on the form the guideline takes. If it’s published in a journal, cite it as a journal article. If it’s a standalone organizational report, cite it as a report. If it’s only available as a webpage, cite it as a webpage.
Does UpToDate need a retrieval date in APA 7?
Yes. UpToDate is a regularly updated clinical database, and APA 7 requires a retrieval date for sources whose content changes over time. Include the date you accessed the entry in your reference.
How do you cite a nursing textbook chapter in APA 7?
Cite the chapter author, publication year, chapter title (not italicized), the editors of the book, the book title (italicized), the edition and page range, and the publisher. Don’t use a URL unless the book was accessed online.