Archive for the ‘Writing Tips’ Category

Reference Point Software: College Paper Writing Made Easier

College students have a hectic schedule. There are lectures, seminars, and work to go to, and none of this should be at the expense of oneΓÇÖs social life or quality family time. The vast majority of American universities require regular submission of academic papers. And if that werenΓÇÖt enough, the final exam paper deadline is looming.

Typically, a thesis needs to be in either APA or MLA style. Both formats are very complicated, and many students will find theyΓÇÖd instead focus on the quality and substance of their work than on fulfilling style requirements. Reference Point Software has APA writing software and templates for MLA that can help students format their work accurately and at lightning speed.
The software integrates with word processing programs seamlessly, making writing with MLA or APA a breeze. Concerns with formatting and word processing commands become a thing of the past.

APA Thesis Writing Templates

 

Templates are available for use with most Microsoft Word versions, LibreOffice, OpenOffice, and NeoOffice. It is fast and easy to download and install everything a student needs for their paper using their existing word processor and document software. The software creates title pages, margins, abstracts, page numbers, and citations without any effort on the userΓÇÖs part.

Reference PointΓÇÖs proprietary software will save any college student time regardless of their major or study program. Undergraduate and graduate students alike will benefit from the softwareΓÇÖs rich functionality. No matter whether youΓÇÖre studying for a Ph.D., MBA, MS or MA, all you need to do is type in your name and the title of your paper to get started with the template. The software practically eliminates days of work and frustration.

By letting you focus on quality and ensuring you donΓÇÖt lose points if you fail to meet some formatting requirements, this software will improve your final grade. The APA templates are based on the sixth edition of the APA publication manual. APA format style guidelines for electronic references and resources are supported.

How Does the Software Help with APA Thesis Writing?

 

The format template sets up a new document in the sixth edition format, in which the student begins entering their text. The reference list is formatted automatically. You can reuse references easily regardless of the number of documents you need to use thanks to the inbuilt database. The software creates the header with running head and page numbers, sets up the correct margin width and line spacing, creates an abstract and a title page, a place for the thesis body and a reference page, and adds correctly formatted headings and subheadings easily. Each reference is formatted with commas, parentheses, indents, and italics in precisely the right places. It can take hours to do this manually!

Even if you need to cite multiple sources at once, the process is seamless. In MS Word, the software creates complex page numbering, develops an outline based on the APA format template, provides sample tables that can be modified where needed in the process of college paper writing, and provides automatic, on-demand document backup.

Our system templates make it possible to use citation info across computers. They have complete control over the storage of the reference database, which makes it easy to use file syncing services.

Writing with MLA Made Easy

 

Reference PointΓÇÖs software is just as helpful and efficient for students writing with MLA. A Word document with the exact right header, page numbers, and margins according to 8th edition MLA format is just several mouse clicks away. Citations and references are a piece of cake. The MLA format template enables students to focus on paper content instead of word processing commands.

Each of the templates is based on the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. They integrate the title page, table of contents, and annotated bibliography.

Reference Point Software has a long and impressive track record of helping students with perfect college paper writing. Our products are straightforward to download and can be put to use immediately. The technical support team is available via e-mail and phone, and you can avail yourself of some video tutorials. You might find the exhaustive FAQ page helpful as well.

At the last step of the order form, you will see a download button unless your credit card does not match your mailing address. If you follow the URL of the order status, you will see a download link.

Never Struggle with College Paper Writing Again!

 

Reference Point Software has been designed to work effectively and seamlessly within Microsoft Word. Apart from the automatic margin, header, and page number setting, students can add tables and charts, format abstracts, and more with just a few clicks. MLA and APA thesis writing has never been this easy.

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact us here.

APA Top Margin

APA Style margins are 1″ all the way around. Students often ask about the top margin, why isn’t the running head one inch from the edge of the paper? The APA manual never describes where the running head, which is a document header, should be placed in relation to the top margin so it is no wonder that people ask this question.

A header, by definition, is inside of the margin. The body of the paper starts one inch down from the top edge of the document but the APA running head is inside of that space between the body of the APA Style document and the top edge of the document.

The APA Style running head is inside of the top margin

Top APA Margin with Running Head inside of Margin

 

For further reading see:

 

For more information about MLA or APA writing templates, contact us by email

Cite a sound recording in APA style

The worldΓÇÖs largest natural sound archive is now fully digital and fully online. Example: http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/42327

Citing a sound recording in APA style is easy with Reference Point Software. Just click on the APA tab and click Audio Podcast.

Cite a sound recording in APA style

Cite a sound recording in APA Style (Click image to view larger)

 

For more information about MLA or APA writing templates, contact us by email

Best APA style software and APA help

I LOVE the software! It saved me hours and hours of work, not to mention the hassle and frustration. I would never have imagined an APA paper being so easy to write and format!!! I’ve recommended it to all my classmates. Well done! Thank you so much for creating it and sharing it with us all!
Tracey S., Northern Arizona University

Hey guys….
I purchased your software as an attempt to get some help navigating the APA formats this morning. I was BLOWN away at how easy it was to use, and the results were amazing!

Ty Permenter, University of Texas

With just a few clicks of the mouse, your document will have the proper margins, with the header and page numbers at exactly the right place for any APA format style paper. Even references and citations are a breeze. Simply type in the information, and the software will format it perfectly.

To learn more scroll down to see the list of features or:

You need to use APA format templates that allow you to concentrate on the content of your paper so that you can learn about the topic rather than word processing commands and our software does just that. Save time and work smarter with our Reference Point Software. Our templates are available in APA style for use with Microsoft Word, Microsoft Office 365, OpenOffice, LibreOffice and NeoOffice on any version of Windows or OS X.

These templates are based on the 6th Edition of the APA Publication Manual and include support for APA format style guidelines for electronic resources and references.

Get the APA style points you deserve with Reference Point Software templates. Order now!

(Mobile users, please use the menu on the upper right of your screen to order.)

What Does the APA version of our Format Template Do?

  • Sets up a new document in APA 6th edition format, within which you can start typing your paper
  • Automatically formats the reference list and makes inserting citations a breeze
  • Easily reuse references in multiple documents with the built-in database
  • Creates the header with page numbers and running head
  • Sets up the proper margins, line spacing, and other vital details
  • Creates a title page
  • Creates an abstract page, a place for the body of the paper, and reference page
  • Easily add properly formatted headings and subheadings
  • Formats each reference with commas, parentheses, italics, and indents in exactly the right spots
  • Makes it seamless to cite a reference in the body of the paper, even when citing multiple sources at once
  • Creates complex page numbering (MS Word only)
  • Provides sample tables that you can modify for your own needs (MS Word for Windows only)
  • Provides an APA format template to easily create an outline (MS Word only)
  • With Reference Point templates, your citation info travels with your document. If you work on more than one computer, you only need to copy one file to the other computer ΓÇô your APA document!
  • You have complete control over where the reference database is stored. This makes it easy to sync multiple computers with Dropbox or other file-syncing services.
  • Quickly and efficiently backs up your document automatically and on-demand (MS Word for Windows only)
  • Compatible with Win XP, Vista, Win 7, Win 8, and OS X (see order page for specifics)

Need an APA Format Template? We support both Windows & Mac

If you have any questions about APA Format Styles or our software, Reference Point Software is here to help you.

Learn more about the different versions of our templates

Our Word menu to help you format apa style

Our Word menu to help you format APA style

 

For more information about MLA or APA writing templates, contact us by email.

Citing an Executive Order in APA Style

Citing an executive order in APA Style is easy using Reference Point Software, however, collecting the information you need for the citation can be challenging. This article will describe how to find the information you need to cite an executive order.

Start with the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Suppose you want to cite executive order number 13649 “Accelerating Improvements in HIV Prevention and Care.” Visit the U.S. Government Publishing OfficeΓÇÖs online CFR which you can find here:
http://www.gpo.gov/example

Select the correct year to get a list of executive orders. For this example, the year is 2014 is selected.

Searching the Code of Federal Regulations

Searching the Code of Federal Regulations

Use your browserΓÇÖs Find feature (usually accessed by hitting Ctrl-F) and search for HIV.

Executive order found in CFR

Executive order found in CFR

Open the PDF. Make note of the name of the executive order, the order number, the year, and the page number. In the below example ΓÇ£317ΓÇ¥ is the page number. ΓÇ£13649ΓÇ¥ is the executive order number.

Find the items to cite for an executive order

Executive order displayed in the CFR

If the executive order is documented in the United States Code (U.S.C.) then you should include volume, section, page, and year from the U.S.C. In this example “300cc-1” is the section, 78 is the volume, and 43057 is the page.

Executive order in the U.S.C

Executive order in the U.S.C

The last step is to enter the information into Reference Point Software’s data entry screen for executive orders. You will then get a perfectly formatted APA Style reference. To enter a reference to an executive order click on the APA tab, click More, click Executive Order.

 

For more information about MLA or APA writing templates, contact us by email

Cite an NIH publication in APA Style

Our template for APA style makes it easy to cite an NIH document. Many users think these should be cited as web pages but these types of documents are actually technical reports in ΓÇ£APAΓÇ¥ terminology. Take a look at this document as an example:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/pht_facts.pdf

NIH publication example

NIH publication example


If you scroll to the bottom of the document you will see that the document has a publication number. You should cite this document by its NIH publication number rather than the web address.

NIH publication report number

NIH publication report number


To cite this document in Word click APA, More, Technical Report and enter the publication info in the Report ID field.

Citing an NIH document using Reference Point Software

Citing an NIH publication in Reference Point Software

Hint: use Ctrl-V to paste the report information into the entry form.

David Plaut, MS is the founder of Reference Point Software (RPS). RPS offers a complete suite of easy-to-use formatting template products featuring MLA and APA style templates, freeing up time to focus on substance while ensuring formatting accuracy. 

 

For more information about MLA or APA writing templates, contact us by email

Posted in APA, Writing Tips | Comments Off on Cite an NIH publication in APA Style

Using Blackboard: Pasting Word Documents into Blackboard

APA documents are usually submitted to Blackboard as an attachment. Some instructors ask students to paste the text of a document directly into Blackboard and this can cause formatting problems because of the differences between Blackboard and Microsoft Word (and other word processing programs).

To paste text from Word to Blackboard:

  • Copy the text from Word
  • Click the Mashup icon in Blackboard and select “Paste from Word.”
Paste to Blackboard using the Mashup button

Paste to Blackboard using the Mashup button

Video instructions

If you have to paste text into Blackboard from a Microsoft Word document see this great video posted by UTC:
http://youtu.be/HzlPtQydvM4

Written instructions

Missouri State has some well-written instructions here:
How to paste from Microsoft Word to Blackboard

Using older versions of Blackboard

If your school is using an older version of Blackboard or has not installed the tools described in the above instructions see these older video instructions from a bossier parish community college.
Using Text Editor to format a Word document for use in Blackboard

If your school does not have these Blackboard tools installed you can make a suggestion to have them installed. You will be helping all Blackboard users save time! More info from Blackboard is here:
Paste From Word Mashup for Blackboard

David Plaut, MS is the founder of Reference Point Software (RPS). RPS offers a complete suite of easy-to-use formatting template products featuring MLA and APA style templates, freeing up time to focus on substance while ensuring formatting accuracy. 

 

For more information about MLA or APA writing templates, contact us by email

What vs. Which: which one should you use and when?

Not always sure which one to use when writing your APA papers?

What is typically used when there are an unknown number of choices.

Example: What are we going to do today? We have so many choices.

Which is typically used when there are a known number of choices. A good example is the title of this blog!
Another example: which flavor of ice cream do you want?

Better yet, which APA template should you buy…. why Reference Point Software, of course.

 

For more information about MLA or APA writing templates, contact us by email

Understanding the importance of ICD-10 to nursing

U.S. healthcare organizations will soon begin using ICD-10 diagnoses and procedure codes to report to Medicare, making the switch from ICD-9 procedure codes in October 2014. Nursing students are not normally interested in the details of such reporting but becoming familiar with this new coding scheme may prepare you for the richness of data that will be available and useful to researchers.

There are many thousands of ICD-10 codes but each code consists of only seven or fewer characters. The position of the character within the code defines the meaning of the code. Let’s look at an example: accidental injury caused by chickens and turkeys. While such injuries are probably not common in an urban setting this example does serve as a fun, easy-to-understand illustration of the detail available within the codes.

Consider the following ICD-10 diagnoses codes:

  • W6132XA Struck by chicken, initial encounter
  • W6132XD Struck by chicken, subsequent encounter
  • W6132XS Struck by chicken, sequela
  • W6142XA Struck by turkey, initial encounter
  • W6142XD Struck by turkey, subsequent encounter
  • W6142XS Struck by turkey, sequela

The first three characters are part of a chapter: External causes of morbidity (V00-Y99). That is, W61 falls within the range of V00 to Y99.

Within the chapter are subsets of codes called blocks. In this example, the block is Other external causes of accidental injury (W00-X58). Again, W61 falls within this range.

Within the block is a category. In this example W61 is the category: Contact with birds (domestic) (wild).

The next three characters are the specific diagnosis. 32 are struck by chicken, and 42 are struck by a turkey. X is a place holder used when there is no need for a digit in that position.

The last character is an extension; it further delineates the diagnosis.

  • A = initial encounter
  • D = subsequent encounter
  • S = sequel

Encounters are with healthcare providers, not chickens or turkeys. For example ΓÇ£Struck by chicken, subsequent encounterΓÇ¥ is used when the patient returns for follow-up. ΓÇ£Struck by chicken, sequelaΓÇ¥ is a condition directly related to the initial injury, for example, a scar related to the initial injury.

A nurse in an urban setting would rarely see such injuries. But these examples illustrate the rich level of specificity that will be available in coded data. How many patients are you seeing with injuries related to chickens and turkeys? How many follow-up appointments do these patients need? What are the nursing interventions and teaching materials you will need to care for these patients? Are turkey-related diagnoses seasonal in nature?

There are many, many ICD-10 diagnoses codes; undoubtedly your area of expertise will be reflected in the codes. You can dig through CMS’s website to find the codes or find a link to all of the codes directly on our website at http://www.referencepointsoftware.com/miscfiles/ICD10CM_FY2014_Full_PDF_Tabular.zip

Reference:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014). International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM). Retrieved November 18, 2013, from http://http://www.cdc.gov/

David Plaut, MS is the founder of Reference Point Software (RPS). RPS offers a complete suite of easy-to-use formatting template products featuring MLA and APA style templates, freeing up time to focus on substance while ensuring formatting accuracy. 

 

For more information about MLA or APA writing templates, contact us by email

Should the word “states” be capitalized?

Should the word ΓÇ£stateΓÇ¥ or ΓÇ£statesΓÇ¥ be capitalized when referring to the United States or the 50 states that make up the U.S.?

  • If you are referring to the U.S. you should capitalize as in this sentence: ΓÇ£IΓÇÖll be returning to the States next week.ΓÇ¥
  • Otherwise, use lower case as in: ΓÇ£Each state has its own governor.ΓÇ¥

David Plaut is the founder of Reference Point Software (RPS). RPS offers a complete suite of easy-to-use formatting template products featuring MLA and APA style templates, freeing up time to focus on substance while ensuring formatting accuracy. 

Reference Point Software is not associated with, endorsed by, or affiliated with the American Psychological Association (APA) or with the Modern Language Association (MLA).

 

For more information about MLA or APA writing templates, contact us by email