Focus 4: Title Page, Introduction with Purpose Statement, & Reference List (Assignment)

Title Page

1.  Remember, the top of the title page should contain the page number right justified. (The title page is page #1). Every subsequent page will have the page number at the top, right justified.
2. Consider the best title for your essay. Many professional titles begin with the general subject, followed by a colon, then a few words that describe your narrowed focus on the general subject. For example, “Genetic and Genomic Healthcare: Ethical Issues of Importance to Nurses” begins with the general topic, followed by a colon, followed by a narrowed focus.
3. Do not use abbreviations in your title. APA (2020) has no length prescribed for titles; however, titles should be “focused and succinct” (p. 31).
4. The contents of the title page should be double-spaced. The title should use title case capitalization, be in bold, and be centered in the upper half of the page, 3-4 double-spaced lines from the top margin.  Following the title, have one blank line, and on subsequent lines include your name (the author’s name), the department and college (Graduate Nursing, Clarkson College), the course number and name, the course instructor’s name, and the due date of the paper. 
5. See a sample title page on page 32 in your APA (2020) manual.

Introduction

1. The text of the paper starts on page two. The title of the paper is repeated on the first line in bold print. The introduction begins immediately after the title. There should be no blank lines after the title or between paragraphs in an APA paper. (For future reference, you will be adding an abstract in a later installment of the paper. At that time, you will insert the abstract on page two and push the text of the paper forward to begin on page three.) 
2. The introduction explains the current professional dialogue on a topic and how your essay will join that dialogue. Start generally and become more focused on a particular area. Then, “turn,” or transition, to the specific aim of the paper with a clear purpose statement. This purpose statement should contain the elements of your focused PICOT question and guide the entire paper.
3. Optionally, you can also add a thesis statement at the end of the introduction announcing the principal results of the research. Or, you may delay the answer to the research question until later in the paper.
4. One element you must consider in your introduction is the significance of the research question. You must try to address the importance of your topic. This will explain to readers why they should bother reading your essay. Significance can take many forms in a science-based essay, such as timeliness, cost-effectiveness, unexplored diagnoses, varying treatments, etc. The list is endless, but work to alert your reader to the significance of your ideas.
5. Your introduction and thesis will likely be about a page long. Do make sure to provide adequate background information for an academic but non-specialized reader.
6. Remember that your essay is beginning to grow. Every subsequent writing assignment from here out will be on the same growing document. This will provide practice in how to take an essay from its idea stage to its polished, completed stage.
7. Following the introduction, answer the following metacognitive questions. Please answer them in green to differentiate them from your essay.  
1. How did you lead into your purpose statement? What was your strategy? Did you use a “turn” or transition? What was it?
2. Describe the significance of your topic. Why is it important? How did you attempt to highlight the significance in the introduction of your essay?

Reference List

1. The reference list is evenly double-spaced. The word, “References,” appears centered on the top line of the page in bold.
2. Create reference entries for the 2-3 research articles that you selected for this review as well as any additional source(s) that you may have used in the introduction.
3. References are listed alphabetically according to the first authors’ last names. Do not re-alphabetize authors within a source. They are listed by order of importance, so maintain the published order. Simply alphabetize according to the last name of the first author listed.
4. Use a hanging indent format for each reference citation, meaning the second (and any subsequent) line of each citation is indented once. See an example on p. 66-67 of your APA manual.
5. Pay special attention to spacing, capitalization, punctuation, and italicization guidelines. APA is finicky about these things, and so are some of your instructors.
6. See pp. 39-40 of your APA manual (2020) for further information on the structure of the reference list. And, see chapters nine and ten for reference citation examples.
7. If you have questions, contact me. If I don’t know the answer, I will find it.