APA 7th edition is the citation and formatting standard for all DNP capstone manuscripts, scholarly papers, discussion board posts, and course assignments across every major DNP program. The transition from APA 6th to 7th edition introduced substantive changes (not just formatting tweaks) that affect how DNP students cite journal articles, structure student papers, format reference lists, and write level headings. This page covers the APA 7th edition requirements that DNP students encounter most often, with particular attention to the citation types and formatting decisions that appear most frequently in DNP capstone manuscripts.
APA 7th Edition Student Paper Format: What DNP Programs Require
APA 7th edition distinguishes between student papers (for class assignments and manuscripts submitted to faculty) and professional papers (for journal submission). All DNP capstone manuscripts, scholarly papers, and course assignments use the student paper format unless the program explicitly specifies professional format. Key student paper format requirements:
Title Page: Title of the paper, author name, institutional affiliation (university name and programme, e.g., "College of Nursing, Walden University"), course number and name, instructor name, and due date, all centred, not bolded. There is no running head on student paper title pages in APA 7th edition (running heads are required only in professional format). Note: some DNP programs (GCU, Walden) provide their own title page template that overrides standard APA 7th edition student paper format, always use the programme-specific template when provided.
Abstract: If required, appears on page 2, labelled "Abstract" (bolded, centred), followed by 150 to 250 words of double-spaced text with no paragraph indentation. Keywords appear below the abstract in APA 7th edition format: "Keywords:" (italicised) followed by the keyword list (not italicised). DNP capstone manuscripts typically require an abstract; most course assignments do not.
Body Text: 12-point Times New Roman, double-spaced, 1-inch margins on all sides, first line of each paragraph indented 0.5 inches. Page numbers in the upper right corner of every page including the title page. No extra blank lines between paragraphs or between headings and body text.
Level Headings: APA 7th edition uses five levels of heading. For DNP capstone manuscripts, Levels 1 through 3 are used most frequently. Level 1: centred, bolded, title case. Level 2: left-aligned, bolded, title case. Level 3: left-aligned, bolded, italicised, title case. Level 4: left-aligned, bolded, title case, with body text beginning on the same line after a period. Level 5: left-aligned, bolded, italicised, title case, with body text beginning on the same line after a period. Note: "Chapter 1," "Chapter 2" headings are formatted as Level 1 headings; section headings within a chapter use Level 2 and below.
APA 7th Edition Journal Article Reference Format for DNP Students
Journal article references are the most common reference type in DNP capstone manuscripts. The APA 7th edition format for a journal article:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article in sentence case. Journal Title in Title Case and Italics, volume number in italics(issue number in parentheses, not italicised), page range. https://doi.org/xxxxx
Example:
Smith, J. A., Jones, B. C., & Williams, D. E. (2022). Nurse-driven catheter removal protocols and CAUTI rates in medical ICU settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis. American Journal of Critical Care, 31(4), 284–292. https://doi.org/10.4037/ajcc2022789
Key APA 7th edition changes from APA 6th edition for journal articles:
(1) Up to 20 authors are now listed in the reference before using "et al.", in APA 6th, et al. began after 6 authors. (2) DOI is formatted as a hyperlink (https://doi.org/...), not as "doi: 10.xxxx". (3) Place of publication is no longer required for books. (4) "Retrieved from" is no longer used for most online sources, the URL or DOI alone is sufficient.
APA 7th Edition In-Text Citation: Rules That Change in DNP Practice
Author count rule (major change from APA 6th): In APA 7th edition, "et al." is used for works with three or more authors from the first citation. In APA 6th edition, the first citation of a work with three to five authors listed all authors; only from the second citation did "et al." appear. In APA 7th, you write "Smith et al. (2022)" from the very first citation if there are three or more authors. This is the most frequently missed APA 7th edition change in DNP manuscripts.
Paraphrase citation: (Smith et al., 2022), place at the end of the sentence, before the period, or after the author name if the author is named in the sentence: "Smith et al. (2022) reported that..."
Direct quote citation: (Smith et al., 2022, p. 287), page number required for all direct quotes, even from online sources (if page numbers are unavailable, use paragraph number: para. 4). Quotes of 40 words or more are formatted as block quotes: indented 0.5 inches from left margin, no quotation marks, citation after the final period: (Smith et al., 2022, p. 290).
Two works with same author and year: Add a lowercase letter after the year: (Smith, 2022a) and (Smith, 2022b). The alphabetical order of the references' titles determines a vs b.
Secondary citation: When citing a source you found cited within another source (you did not read the original), use: (Original Author, original year, as cited in Secondary Author, secondary year). APA discourages secondary citations, find the original source when possible.
APA 7th Edition Reference Types Commonly Used in DNP Capstones
Clinical practice guideline:
Organisation Name. (Year). Title of guideline. Publisher. URL or DOI
Example: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2020). Guide to preventing catheter-associated urinary tract infections. AHRQ. https://www.ahrq.gov/...
Government or organisation report:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of report. Organisation Name. URL
Example: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). National Healthcare Safety Network CAUTI report. CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/...
Systematic review or meta-analysis: Same format as a journal article, no special designation needed for systematic reviews or meta-analyses in the reference. In-text, you may note the study type in the narrative: "A systematic review by Smith et al. (2022) found..."
DNP capstone or doctoral dissertation:
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of dissertation [Doctoral dissertation, University Name]. Database Name. URL
Example: Johnson, M. L. (2021). Nurse-driven CAUTI prevention bundle implementation in a rural critical access hospital [Doctoral dissertation, Walden University]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. https://...
Book chapter:
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. first–last). Publisher. DOI or URL
Note: In APA 7th, publisher city is no longer required for book references.
Which APA 7th edition formatting question is blocking your capstone or paper submission?
APA 7th edition support for DNP students covers reference list formatting, in-text citation accuracy, level heading structure, table and figure formatting, and program-specific APA modifications (GCU Style Guide, Walden template). Share the specific citation or formatting question, your program, and the document it is needed for.
APA 7th Edition Tables and Figures in DNP Manuscripts
Tables and figures in APA 7th edition follow a consistent format: table number on its own line above the title (Table 1), table title on the next line in italicised title case, the table body, and a Note. below the table for general notes, copyright attribution, or probability value explanations. In DNP capstone manuscripts, the most common table types are: evidence synthesis table (listing included studies with design, sample, findings, and evidence level), descriptive statistics table (means, standard deviations, frequency counts by variable), and inferential statistics summary table (test name, test statistic, degrees of freedom, p-value, effect size, confidence interval).
Figures (including graphs, SPC charts, and PRISMA flow diagrams) follow the same format: figure number, figure title (italicised), the figure body, and a Note. For SPC charts and run charts reproduced from quality reporting systems, copyright attribution is required in the Note if the chart was not created by the student. PRISMA flow diagrams are standard figures in DNP Chapter 2 and do not require copyright attribution when created by the student.
See also: DNP literature review help · DNP capstone manuscript help · DNP capstone project help
APA 7th Edition for DNP Students: Frequently Asked Questions
Does APA 7th edition require a running head on student papers?
No. The running head (a shortened version of the paper title in the header of every page) is required only for professional papers submitted for journal publication. Student papers (including all DNP capstone manuscripts, course assignments, and scholarly papers submitted to faculty) do not require a running head in APA 7th edition. Page numbers are still required in the upper right header of every page. This is a significant change from APA 6th edition, which required running heads for all papers longer than 50 pages. Note: GCU and Walden provide their own title page and header templates that may differ from standard APA 7th, always follow the programme-specific template.
How do I cite a source with no DOI in APA 7th edition?
For journal articles without a DOI, provide the URL of the journal's home page or the article's stable URL if the journal does not have a DOI policy. Use: https://www.journalwebsite.com, do not use "Retrieved from" before the URL in APA 7th edition. For print journal articles with no online version and no DOI, the reference ends at the page range with no URL. Note: most journals published since 2012 have DOIs. If a 2022 article appears not to have a DOI, search for it in CrossRef (crossref.org/search) before concluding the DOI does not exist, many articles have DOIs that the PDF does not display.
What is the correct way to format a PICOT question in an APA 7th edition paper?
The PICOT question itself is not an APA-specific formatting element, it is a clinical question format that appears within the text of the DNP capstone. In an APA 7th edition manuscript, the PICOT question is typically presented in the Introduction or Background chapter in one of two ways: (1) written as a complete sentence in the body text ("The PICOT question guiding this project is: In adult patients with indwelling urinary catheters in the medical ICU at [facility name]..."); or (2) displayed in a structured format with each element labelled, which can be presented as a table (Table 1, PICOT Question Elements) with the element (P, I, C, O, T), the label, and the project-specific content. Most DNP programs prefer the sentence format with the complete PICOT question written out, followed by a table or bulleted breakdown of each element.
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What is a DNP capstone project and how is it different from a PhD dissertation?
A DNP capstone project is a practice-focused doctoral scholarly project that applies evidence-based practice, quality improvement, or program evaluation methods to address a clinical problem. Unlike a PhD dissertation, which generates new knowledge through primary research, a DNP capstone translates existing evidence into practice change. It does not require original data collection in most cases and is evaluated on practice impact rather than research contribution.
Which DNP specialisation tracks do you support?
We support all 13 major DNP specialisation tracks: Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), Adult-Gerontology Acute Care NP (AGACNP), Adult-Gerontology Primary Care NP (AGPCNP), Psychiatric-Mental Health NP (PMHNP), Pediatric NP (PNP), Neonatal NP (NNP), Women's Health NP (WHNP), Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM), Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL), Nurse Executive/Healthcare Leadership, Population Health, and Nursing Informatics.
Can you help with just one chapter of my DNP proposal or do I need the full project?
You can order help with any individual component: a single proposal chapter, just the PICOT question, just the IRB protocol, or just the data analysis section. You do not need to order the full project. Many students come to us mid-project needing targeted help with one specific deliverable.
Does my DNP capstone project need IRB approval?
Most DNP capstone projects are classified as quality improvement (QI) or program evaluation and do NOT require full IRB review under 45 CFR 46; they qualify for a QI determination or exempt status. However, the determination must be documented. We help you complete the QI determination checklist and, where needed, write the full IRB protocol for exempt or expedited review.