APA help, or the most boring askme ever
October 12, 2016 6:17 AM   Subscribe

I am trying to cite a chapter in the Maine State Board of Nursing's website using APA. I am either having a brain fart or legit difficulty categorizing this source...

This is the website:
http://www.maine.gov/boardofnursing/Administrative/Rules/index.htm

And this is the specific chapter I am citing:
http://www.maine.gov/boardofnursing/Administrative/Rules/Chapter%205.pdf

I cannot for the life of me figure out whether I should cite it as an online journal, a website, or a chapter in a book. I also can't find a publisher. Can someone point me in the right direction?
posted by pintapicasso to Education (6 answers total)
 
Disclaimer: I don't work with APA.

That said, I would definitely cite this as a website. It is NOT a journal, nor is it a book that has been published offline. So, as a website, here's the guideline.
posted by correcaminos at 6:40 AM on October 12, 2016


You shouldn't be citing to any of those. You're citing to a Maine regulation (otherwise known as the Code of Maine Rules (C.M.R.)) that happens to be hosted on a website, but that doesn't change that you're citing to a regulation. For laws, regs, court cases, and statutes, APA defers to the The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, which is the legal standard for legal citations.

Accordingly, you can follow the format here and discussed in section VI.C in this guide "Adminstrative Rules"
posted by Karaage at 6:51 AM on October 12, 2016 [4 favorites]


Response by poster: Thanks karaage, any idea if there is a free way to access the blue book?
posted by pintapicasso at 6:58 AM on October 12, 2016


The first link I shared has the appropriate Bluebook format, which uses the shortened format Me. Code R. (if it isn't already confusing enough, Maine also has a local rule citation format that uses C.M.R. used for local state case filings only, which you'll see in the second link - this isn't the Bluebook format).

I'm not sure which section you're citing to in this reg, but for illustrative purposes, assuming you're citing to the first rule, section, and clause your citation should look something like:

"The registered professional nurse is responsible for the nature and quality of all
nursing care that a patient receives." 02 380 Me. Code R. 1 § A(1) 2010
posted by Karaage at 7:10 AM on October 12, 2016


Best answer: I lied. Here's the correction, I left out the chapter which is stated as 5 here.

02 380 Me. Code R. 5 § 1A(1) 2010
posted by Karaage at 7:21 AM on October 12, 2016


Best answer: The Maine local rule is definitely what gets used here. So if your audience is Maine based, I'd use C.M.R. rather than Me. Code R.
posted by Sukey Says at 6:24 PM on October 12, 2016


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