APA Reference List Guidelines

Overview

This lecture explains how to accurately create a reference list in APA 7th edition, including formatting rules and step-by-step examples for common sources.

Reference List Page Setup

• Start the reference list on a new page after your main text, with "References" bolded and centered at the top.
• Begin the first entry on the next line, with no extra blank lines.
• Double-space the entire reference list.
• Use a hanging indent: first line flush left, subsequent lines indented by 0.5 inches.
• Arrange entries alphabetically by the first author’s last name; do not rearrange author order within a work.

Core Elements of APA Reference Entries

• Reference entries include: author(s), publication year, title, and source.
• All cited sources in the text must be listed in the reference list and vice versa.
• Cite only sources you have read.

Referencing Journal Articles

• Include author(s), publication year (in parentheses), article title (sentence case), journal name (italics, title case), volume (italics), issue (in parentheses), page range/article number, and DOI/URL.
• For two authors, use an ampersand (&); for three or more, list all and use an ampersand before the last.
• For 21+ authors, list the first 19, insert an ellipsis (...), then the final author.

Referencing Books and Chapters

• Book reference: author(s), year, book title (italics, sentence case), publisher.
• For editions, add edition info in parentheses after the title.
• For edited books, list editor(s) as author(s) with (Ed.) or (Eds.).
• For book chapters, cite chapter authors, year, chapter title, "In" editors (initials before surname), book title (italics), chapter pages (pp. xx–xx), publisher.

Additional Source Types

• Reports: Use group/organization as author if no individuals; include report number if present; provide publisher or parent organization and URL.
• Conference presentations: List presenters, conference dates, title (italics, with bracketed format), conference name and location, and DOI/URL if available.
• Theses/dissertations: Author, year, title (italics, sentence case, with source type in brackets), institution, database, and URL/DOI.
• Newspapers/magazines: Author, date (year, month day), title (sentence case), source (italics), URL.
• Webpages: Author, date (year, month day or n.d.), title (italics), site name (not italicized), URL.

Special Cases and Variations

• If no middle name, omit the initial; use full hyphenated or double surnames.
• If author is "Anonymous," use it as the author’s name; if no author, move the title to the author position.
• If no date, use (n.d.); if no DOI/URL, omit it.
• Only include the DOI, not both DOI and URL.
• Place a lowercase letter after the year when citing multiple works by the same author(s) from the same year.
• Alphabetize numeric group authors as if the number is spelled out.

Key Terms & Definitions

• APA Style — Citation and formatting system from the American Psychological Association.
• Hanging Indent — Formatting where all lines except the first in a paragraph are indented.
• DOI — Digital Object Identifier; a unique, persistent link to digital content.
• Sentence Case — Capitalize only the first word of a title and any proper nouns.
• Title Case — Capitalize the first letter of most major words in a title.

Action Items / Next Steps

• Set up your reference list page in your word processor using double spacing and hanging indents.
• Refer to the official APA Publication Manual or credible online resources for unusual source types.
• Practice creating reference entries for at least three different source types using the guidelines above.