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APA Citation Style

Formatting Reference Lists

See rules 6.22 to 6.32 of the APA Publication Manual for more information on the preparation of the reference list.

  • Check with your professor before modifying APA style for your assignment.
  • This format is also used for an APA annotated bibliography.

Formatting the Reference List

  • The list of sources at the end of the paper (bibliography) is called the reference list.
  • The reference list must include all references cited in the text of your paper.
  • Start a References list on a new page.
  • Entries should have a hanging indent of 1/2 inch or 5 spaces for the second and subsequent lines of each entry (as used in this guide).
  • Double-space your list of references unless you have been told to single-space to save space.
  • Disable URL hyperlinks (they should not appear underlined in a different colour.)
  • The chosen format should be consistent throughout the references.

Formatting References

  • When the author is a group (governmental department, agency, association or institution) use the full name rather than abbreviation.
  • When a work has no author the title moves into the author position.
  • When citing books, articles or chapters (not periodicals), capitalize only the first word of the title, the first word after a colon or period and any proper nouns. (Rule 6.29, p. 185)
  • It is rare that an issue number is included. It is used only if the journal is paginated separately by issue.
  • If more than one city of publication is listed in the book you are citing, use the first one listed.
  • For webpages, look for the date when the content was created. Do not use the website’s copyright date.
  • If there is no date of publication, use the abbreviation “(n.d.)”.
  • When citing webpages, be sure that it really is a webpage and not a journal article, or report that you found on the Internet.
  • A DOI (digital object identifier) is a unique alphanumeric string assigned to identify content and provide a persistent link to its location on the Internet. Not all journals have a DOI so please consult the APA Guide section on how to treat those citations.
  • Use italics for standalone items (e.g., book, e-book, report [technical, government, etc.], dissertation, thesis, film, video, television series, podcast, YouTube video, artwork, map, music album, paintings, photos, unpublished manuscript). Do not use italics for something that is part of a greater whole (e.g., journal article, book chapter, e-book chapter, newspaper article, magazine article, blog post, television episode, webisode, webpage, tweet, Facebook update, encyclopedia entry, Wikipedia entry, dictionary entry, song).

Ordering References

  • Entries are in alphabetical order by the last name of the first author (Rule 6.25, p. 181)
    • Alphabetize letter by letter "Nothing precedes something" 'Brown, J. R.' comes before 'Browning, A. F.'
    • For the authors’ names, use surnames and initials: 'Smith, J.', not 'Smith, Jennifer'.
    • For several works by the same author cite them in your reference list by year of publication with the earliest first - Smith, A. (1999) ... Smith, A. (2002)
  • When the author is a group (governmental department, agency, association or institution) alphabetize by the first significant word in the name.
  • When a work has no author alphabetize by the first significant word in the title.
  • When there is more than one work by the same author (or the same group of authors listed in the same order) published in the same year, organize them in the reference list alphabetically by the title of the article or chapter. Then assign letter suffixes to the year. Refer to these sources in your essay as they appear in your reference list, e.g.: "Health Canada (2017a) states that..."

Common errors in APA reference lists

Authors names

  • Use surnames and initials.

Capitalization in title of an article or chapter.

  • Capitalize only the first word of the title, the first word after a colon or period and any proper nouns.

Volume and issue numbers

  • It is rare that an issue number is included. It is used only if the journal is paginated separately by issue.

Webpages

  • Be sure that it really is a webpage and not a journal article, or report that you found on the Internet.
  • Look for the date when the content was created. Do not use the website’s copyright date.

DOI (digital object identifier)