How to Write a Reference List
When writing your Reference List make sure you have done the following:
-
Start citations on a new page.
- Keep the formatting consistent with the rest of your paper.
- Use the same font.
- Keep margins equal.
- Use double-spacing.
- Keep a header that includes your last name and the page number.
- Title the page References.
- Capitalize the word and center the title at the top of the page.
- Do not underline, place in quotation marks, or punctuate in any way.
- Keep entries in alphabetical order by the authors' last names.
- For works with no author, alphabetize by the first word of the entry ignoring A, An, or The.
- Create a hanging indent.
- After the first line of each entry, all lines should be indented one-half inch or five spaces.
- Do not add any extra spaces between entries.
- Invert all authors' names and list only up to and including six authors.
- With seven or more use "et al".
- Italicize title of books and journals.
-
Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around shorter works such as articles or essay.
-
- Format citations in correct APA style as shown below.
Example
Documenting Sources
Printed Sources
Book with One Author
Author's Last Name, First Name and Middle Initial. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.
Example:
Sheril, R. D. (1956). The terrifying future: Contemplating color television. San Diego: Halstead.
Book with Two Authors
First Author's Last Name, First Name and Middle Initial, & Second Author's Last Name, First Name. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.
Example:
Smith, J., & Peter, Q. (1992). Hairball: An intensive peek behind the surface of an enigma.
Hamilton, ON: McMaster University Press.
Book with Three or More Authors
Note: Invert all author's names and list only up to and including six authors. With seven or more use "et al".
First Author's Last Name, First Name and Middle Initial, Second Author's Last Name, First Name, & Third Author's Last Name, First Name. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.
Example:
Abrams, J., Mason, D., Newcomb, T., & Rosenberg, M. (2000). Theories of cognitive
consistency: A sourcebook. New York: Random House.
Two or More Books by the Same Author
Author's Last Name, First Name and Middle Initial. (Year of earliest publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.
Author's Last Name, First Name and Middle Initial. (Year of later publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.
Example:
Card, Orson Scott. (1993). The Memory of Earth. New York: Tor Books.
Card, Orson Scott. (1994). Ender's Game. New York: Tor Books.
Edition Other Than the First
Author's Last Name, First and Middle Initials, & Author's Last Name and First and Middle Initials. (Year of Publication). Title of book (ed.). Place of Publication: Publisher.
Example:
Helfer, M.E., Keme, R.S., & Drugman, R.D. (1997). The battered child (5th ed.). Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
Author's Last Name, First and Middle Initials, & Author's Last Name, First and Middle Initials. (Year of publication). Title of chapter. In Editor's First and Midddle Initials and Last Name (Ed.), Title of book (pages of chapter). Place of Publication: Publisher.
Example:
O'Neil, J. M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men's and women's gender role journeys: Metaphor for healing,
transition, and transformation. In B. R. Wainrib (Ed.), Gender issues across the life cycle (pp.
107-123). New York: Springer.
Religious Works
According to the APA Publication Manual, reference entries are not needed for the Bible and other major classical works. However, your professor may require full publication information; if you are not sure, ask him/her.
An Article in a Magazine
Author's Last Name, First and Middle Initials. (Publication year, month day). Title of article. Title of Magazine, Volume Number (issue number), Page Numbers.
Example:
Hansen, A. (2007, March 20). The Pacific Ocean. Marine Biology, 24-27.
An Article in a Newspaper
Author's Last Name, First and Middle initials. (Publication year, month day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper, p.(p.) #'s.
Example:
Hale, H. (2007, October 16). Lighting the flames of spirit. The Scroll, p. 5.
Electronic Source Citation on a References List
* Please Note: if an URL is divided between two lines, break it only after a slash.
An Entire Web Site
Author's Last Name, First Name. (Date of publication). Title of the website. Retrieved month, day, year from http://web/ address.
Example:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (2007). Mormon.org. Retrieved October 19
2007 from http://www.mormon.org/.
One Page on a Web Site
Author's Last Name, First Name. (Date of publication). Title of document. Title of website. Retrieved month, day, year from http://web/ address.
Example:
Edgar Allen Poe. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 19 2007 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Edgar_allan_poe
An Article in an Online Scholarly Journal
Author's Last Name, First Name. (Date of Publication). Title of article. Title of the journal, volume number . Retrieved month, day, year from http://web/ address.
Example:
Canaday, Jr., Nicholas. (1961). Ironic Humor as Defense in The Scarlet Letter. The South
Central Bulletin, 21. Retrieved May 31 2007 http://links.jstor.org/search
For more information, visit the OWL at Purdue University: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
