7th Edition

Creating an APA Style

Reference List Guide
The reference list contains all the Format references in seventh
works you cited in the text of edition APA Style.
your paper. • Double-space the reference list, both within and
between references. Do not add extra lines
• In general, there should be a one-to-one
between references.
correspondence between the works cited in the text
and the works listed in the reference list. • Order references alphabetically, usually by the first
letter of the first author’s last name.
• An exception is personal communications, which are
cited in the text of your paper but are not included • Include the authors’ first and middle initials
in the reference list (see Section 8.9 in the seventh (if they have them). Do not write out first or
edition Publication Manual). middle names.
• If you read a work while doing your literature search • Write author names in inverted format so that the
but did not end up citing it in the text of your paper, last name comes first, followed by a comma and the
do not include it in the reference list. initials. Place a period and a space after
each initial.

Use the section label “References” (not • Apply a hanging indent for all references using
the paragraph-formatting function of your word-
“Works Cited” or “Bibliography”). processing program: The first line is flush left, and all
• Start the reference list on a new page after the text subsequent lines are indented 0.5 in.
of your paper. • APA Style references are organized by group
• Center the label at the top of the page and write it (e.g., textual works, online media), category (e.g.,
in bold. periodical, social media), and type (e.g., journal
article, Facebook post). To create a reference entry,
• It is acceptable to use “Reference” as the label when
first determine the reference group and reference
you cited only one source in your paper.
category, and then choose the appropriate
reference type within the category and follow that
example in Chapter 10 of the Publication Manual.

° Reference formats are based on the document

type (e.g., journal article, report), not the
retrieval method (e.g., online, in print).
° Even if you retrieved a work online, determine
what type of document it is. Only cite a work as a
webpage or website if no other category fits.
Include a DOI or URL at the end Date Element
of the reference for any work that • Most references include only the year as the date.
has one. • Use more specific dates, such as the month, day, and
year (e.g., 2020, June 10), for works published on a
• Most references do not require retrieval dates.
more frequent basis (e.g., newspaper or magazine
Include a retrieval date only when (a) a work is
articles, social media posts). When in doubt,
inherently designed to change over time (e.g., a
check the templates in Chapter 10.
Facebook profile page) and (b) you are citing an
unarchived version of the work, as described in • For webpages and websites, use the date of
Section 9.16 of the Publication Manual. last publication or last update. Do not use the
copyright date from a webpage footer or the date
• Do not include both a DOI and a URL in a reference
of last review. If the date is unknown or cannot be
entry. If a work has both a DOI and a URL, include
determined, write “n.d.” as the date.
only the DOI.
• Copy and paste the DOI or URL directly from your
Title Element
web browser.
• Titles of works that stand alone (e.g., books, reports,
• Do not add a period after the DOI or URL.
webpages) are written in italic sentence case.
• DOIs and URLs can be either blue and underlined
• Titles of works that are part of a greater whole
(usually the default setting for hyperlinks) or plain
(e.g., journal articles, book chapters, dictionary
text that is not underlined. entries) are written in sentence case without italics.
• For book and report references, place any
Avoid the following common mistakes identifying information (e.g., edition, report number,
when writing reference list entries. volume number) in parentheses after the title.
Do not add a period between the title and the
Author Element parenthetical information.
• Use the word “and” between two authors’ names in
narrative in-text citations. Use an ampersand (&)
Source Element
between two authors’ names in parenthetical in-text
citations and before the final author’s name in • In the source element for journal article references:
reference list entries. ° Italicize the journal title and volume number.
° Narrative in-text citation: Sanders and Jang ° Do not italicize the comma between the journal
(2020) found . . . title and volume number, the issue number, and
° Parenthetical in-text citation: A positive page numbers.
association was found . . . (Sanders & Jang, 2020). Place the issue number in parentheses after the
°
° Reference list entry: Sanders, F. A., & Jang, T. D. volume number with no space in between.
(2020).
° Use an en dash (–) to separate a page
• For a work with 21 or more authors, include the first range (e.g., 15–26).
19 authors’ names, insert an ellipsis (. . .), but no • When the author and the publisher of a work are
ampersand, and then write the final author’s name. the same (as in many reports, books, and websites
• For a work with a group author (or multiple group published by group authors), include the group
authors), include a period at the end of the author name in the author element and omit it from the
element in the reference. source element.

° Reference list entry: American Psychological

Association. (2020).

SOURCE: American Psychological Association. (2020).

More information on creating and formatting references and Publication manual of the American Psychological Association
reference lists can be found in Chapter 9 of both the Publication (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000
Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.) and
the Concise Guide to APA Style (7th ed.). CREDIT: TRACI GIULIANO, SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY