APA Reference List
Basic Guidelines
- All of the sources used for in-text citations must be listed in the reference list.
- References begin on a new page separate from the text of the essay.
- Label the page References in bold, centered at the top of the page.
- References are double-spaced with a hanging indent style. (All lines after the first line of each entry should be indented ½ inch.)
- Last names of authors should be listed first followed by the initials of the author’s first and middle names.
- List all authors of a particular work up to and including 20 authors.
- Reference list entries are alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each source.
- When referring to the titles of books, chapters, articles, reports, and webpages capitalize only the first letter of the first word of the title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns.
- “Retrieved from” is not necessary for URLs, however, exceptions are made for unarchived resources or to indicate a different version may be referenced.
Four Basic elements of a reference
- Author – Who is responsible for the work?
- An individual
- Multiple people
- A group (institution, organization, agency, etc.)
- Date – When was the work published?
- Year only
- Exact date
- Year and season
- Range
- Use ‘n.d.’ if no date is provided
- Title – What is the work named?
- Stand-alone works, such as a book.
- Works that are part of a greater whole such as articles, chapters, etc.
- Source – Where can I retrieve this work?
- Book, journal, website, etc.
Reference List Examples
General Website
Author, A. A. (year, month day). Title of page. Site name. URL
Price, D. (2018, March 23). Laziness does not exist. Medium. https://humanparts.medium.com/laziness-does-not-exist3af27e312d01
Blog Post
Author, A. A. (year, month day). Blog post title. Publisher. URL
Lee, C. (2020, March 13). New reference examples on the APA Style website. American Psychological Association. https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/reference-examples
Book (print)
Author, A. A. (year). Title of book. Publisher. DOI (if available)
Sunstein, C. R. (2006). Infotopia: How many minds produce knowledge. Oxford University Press.
Book Chapter (print)
Author, A. A. (year). Title of chapter or entry. In E.E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. x-xx). Publisher.
Bartlett, W. (2014). Floating collections: Perspectives from an academic library. In B. Albitz, C. Avery, & D. Zabel (Eds.), Rethinking collection development and management
(pp. 289-296). Libraries Unlimited.
Book (electronic version)
Note: Only distinguish between an eBook and the print version if the content is different or abridged. You do not need to note a source as an eBook if the content is the same as the physical book.
Author, A. A. (year). Title of book [eBook edition]. Publisher. URL
OpenStax College. (2021). Anatomy and physiology [eBook edition]. OpenStax. https://openstax.org/details/books/anatomy-and-physiology
Journal Article with a DOI (print or online)
Author, A. A., & Author, C. C. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), pp–pp. DOI
Potts, J., Cunningham, S., Hartley, J., & Ormerod, P. (2008). Social network markets: A new definition of the creative industries. Journal of Cultural Economics, 32(3), 167-185.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10824-008-9066-y
Journal Article without a DOI available (online)
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), pp–pp. Retrieved date, from URL
Kennedy, M.R. & Brancolini, K.R. (2018). Academic librarian research: An update to a survey of attitudes, involvement, and perceived capabilities. College & Research Libraries,
73(5) 431-448. Retrieved May 20, 2019 from https://crl.acrl.org/index.php/crl/article/view/16855/18999
Note: If an online scholarly article has no DOI and is published in a database, do not include a URL or any database information.
Ream, T. C. (2013). What is college for? The public purpose of higher education. Review of Higher Education, 36(3), 427-429.
Journal Article without a DOI available (print)
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), pp–pp.
Jones, A. & Greer, J. (2011). You don’t look like an athlete: The effects of feminine appearance on audience perceptions of female athletes and women’s sports. Journal of
Sports Behavior, 34(4), 358-377.
Newspaper Article (print)
Author, A. A. (year, month day). Article title. Newspaper Title, page number(s).
Davis, M. (2006, Feb 28). Octavia Butler: A lonely, bright star of the sci-fi universe. The Washington Post, pp. 01-C.01.
Newspaper Article (online)
Author, A. A. (year, month day). Article title. Newspaper Title. URL
Tedeschi, B. (2011, August 31). Reference resources for the budding know-it-all. The New York Times.
Magazine Article (print)
Author, A. A. (year, month day). Article title. Magazine Title, volume(issue number), pages.
Biever, C. (2003, Aug 09). Bring me sunshine. New Scientist, 179(2407), 30-33.
Magazine Article (online)
Author, A. A. (year, month day). Article title. Magazine Title, volume(issue number). URL
Clay, R. (2012, September). Diversity at community colleges: How psychology professors and schools can help immigrants, single parents, veterans and other nontraditional
students. Monitor on Psychology, 43(8). https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/09/diversity
Streaming Video (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.)
Author, A. A. [Username]. (year, month day). Title of video [Video]. Streaming Service. URL
Hammock, L. [Marble Jar Channel]. (2020, May 4). How to outline & organize a research paper or writing assignment [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Film or Video
Director, D. D. (Director). (Date of publication). Title of motion picture [Film]. Production company.
Loyd, P. (Director). (2008). Mamma mia! [Film]. Universal Pictures.
Image or Artwork
Artist/Creator Last Name, A. A. (year). Title of the artwork/image. [format]. Source. URL
Ryan, S. (2019). [Sea smoke on Lake Michigan] [Photograph] New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/world/year-in-pictures.html
Note: If the artwork does not have a title, provide a brief description in brackets.
Twitter Profile
Author, A. A. or Name of Group [@username]. (n.d.). Tweets [Twitter profile]. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from URL
APA Style [@APA_Style]. (n.d.). Tweets [Twitter profile]. Retrieved January 12, 2020, from https://twitter.com/APA_Style
Tweet
Author, A. A. [@username]. (Year, Month Date). Content of the post up to the first 20 words[Tweet]. Site Name. URL
Grassian, E. [@estherg]. (2012, July 23). Mention that someone said kids in poverty have only been read to for a total of 27 minutes by the[Tweet]. Twitter.
https://twitter.com/estherg/status/216680115806023680
Facebook Page
Author, A. A. or Name of Group. (n.d.). Home [Facebook page]. Retrieved month day, year, from URL
Bray, L. [Libba]. (n.d.) Home [Facebook page]. Retrieved August 28, 2012, from http://www.facebook.com/libbabray
Facebook Post
Author, A. A. or Name of Group. (Year, Month Date). Content of the post up to the first 20 words [Type of post]. Site Name. URL
APA Style. (2021, March 10). If you found it online, you can cite it in #APAStyle! [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/APAStyle
Entry in a Dictionary, Thesaurus, or Encyclopedia (print)
Author, A. A. (year). Title of entry. In E.E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (edition, page numbers). Publisher.
Tatum, S. R. (2009). Spirituality and religion in hip hop literature and culture. In T. L. Stanley (Ed.), Encyclopedia of hip hop literature (pp. 250-252). Greenwood.
Note: If there is no author, use the organization name and omit the editor.
Entry in a Dictionary, Thesaurus, or Encyclopedia (online)
Author, A. A. (year). Title of entry. In E.E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (edition). Publisher. URL
Martin, M. (2018). Animals. In L. A. Schintler & C. L. McNeely (Eds.), Encyclopedia of big data. SpringerLink. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32001-4_7-1
Additional resources
American Psychological Association. (2021). APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/
Includes free online tutorials, supplements to the APA Publication Manual, and more, including:
- Style & Grammar Guidelines
- Student Paper Checklist
- In-Text Citation Checklist
- Journal Article Reference Checklist
- Common Reference Examples Guide
- Sample Papers
Purdue University. (2020). APA Style introduction. Purdue Online Writing Lab. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_style_introduction.html
The Purdue OWL provides extensive guidance for formatting and citing per APA guidelines, including: