What is a reference list?
Your reference list tells your reader exactly where they can find the sources you cited in the body of your paper. References are arranged in alphabetical order by the author's last name (or an organizational author's first letter). Because reference entries differ slightly according to the format of the source, your reference list also gives your readers an indication of what types of sources you used in your paper (books, reports, articles, etc.)
What are the two types of sources that can be excluded from a reference list?
1. Personal communications that are unrecoverable by your reader (such as emails, texts, and online chats) do not need to be included in your reference list. Personal communications only need an in-text citation.
2. If you are simply mentioning a website or online tool in passing (without citing any specific information from it), the website does not need to be included in your reference list. You can simply provide the URL in the text.
To summarize: Other than personal communications and mentioning a website in passing, every other source you use in your papers must be included in your reference list! Before you turn in your paper, check to make sure that your in-text citations match your reference list.
American Psychological Association. (2020). Works included in a reference list. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/works-included
The references page is set up like this:
URLs and DOIs should be live hyperlinks if your paper is submitted online.
You can keep the default settings for hyperlinks in Word (blue and underlined).
Do not manually break URLs or DOIs into separate lines.
If your word processing program automatically breaks the URL/DOI into separate lines, that is fine.
Watch this three-minute video by Excelsior Online Writing Lab to learn how to set up your reference list:
Excelsior College Online Writing Lab. (n.d). APA references 7th edition [Video]. https://owl.excelsior.edu/citation-and-documentation/apa-style/apa-references/
The first step in formatting references in APA
In order to format your reference entries, you first need to determine what kind of source you are trying to cite. The APA manual categorizes references into four types: textual works, data sets, audiovisual media, and online media (APA, 2020, p. 313). Examples of textual works include journal articles and books; an example of an audiovisual work is a YouTube video; and online media includes social media posts or websites. Once you identify the type of source category you are looking at, you can then look up the appropriate reference formatting. Check out the following tabs to learn how to create reference entries for common source types.
What information do references include?
A reference entry includes the author, date, title, and source.
What words are capitalized in my reference list? Which are italicized?
The titles of books, magazines, newspapers, journals, and webpages are all italicized. Volume numbers of periodicals are italicized as well. Article titles, chapter titles, issue numbers of periodicals, and overall website titles are not italicized.
Articles, books, and websites use title case capitalization (only capitalize first word, first word after a colon, and proper nouns). For titles of magazines, newspapers, journals and websites, capitalize all the major words in the title. Review the APA's style guidelines on capitalization and italics.
A word of caution about citation generators
If you use a citation generator (such as EasyBib), be aware that these computer-generated citations often contain errors! It is your responsibility to double-check all of your citations against the APA's official guidelines.
Matching Your References to Your In-Text Citations
Reference Entry | Corresponding In-Text Citation |
Authored Book: Decherney, P. (2012). Hollywood's copyright wars: From Edison to the internet. Columbus University Press. |
Narrative In-Text Citation: Decherney (2012) Parenthetical In-Text Citation: (Decherney, 2012) |
Journal Article:
Tian, K., Zhu, H., & Guan, T. (2019). The moderating role of social media on self-esteem and life satisfaction: A case study of YouTube and Instagram. The Journal of Applied Business and Economics, 21(6), 208-216.
|
Narrative In-Text Citation: Tian et al. (2019) Parenthetical In-Text Citation: (Tian et al., 2019)
*There are more than 3 authors so write "et al." |
Newspaper Article:
Damour, L. (2020, April 21). Helping teens make room for uncomfortable emotions. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/well/family/coronavirus-teenagers-uncomfortable-emotions.html
|
Narrative In-Text Citation: Damour (2020) Parenthetical In-Text Citation: (Damour, 2020) *If you have a day in the reference list, you only need to put the year in your in-text citation! |
Magazine Article: Olsen, E. (2019, December). Ocean vision. Scientific American, 321(6), 16. |
Narrative In-Text Citation: Olsen (2019) Parenthetical In-Text Citation: (Olsen, 2019) |
Webpage on a News Website:
Hunt, K. (2020, April 21). How this tiny beetle could help millions of allergy
|
Narrative In-Text Citation: Hunt (2020) Parenthetical In-Text Citation: (Hunt, 2020) *All you need is the year, not the full date |
Government Agency Report:
U.S. Global Change Research Program. (2016). The impacts of climate change on human health in the United States: A scientific assessment. GlobalChange.gov. https://s3.amazonaws.com/climatehealth2016/low/ClimateHealth2016_FullReport_small.pdf
|
Narrative In-Text Citation: U.S. Global Change Research Program (2016) Parenthetical In-Text Citation: (U.S. Global Change Research Program, 2016) |
Webpage on a Larger Website:
National Center on Birth Defects and Development Disabilities. (n.d.). What is ADHD? Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/facts.html
|
Narrative In-Text Citation: First Citation: National Center on Birth Defects and Disabilities (NCBDDD, n.d.) Subsequent Citations: NCBDD (n.d) Parenthetical In-Text Citation: First Citation: (National Center on Birth Defects and Development Disabilities [NCBDDD], n.d.) Subsequent Citations: (NCBDD, n.d.)
|
Social Media Post:
Thunberg, G. (2020, April 22). Every day is #EarthDay.The changes needed to safeguard future living conditions for all species won’t come from governments or [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1112577069110112&set=a.733630957004727
|
Narrative In-Text Citation: Thunberg (2020) Parenthetical In-Text Citation: (Thunberg, 2020) |
What is a DOI? How do I find it?
How do I format a DOI in my reference entry?
(APA, 2020, DOIs and URLs)
How should I format URLs in my references?
(APA, 2020, DOIs and URLs)
When should I include a retrieval date for a webpage?
(APA, 2020, Elements of a Citation Reference, Retrieval dates)
Which date do I use on a webpage?
(APA, 2020, Elements of a Citation Reference, Format of the date; APA, 2020, Webpage on a website reference)
When should I include a database name in my reference entries?
(APA, 2020, Database Information in References)
How do I cite organizational authors, especially if there is more than one on the website?
(APA, 2020, Webpage on a website with a government agency group author)