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APA 7: Reference List

Basic Principles of the Reference List

  • The reference list documents sources used in a paper or manuscript.
  • The references list should begin on a new page titled "References,” bolded and centered at the top of the page.
  • Format reference entries with a hanging indent of 0.5 inches. 

Four Elements of a Reference List Entry

  1. Author: Who is responsible for the work?
  2. Date: When was this work published?
  3. Title: What is this work called?
  4. Source: From where can the work be retrieved?

Author

Author Type Format Example
One individual Surname, Initials. (Year).

 Gomez, B. (2020). 
Two individuals Surname, Initials., & Surname, Initials. (Year). Amari, M. & Wang, M. (2020).
Three to twenty individuals Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., & Surname, Initials. (Year). Singh, A., Taylor, J. A., Kumar, T. W., & Devi, B. (2020). 
Twenty-one or more individuals Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., Surname, Initials., ... Surname, Initials. (Year). Mohamed, A., Ali, B., Alaoui, C., Lopes, D., Kone, E., Ndong, F., Lawson, G., Beeharry, H., Traore, I., Ahmed, J., Nguema, K., Uwimania, L., Mahamat, M., Ibrahim, N., Kollie, O., Jallow, P., Saidi, Q., Trabelisi, R., Tesfaye, S., … Mensah, T. (2020). 
Group Group. (Year). Midwestern University. (2019).
Group with an identifiable abbreviation Group. (Year). American Psychological Association. (2020). 
Group within a group Working group or committee. (Year). Higher level working group or committee. Parent organization. Committee on Coding and Nomenclature. (2020). Coding for Pediatrics. American Academy of Pediatrics. 

 

  • Include all author names for 1 to 20 authors.
  • For 21+ authors, list the first 19 authors, an ellipsis, and the final author.

 

Date

  • Do not use the copyright date from the footer of websites.
  • Use last updated date over date of last review for online content.
  • Use “n.d.” when date of publication cannot be determined.

Title

  • For standalone works (i.e. book, report, website, etc.), italicize the title. Use sentence case.
  • For works part of a greater whole (i.e. journal article, book chapter, etc.), do not italicize the title. Use sentence case.

Source

Source Type Format Example
Journal article Periodical Title, Volume(Issue), Pages. DOI Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 34(1): 29-53. http://doi.org/10.1080/02699206.2019.1610798
Government report Parent Agencies. URL U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, National Institutes of Health. https://www.xxxxx.gov
Book or ebook Publisher Name. DOI or URL Wiley. https://doi.org/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Webpage Site Name. URL Mayo Clinic. https://www.xxxxxxxxxx.org

 

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