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Citation Guide - How to Cite Your Sources: APA Reference list

Resources for style guides and citations.

APA Reference List

Style Basics

  • References should begin on a new page, the word References should be at the top of the first page and centered
  • Reference entries should be listed in alphabetical order by the first author's last name (or title if no author) with hanging indentations

Reference list entries include four elements: author, date, title, and source.

  • Author can be a person, group of people, or an organization. Use & for multiple authors. If there is no author, start the entry with the title.
  • Date refers to the date of publication and is most commonly the year or an exact date (year, month, and day). Use (n.d.) for no date.
  • Title can be either a work that stands alone (e.g. a book) or part of a greater whole (e.g. a journal article) and should always be in sentence case.
  • Source indicates where readers can retrieve the cited work and could be a publisher or the title of a greater whole (e.g. a journal article and the journal name). 

Missing any of this information? Use the APA Style Website Missing Info guide for more help.

"APA 7th Edition: Formatting the APA Reference Page" by Scribbr on YouTube