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ECC - Citation Libguide: APA Works Reference List Page

An indepth libguide for APA and MLA citations

Basic Rules

Your reference list should appear at the end of your paper. It provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the body of the paper. Each source you cite in the paper must appear in your reference list; likewise, each entry in the reference list must be cited in your text.

Your references should begin on a new page separate from the text of the essay; label this page "References" in bold, centered at the top of the page (do NOT underline or use quotation marks for the title). All text should be double-spaced just like the rest of your essay.

  • All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation.
  • All authors' names should be inverted (i.e., last names should be provided first).
  • Authors' first and middle names should be written as initials.
    • For example, the reference entry for a source written by Jane Marie Smith would begin with "Smith, J. M."
    • If a middle name isn't available, just initialize the author's first name: "Smith, J."
  • Give the last name and first/middle initials for all authors of a particular work up to and including 20 authors (this is a new rule, as APA 6 only required the first six authors). Separate each author’s initials from the next author in the list with a comma. Use an ampersand (&) before the last author’s name. If there are 21 or more authors, use an ellipsis (but no ampersand) after the 19th author, and then add the final author’s name.
  • Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each work.

Copied directly from the Owl at Purdue APA Basic Rules page

Books

BOOK

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital            letter also for subtitle. Publisher Name. DOI (if available)

*DOI stands for Digital Object Identifier

Stoneman, R. (2008). Alexander the Great: A life in                 legend. Yale University Press.

 

EDITED BOOK, NO AUTHOR

Editor, E. E. (Ed.). (Year of publication). Title of work:               Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher. DOI (if available)

Leitch, M. G., & Rushton, C. J. (Eds.). (2019). A new                 companion to Malory. D. S. Brewer.

Magazines

ARTICLE IN A MAGAZINE

Author, A. (Year, Month). Title of work. Publication,              Vol(Issue), pages.

Peterzell, J. (1990, April). Better late than never. Time,              135(17), 20–21.

 

Electronic Resources

ARTICLE FROM AN ONLINE PERIODICAL WITH DOI ASSIGNED

Lastname, F. M., & Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of                  article. Title of Periodical, Vol.(Issue), page numbers.          DOI

Drollinger, T., Comer, L. B., & Warrington, P. T. (2006).            Development and validation of the active empathetic          listening scale. Psychology & Marketing, 23(2), 161-            180. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20105

 

YOUTUBE

Last Name, F. M. [Username]. (Year, Month Date). Title of          video [Video]. Streaming Service. URL

Lushi, K. [Korab Lushi]. (2016, July 3). Albatross culture            1 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?        v=_AMrJRQDPjk&t=148s

 

ONLINE NEWS ARTICLE

Lastname, F. M. (Year, Month Date). Title of article. Title of         Publication. URL

Richards, C. (2019, December 9). Best music of 2019:               Lana Del Rey sings lullabies about the end of                       America. Washington Post.                                               https://www.washingtonpost.com/article/entertainment