APA Formatting: Reference List Guidelines

Study Notes

Reference List: Basic Rules

This document provides basic guidelines for formatting the reference list at the end of a standard APA research paper.
Most sources follow straightforward rules, but academic journals carry special weight in research writing, so they have specific rules.
This document makes a clear distinction between citing academic journals and other sources.
This document highlights an important difference between APA 6 and APA 7, using an underlined note in red.

Formatting a Reference List

The reference list appears at the end of the paper.
It provides all information necessary for a reader to find and retrieve any source cited in the body.
Every source cited in the paper must be in the reference list, and every entry in the reference list must be cited in the text.
The reference list begins on a new page, separate from the essay text.
The title "References" is bolded, centered at the top of the page.
Do not underline or use quotation marks for the title.
All text is double-spaced, just like the essay.

Basic Rules for Most Sources

Author. The author's name is written last name first, followed by initials (e.g., Smith, J. A.).
Publication date. The year of publication is in parentheses, followed by a period (e.g., (2020).).
Title. The title of the work is in sentence case, with only the first word and proper nouns capitalized.
Source. The location of the publication is provided, depending on the type of source (e.g., journal name, book title, website).
Retrieval information. If applicable, information about how to access the source online is provided.

Basic Rules for Articles in Academic Journals

The author’s name is presented in the order it appears on the article.
The year of publication follows the author’s name in parentheses, followed by a period.
The title of the article is in sentence case, with only the first word and proper nouns capitalized.
The journal name is italicized, and the volume number is also italicized and presented in parentheses.
The issue number appears in parentheses without italics, followed by a colon, and then the page numbers, separated by a hyphen.
The retrieval information is provided for online sources.

Special Notes

The APA manual provides examples for common source types, but not all conceivable sources.
For sources not addressed by APA, find a similar example and use its format.
For more information, consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).

Description

This quiz covers the essential rules for formatting the reference list in an APA research paper, highlighting differences between APA 6 and APA 7. You'll learn the specifics of citing academic journals compared to other sources, and the structural requirements for a properly formatted reference list. Perfect for students aiming to improve their research writing skills.