Skip to Main Content

APA Style Guide

Reference List Formatting

  • The reference list provides a reliable way for readers to identify and locate the works you cited in your paper
  • All sources used in your paper must appear in the reference list
  • Title the page References in bold, with no quotation marks, italics, or underlining
  • Entries in your reference list typically have four elements:
    • author
    • date
    • title
    • source
  • Citations must use hanging indent
  • Give the last name and the first and middle initials for all authors in the citation
  • When referring to titles of books, articles, or webpages, capitalize only the first letter of the first word of the title and subtitle
  • The DOI (Digital Object Identifier) or URL is the final component of a reference list entry. 
    • DOI is the number assigned to an online article
    • If a DOI is not available, it should be replaced with the URL

Journal Article, One author:

Last name, First name initial. (Date). Article name. Journal, volume(issue), page numbers.

Smith, B. (2007). Social media and the rates of anxiety in high school students. Educational Psychology Journal, 5(2), 335-343.

Journal Article, More than one author: 

Last name, First name initial., Last name, first name initial., & Last name, first name initial. (Date). Article name. Journal, volume(issue), page numbers.  *Must list all the authors*

Brown, F., Emerson, C., & Towne, M. (2011). Stress levels of tax fraud inmates in prisons. Criminal Justice Journal, 7(4), 192-204.

Journal Article, Online:

Last name, First name initial. (Date). Article name. Journal, volume(issue), page numbers. DOI number

James, P. (2005). Night terrors effect on depression in young adults. Journal of Social Psychology, 4(1), 278-286. http://doi.org/jsp.47821

Book:

Last name, First name initial. (Date). Title of book. Publisher.

Finch, K. (2018). Mental health in the workplace. Psychology Education Books.

Website:

Last name, First name initial. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Website name. Web address

Gill, W. (2013, April 23). How does sleep affect anxiety levels? Psychology News Today. https://psychnewstoday.com/how-does-sleep-affect-anxiety-levels/37298

YouTube or Other Streaming Video: 

Last name, First name initial. [Username]. (Year, Month Date). Title of video [Video]. Streaming Service. URL

Harvard University. (2019, August 28). Soft robotic gripper for jellyfish [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guRoWTYfxMs