Your professor requested APA format and your paper is done. Time to breathe easy, right? What about your references page? You didn’t think to create that while you were writing your paper and now you are staring at it in horror. You have your references, but what should they look like? How should they be formatted? Check out a few examples and you’ll find that formatting an APA citation is surprisingly easy.
Bibliography vs Reference Page
Bibliography is an umbrella term that many students think all citation pages fall under. However, this simply is not true. In APA format, a reference page is used rather than a bibliography. The reference only includes the works that were used in the writing and not every source that went into its conception.
Setting Up Your Reference Page
The reference page in APA needs to follow a specific format. Not only will it be a separate page, everything will be double spaced. Other basic rules to remember include:
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- Author’s, editor’s or creator’s names should be inverted (last name first).
- All entries should be in alphabetical order.
- Include a ½ inch hanging indent after the first line of the reference.
- For titles, only capitalize the first word.
- Journal titles need to include the whole title.
- Journal titles by the same author should be listed from oldest to newest.
Example 1
Reference
Albert, J. K. (2001) Gender Statistics. New York, NY: Riverbend Books.
Austin, J. (2012). Pride and Prejudice [Kindle DX Version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com
Bernstein, M. (2002). 10 tips on writing the living web. A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites, 149. Retrieved from https://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving
Brooks-Gunn J. & Duncan R. F. (Eds.). (2018). Gender studies for men. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Feminism. (n.d.). In Encyclopedia Britannica online. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/724633/feminism
Mills, F. H., Cho, M. J., Angeli, L. L., Harry, A. A., Stamos, J. A., Tomas, S. T., . . . Rubin, L. H. (2001) Understanding genders. New York, NY: Riverbend Books.
Example 2
Reference
Harry, W. A., III. (2010, April 9). Making schools great again. Time, 135, 28-31.
Peckin, J. (2010). Change in the Nineties. In J. S. Bough and G. B. DuBois (Eds.), A difference in growth in America. Retrieved from GoldStar database.
Rarry, R. (2016). The difference in schools. The New Criterion, 15(3), 5-13.
Snord, S. (2013, June 28). America’s youth and growth. The Country Today, pp. 1A, 2A.
Making Your APA Citation Page
Creating a citation page can have you hyperventilating, especially when you look at all the different rules. Having an example to look at can make sure the you get it right the first time and every time.