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APA reference list

This page describes reference lists in APA:

  • The reference list
  • List format
    • Author
    • Year of publication
    • Title
    • Publication information
  • Order of entries
  • Entries with the same author(s) and year of publication

New to referencing? See the introduction to referencing.

APA Interactive

Create customised interactive examples of APA references and in-text citations with this online tool.

The reference list

The reference list appears at the end of the assignment, under the heading “References.” It lists detailed information about each source that has been cited in the assignment. Every source mentioned in an in-text citation should be listed in the reference list. If a source doesn't have an in-text citation, it should not be listed here.

Example reference list:

References

Bowker, N., & Tuffin, K. (2002). Users with disabilities' social and economic development through online access. In M. Boumedine (Ed.), Proceedings of the IASTED International Conference on Information and Knowledge Sharing (pp. 122–127). ACTA Press.

Durie, M. (2003). Ngā kāhui pou: Launching Māori futures. Huia Publishers.

Hazledine, T., & Quiggan, J. (2006). Public policy in Australia and New Zealand: The new global context. Australian Journal of Political Science, 41(2), 131–143.

Ministry for Primary Industries. (2012). Rural communities. http://www.mpi.govt.nz/agriculture/rural-communities

The earlier (6th) edition of APA formats this differently. See 6th vs. 7th for details.

List format

Every entry in an APA reference list has a hanging indent. This means that every line after the first is moved a few spaces to the right.

The entries are in alphabetical order according to the first author listed. See order of entries below for details.

Different types of source have different formats, and everything about each entry (from the punctuation to the capitalisation of words) is strictly prescribed. Getting it exactly right takes some practice, but these pages should highlight some common pitfalls.

Punctuation is important in the reference list. Look at the examples and use the same punctuation (commas, full stops, and brackets). The year of publication, for example, always appears in brackets.

Punctuation in the reference list

Each entry has four basic parts:

  • The name of the author
  • The year of publication
  • The title
  • The publisher's name

The earlier (6th) edition of APA formats this differently. See 6th vs. 7th for details.

Author

In the reference list, the surname (family name) of an author comes first, followed by the first initials.

If there are several authors, each is separated from the others with a comma, and there is an ‘&’ before the final author:

Cunningham, B. M., Nikolai, L. A., & Bazley, J. D.

See 2+ authors for details.

If there is no author, see no author.

Year of publication

The year of publication appears in brackets after the author(s), with a full stop after the closing bracket.

If there is no year, see no year for details.

Some magazine and newspaper articles also include a date here:

Howe, J. (2007, November 16). Manawatu worth $8.1b. Manawatu Standard, p. 1.

Months and dates should always appear after the year of publication. In the in-text citation, however, only the year is given. With a website, provide the most specific date available. If a last updated date is available for the specific page being cited, then use this in the reference list. In an in-text citation, however, only give the year. Note: a last reviewed date implies the web page content has not been changed or updated so use the original date given.

Sometimes there is more than one reference with the same author and the same year. In these cases, a letter is added after the year to differentiate the entries. See entries with identical authors and years of publication for details.

Title

The main titles of printed material and web pages are written in italics.

Sometimes a reference will have two titles: the name of an article or entry, and the name of the whole work. For example, journals have a name, but each individual article also has a title. Edited books have both a book title and a chapter title. In these cases, the main title is written in italics, but the section (article or chapter) title is not written in italics:

Hazledine, T., & Quiggan, J. (2006). Public policy in Australia and New Zealand: The new global context. Australian Journal of Political Science, 41(2), 131–143.

Most titles (e.g., the titles of books) only have upper-case letters for the first word of the title, the first word of any subtitle, and any proper nouns (the names of places, people, organisations, etc.):

Organisational behaviour on the Pacific Rim

Upper-case letters are used for all the words in the name of a journal, newspaper, or magazine, however:

Australian Journal of Political Science

Publication information

The publication information depends on the type of source. For a book, it is the name of the publisher. For a journal article, it is the name of the journal, the volume and/or issue number, and the page range of the article. For a website, it is the URL address.

Note: When the author and the publisher are the same, omit the publisher detail to avoid repetition.

Formatting details for each type of source are given on these pages:

  • Books
  • Journals
  • Online material
  • Other material

If you're not sure which source type to use, see what type of source is this?

See referencing elements for a more detailed discussion of the different types of publication information, including solutions to common problems.

The earlier (6th) edition of APA formats this differently. See 6th vs. 7th for details.

Order of entries

Entries are alphabetised according to the first author's surname, or whatever else appears first in the entry. You can use the sort text feature of Microsoft Word to do this quickly and easily.

If two authors have the same surname, alphabetise them according to their first initial.

If there are two entries with identical authors, order them chronologically, earliest first.

If two different entries begin with the same author, entries that have only that one author come before entries with 2+ authors. If two different 2+ author entries begin with the same author, alphabetise by the second author. If the second author is the same, use the third, and so forth.

Durie, M. (2013)…

Johnson, I. (2012)…

Johnson, I. (2014)…

Johnson, I., & Chen, C. (2016)…

Johnson, I., Nguyen, T., & Chen, C. (2014)…

MacArthur, A. (2019)…

McAllister, C. (2019)…

Ministry of Health. (2018)…

Singh, Y. (2017)…

Statistics New Zealand. (2010)…

Villafuerte, S. (2016).

If two entries have the same author(s) and the same year of publication, see same year, same author.

Entries with the same author(s) and year of publication

In some rare cases, you may need to reference two different sources that have the same author and the same year of publication.

The entries should be ordered alphabetically, according to the first word of the title (aside from “a,” “an,” or “the”). Then add a lower-case letter (“a,” “b,” and so on) after the year to distinguish them:

Johnson, I. (2020a). Publishing…

Johnson, I. (2020b). United…

This letter also appears in the in-text citation:

According to Johnson (2020a), the …

According to Johnson (2020b), the …

 

References and further reading

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). [Massey Library link]

Disclaimer

These pages are provided as a guide to proper referencing. Your course, department, school, or institute may prescribe specific conventions, and their recommendations supersede these instructions. If you have questions not covered here, check in the style guide listed above, ask your course coordinator, or ask at Academic Q+A.

Page authorised by Director - Centre for Learner Success
Last updated on 4 February, 2021

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