How to Do a Reference Page in APA Format
For some students, reference pages can seem like the hardest part of their papers. There are always rules to follow, lines to indent, titles to underline (or was it italicize?)--anyone could get lost in the deluge of regulations. Thankfully, the American Psychological Association has provided a list of basic standards to use in all reference pages for psychologically based papers. Follow these rules and your professors will be able to verify your work in a heartbeat.
Instructions
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Basic Formatting
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In a new document, type "References" at the top of the page and center it there. Do not bold, underline or italicize this word.
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2
Set the page to double-spaced: In Microsoft Word, click on "Format" at the top of the page and select "Paragraph" from the drop-down menu. Change "Line spacing" to double.
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3
Set a hanging indent for the lines of the page. This means that when you start a new citation, each line under that citation will be indented by half an inch. Click on "Format," select "Paragraph" and change "Indentation: Special" to "Hanging."
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4
Type book references as follows:
Author's last name, author's first and middle initials. (Year of publication in parentheses). Italicized title of book. City of publication, state of publication: Publisher's name.
Include as much of this information as you have available.
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5
Type periodical references as follows:
Author's last name, author's first and middle initials. (Year of publication in parentheses). Title of article (do not italicize). Italicized title of periodical, italicized volume number, beginning page number-ending page number (do not italicize).
Details
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6
Invert all authors' names so that the last name is first, followed by the first initial and middle initial (if you have it): Smith, J. H. Include the full last name and initials for each author of a work, unless there are more than six; if there are more than six authors, add "et al" after the sixth author to indicate that there were other contributors.
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Alphabetize the entries by the last name of the first author of each work. If you have multiple works by the same author or authors, list in order of publication date, starting with the earliest date.
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Capitalize the first letters of all major words in a journal title. For another source, such as a book or website, capitalize only the first letter of the first word, the first word after a dash or colon and proper nouns.
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Italicize the titles of books, journals or periodicals, and volume numbers.
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10
Include the website address at the end of an online reference.
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Tips & Warnings
Consult a website regarding APA citations, such the as resource given below, or an APA citation handbook (available at college libraries) if you have any further questions regarding how to do reference pages.
References
Resources
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Comments
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this use to confuse me now I understand every detail...this page is soo useful.
