APA Style Guide: Reference Page

A reference list is essentially a list of all of the resources that you have used in your paper. If you cite a resource in your writing or if you used an in-text citation anywhere, you will need to create a full citation for that resources and include it in your references page.

The reference page should adhere to the following rules:

1. The reference page is double spaced.
2. The title, “References," is centered.
   1. The reference page may have any of the following titles, depending the requirements laid out by instructors: "References," "Works Cited," or "Bibliography."
3. All sources listed in the reference list have been used at least once in the paper.
4. All sources on the list include:
   1. Author
   2. Publication date
   3. Title
   4. Publication Information
   5. Other relevant retrieval information
5. Every line after the first line of each entry in the list is indented ½ inch from margin. This is called a "hanging indent."
6. All references have been checked for proper punctuation, formatting, parentheses and brackets, and appropriate retrieval information, particularly for electronic sources.
7. Reference sources are alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each work.
   1. For multiple resources by the same author: list resources chronologically, with the earliest published work listed first.
   2. If a work has no author, use the title of the work to alphabetize it.

NOTE: Entries in the reference list should not be numbered or bulleted.