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Dr. Karen Palmer
APA: References Page
In an APA paper, the sources used in the paper are listed on the References page in alphabetical order. APA Style offers sample student and professional papers, including a free annotated student sample paper.
Here’s a video showing how to format a Reference List:
Unlike MLA, which uses the same basic format for every type of source, the formatting in APA style changes for each type of source. One thing that stays the same is that the author is followed by the date. Here are some sample citations:
| Source Type | Example Citation |
| Book | Gleick, J. (1988). Chaos: Making a new science. Penguin Books.
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| Short Story/Article from a Book | Cisneros, S. (2016). Eleven. In F. Madden (Ed.), Exploring literature: Writing and arguing about fiction, poetry, drama, and the essay (pp. 26-28), Longman.
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| Article from a Magazine | Sanders, S. R. (1989, November). Under the influence: Paying the price of my father’s booze. Harper’s, 68-75.
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| Article from a Database | Weeks, Lewis E.,, Jr. (1980). Hemingway hills: Symbolism in ‘Hills like white elephants’ . Studies in Short Fiction, 17(1), 75-76.
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| Page on a Website | Owl and Mouse Educational Software. (2000). Castles in medieval times. http://www.yourchildlearns.com/castle_history.htm
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| Article/Blog Post on a Website | Morin, A. (18, January 2019). Mom am I fat?: Helping your teen have a positive body image. Very Well Family. www.verywellfamily.com/media-and-teens-body-image
Piercy, M. (2011). Barbie doll. Poem Hunter. https://poemhunter.com/poem/barbie-doll/
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| A Film | Lucas. G. (Director). (1980). The empire strikes back. [Film]. Twentieth Century Fox.
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| YouTube Video | McGonigal, J. [Big Think]. (2012, July 3). Gaming and productivity [Video]. YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkdzy9bWW3
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| Yelp/Social Media Posts | B., Elizabeth. [B. Elizabeth]. (2016, October 4). Olsen’s grain. [Review]. Yelp. https://www.yelp.com/biz/olsens-grain-prescott?hrid=HjFTGmfTuS6rvsmVpTNZfQ&utm_campaign=www_review_share_ popup&utm_medium =copy_link&utm_source=(direct)
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Click Here for a great guide for APA citation creation.
Sample References Page
The formatting for an APA References page is almost identical to a Works Cited page in MLA. Sources should be listed alphabetically with a hanging indent. This means that the first line of the citation is flush to the left margin, and all additional lines are indented. Citations will look like reverse paragraphs. This formatting helps readers find the reference source more easily. The only difference is the heading at the top of the page should be References. Here is a sample APA References page:
Tips:
- Use the “Insert page” feature to make sure the References page is on its own page at the end of your document. Put your cursor at the end of your paper, then insert a new page. Start typing your References page on the new page.
- Center the heading References at the top of the page. Do NOT use any special formatting for the heading.
- The entire page should be double spaced, just like the rest of your paper.
- Sources should be in alphabetical order.
- Sources should use a Hanging Indent.
Attribution
- Content created by Dr. Karen Palmer and licensed CC BY NC SA.
