APA Style Guide 7th Edition
2
OVERVIEW
Your references should begin on a new page separate from the text of the essay; label this page
"References" in bold, centered at the top of the page (do NOT underline or use quotation marks for the
title). All text should be double-spaced just like the rest of your essay.
BASIC RULES FOR MOST SOURCES
• All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch
from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation (see Formatting Packet).
• All authors' names should be inverted (i.e., last names should be provided first).
• Authors' first and middle names should be written as initials.
o For example, the reference entry for a source written by Jane Marie Smith would begin
with "Smith, J. M."
o If a middle name isn't available, just initialize the author's first name: "Smith, J."
• Separate each author’s initials from the next author in the list with a comma. Use an ampersand
(&) before the last author’s name.
• Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each work.
• For multiple articles by the same author, or authors listed in the same order, list the entries in
chronological order, from earliest to most recent.
• When referring to the titles of books, chapters, articles, reports, webpages, or other sources,
capitalize only the first letter of the first word of the title and subtitle, the first word after a
colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns.
o Note again that the titles of academic journals are subject to special rules. See section
below.
• Italicize titles of longer works (e.g., books, edited collections, names of newspapers, and so on).
• Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as chapters in
books or essays in edited collections.
• PERSONAL COMMUNICATION DO NOT NEED TO BE ON THE REFERENCE PAGE, JUST IN-TEXT
CITATION WILL BE ENOUGH FOR APA.
BASIC RULES FOR ARTICLES IN ACADEMIC JOURNALS
• Present journal titles in full and italicize them.
• Maintain any nonstandard punctuation and capitalization that is used by the journal in its title.
o Example
▪ PhiloSOPHIA instead of Philosophia
▪ Past & Present instead of Past and Present
• Capitalize all major words in the titles of journals. Note that this differs from the rule for titling
other common sources (like books, reports, webpages, and so on) described above.
• Capitalize the first word of the titles and subtitles of journal articles, as well as the first word
after a colon or a dash in the title, and any proper nouns.
• Do not italicize or underline the article title.
• Do not enclose the article title in quotes.