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APA (7th ed.) Collin College–Frisco, Lawler Hall 141

References 972-377-1080 ▪ prcwritingcenter@collin.edu

Appointments: collin.mywconline.net

Basic Format
 Start a new page for your reference list.
 Title of reference page (References) should be centered and in bold.
 Double space the entire reference page.
 Put entries in hanging indent format (After typing the title, go to the next line. Set the alignment

Above: A reference page in APA format

Right: Setting the indent to “hanging” in Microsoft

Word

General Guidelines
Authors: Only use the initials of any authors' first and middle names, even if the full names are given in
the original article. An organization or government agency name can also be considered a "group" author
when it is clearly responsible for the material.
Multiple Authors: For multiple authors, separate their names with commas. Reverse the names of all
authors so that last names come first. List all of their names, up to 20 authors. Use the & symbol before
the final author's name, rather than the word "and."
Italics: Italicize the titles of longer works, including books, journals, magazines, newspapers and websites.
Volume numbers of journals are also italicized, but issue numbers are not.
Capitalization: Capitalize the first word of a title and the first word of a subtitle, as well as any proper
nouns for an article, book, chapter or webpage. Capitalize each word of a journal title.
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Dates: Journals with volume and issue numbers only need the year in the parentheses. If a more specific
date is required to locate the source, such as with a newspaper article or blog post, put the year first, then
a comma followed by the specific month and possibly day. See examples 3 & 7 below.
Pages: The reference list will give the enter range of pages the article appears on (represented in the
examples below as ##-##), rather than just the pages you referenced within the paper.
Database sources: Many sources published since 2000 have a DOI (digital object identifier), which should
be included at the end of the reference entry. If there is no DOI, do not use a database name or URL.
Web sources: Many previously published sources are available on the web. Use the DOI if it has one. If
you accessed it on the web (rather than a database), then include the URL. Other material is only available
on the web. If you cite multiple pages from a website, create an entry for each. If there is no publication or
posting date, put "n.d." in the parentheses, but at the end of the entry, include the words "Retrieved,"
followed by the date you looked it up and the URL. See examples 3 & 7 below. The URLs should be
hyperlinks and will not have a period at the end.

Sample Entries
1. Article from a scholarly journal (with DOI)
Template
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Initial and Middle Initial if given. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume
number(Issue number), ##-##. https://doi.org/###########

Example

Singh, D., Singh, P., & Sisodia, D. S. (2018). Evolutionary based optimal ensemble classifiers for HIV-1 protease
cleavage sites prediction. Expert Systems with Applications, 109(1), 1986-99.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2018.05.003

2. Article from a scholarly journal (when no DOI is available)

Template

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First and Middle Initial. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume number(Issue
number), ##-##. If not found on a database, include URL link of journal’s home page.

Example from database:

Tremarche, P. V., Robinson, E. M., & Graham, L. B. (2007). Physical education and its effect on elementary testing
results. Physical Educator, 64(2), 58–64.

Example from web:

Kohn, A. (2000). Standardized testing and its victims. Education Week 20(4):46-47. https://www.edweek.org
/ew/articles/2000/09/27/04kohn.h20.html

3. Newspaper article

Template

Author’s Last Name, First and Middle Initials. (Year, Month Day). Article title. Newspaper Title, pp. XX, XX. If found
on web, add URL/link
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Example
Nguyen, E. (2014, April 6). Pfizer, Lilly drugs slow advanced breast cancer in studies. The Washington Post, pp B2, B8.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/pfizer-lilly-drugs-slow-advanced-breast-cancer-
in-studies/2014/04/06/5648b27c-bda3-11e3-b574-f8748871856a_story.html

4. Web page

Template

Author, A. (date). Title of document or article. Site name. https://URL

Example
Lava, N. (2018, December 15). Medical Marijuana FAQ. WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/medical-
marijuana-faq

5. Entire book, print version or from database (no online information needed); Ebook, add URL instead of
publisher name.

Template

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First and Middle Initials. (Year). Title of book. Publisher.

Example of print book or book from database

Eriksen, M. (2017). Junk raft: An ocean voyage and a rising tide of activism to fight plastic pollution. Beacon Press.

Example of e-book

Bing, B. (2015). Next-generation video coding and streaming. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

6. Book chapter, edited book or work in an anthology. If Ebook, add URL instead of publisher name. (If
previously published elsewhere, include original date.)
Template

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Initial and Middle Initial. (Year). Title of chapter or work. In Editor’s First Initial
Editor’s Last Name (Ed.), Title of book (pp. #-#). Publisher. (Original work published xxxx).

Example

Carson, R. (2010). The obligation to endure. In M. Austin (Ed.), Reading the world: Ideas that matter (pp. 419-25). W.
W. Norton. (Original work published 1962).
7. PowerPoint slides or lecture notes. Use a specific day if presented publically rather than simply posted.
Template
Author's Last Name, Author's First Initial and Middle Initial. (Year, Month Day). Title. [Type of source]. Location of
posting. URL.
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Example
Davenport, M. (2019, Sept. 16). Summarizing. [PowerPoint slides]. Canvas@Collin. https://collin.instructure.
com/courses/843137/files?preview=58660715

CREDIT for graphic: Melanie R. Fowler, Florida Southern College. SOURCE: American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the
American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Updated July 2020 —MJD