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APA Citation Style Guide (7th Edition)

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About References

The references at the end of a paper give all of the information necessary to identify and locate the sources used in that paper. All in-text citations in the paper correspond with a resource on the reference list.

 

How to format your reference list:

Placement: Start the reference list on a new page, after the body of the assignment.

Title: Type the word References at the top of the page, bold it, and center it.

Order: Order entries alphabetically by last name of author, first word of a corporate author, or, if no author, first word of title (excluding A, An, The, etc.)

Spacing: Double-space all entries

Hanging Indent: The first line of each entry should be left aligned, subsequent lines are indented 1 inch (2.5cm).

 

Two or more works, same author, same year

To differentiate between two or more works by the same author in the same year, assign letter suffixes to the publication year.

Example:

Ignace, M. (1998a). Secwepemc songbook : 1998 teachers’ guide. Secwepemc Cultural Education Society.

Ignace, M. (1998b). Secwepemc culture kit. Secwepemc Cultural Education Society.

One to Seven (or more) Authors

One Author:

The author's last name comes first, followed by their initials.

Template:
Author, A. A. (Year). ...
Example:
Smith, J. P. (2008). ...

 

Two Authors:

Authors' names are listed in the order in which they occur in the document.  They are separated by a comma and an "&".

Template:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). ...

Example:
Lind, R., & Cohen. J. (2009). ...

 

Three to Twenty Authors:

Authors' names are listed in the order in which they occur in the document.  They are separated by commas and the last two are separated by an "&".

Template:
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). ...

Example
Peters, L., Clark, W., & Ball, C. (2010). ...

 

Twenty-one or More Authors:

List the first nineteen authors, then ellipses (...), but no ampersand (&), and then add the last author. Remember to list the authors' names in the order in which they occur on the document!

Template:
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author, C. C., Author, D. D., Author, E. E., Author, F. F., Author, G. G., Author, H. H., Author, I. I., Author, J. J., Author, K. K., Author, L. L., Author, M. M., Author, N. N., Author, O. O., Author, P. P., Author, Q. Q., Author, R. R., Author, S. S., Author, T. T., Author, U. U.,... Author, Z. Z. (Year). ...

Example
Koerner, S., Smith, M. D., Burkepile, D. E.,  Hanan, N. P., Avolio, M. L., Collins, S. L., Knapp, A. K.,  Lemoine, N. P., Forrestel, E.J., Eby, S., Thompson, D. I., Aguado-Santacruz, G. A., Anderson, J. P., Anderson, T. M., Angassa, A., Bagchi, S., Bakker, E. S., Bastin, G., Baur, L.E., Beard, K. H., Beever, E. A.,Bohlen, P. J.,…  Zelikova, T. J. (2018). Change in dominance determines herbivore effects on plant biodiversity. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2(12), 1925-1932. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0696-y

Corporate Author or No Author

Corporate Author

When an organization, rather than an individual, takes responsibility for the creation of a work, that organization is treated as a collective or corporate author.

Note: Only use an abbreviation in the in-text citation. Use the full corporate name in the reference list.

Template:
Corporate Author. (Year). Title of Book or Report. ...

Example:
Statistics Canada. (2013). Gross domestic product by industry, July 2013. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/130930/dq130930a-eng.htm

 
No Author

A source that appears to have no author usually has a corporate author.  If this is not the case, then the title is used in place author's name:

Template:
Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. (Year). ...

Example

Oxford English Dictionary. (2013). ...