While the in-text citations in your assignment include just a few basic details (author, date, page/para.), the reference list provides much more information so your tutors/readers can locate the sources you have used. Reference list entries might include the full title and publication details of printed works, the names of editors (where applicable), a URL or DOI for electronic resources, and other information.
What's the difference between a bibliography and a reference list?
A bibliography is a list of all of the sources you read and which may have influenced or directed your research, whether or not you actually quote or paraphrase information from them in your work.
A reference list is a list of ONLY the sources whose information you quote directly or paraphrase in your work. Your tutors will usually only require you to include a reference list with your assignments.
The basic formula of an APA reference list entry
Reference list entries typically have four main parts:
Who. (When). What. Where.
Author. (Date). Title. Source.
'Sentence case' versus 'Title Case'
Sentence case
The way this sentence is written, beginning with a capital and all other words in lower case (unless proper nouns, e.g., New Zealand).
Title case
When Each Main Word in a Title Begins With a Capital Letter Like This (Except Words Less Than Four Letters Long).
First name(s) & surname/family name(s)
These terms pertain to the parts of an author's name:
First/given name(s) Surname/family name(s)
Robert Louis Stevenson
Formatting the reference list
These guidelines will help you properly format your reference list in APA style:
Example
A short sample reference list showing the correct title placement, alphabetisation, hanging indent, and double-spaced format:
References
Hales, M. (2015). Community health nursing. In A. Berman, S. Snyder, T. Levett-Jones, T. Dwyer, M. Hales, N. Harvey, Y. Luxford, L. Moxham, T. Park, B. Parker, K. Reid-Searl, & D. Stanley (Eds.), Kozier and Erb's fundamentals of nursing (3rd Australian ed., Vol. 1, pp. 127–141). Pearson.
Hubbard, J., Thomas, C., & Varnham, S. (2010). Principles of law for New Zealand business students (4th ed.). Pearson.
Stulz, J. (2006). Integrating exposure therapy and analytic therapy in trauma treatment. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76(4), 482–488. https://doi.org/10.1037/0002-9432.76.4.482
Formatting your reference list in Microsoft Word (hanging indents) for Windows computers
Having entered and alphabetised your reference list entries in your document, highlight them all and click the little arrow in the paragraph section of the top ribbon to display the paragraph formatting dialog.
In the indentation section, select 'hanging'. Under spacing, set the line spacing on 'double'.
Click OK to save the settings. Your reference list should now have hanging indents and double line spacing!
Another easy way to get your hanging indent in Word is to highlight your reference list and then press ctrl + t.
Formatting your reference list in Microsoft Word (hanging indents) for Mac computers
1. Having entered and alphabetised your reference list entries in your document, highlight them all.
2. Go to the Format menu at the top of your screen.
3. Select Paragraph from the drop down menu.
4. Under the Indents and Spacing tab, find the Special dropdown menu and select Hanging.
5. Click OK.
Reformatting hyperlinks in Word
If you are using Microsoft Edge as your browser, links will appear as the main words of the title when you copy and paste them into Word. However, in APA 7 your hyperlinks need to be the web address as it appears in your browser (https://...).
There are several ways to prevent this from happening:
1. Turn off the autoformatting in your Edge browser (recommended) - see instructions below
2. Correct the formatting as you copying the links, one by one, into Word - see instructions below
3. Editing the link in Word once is already pasted - see instructions below
1. Through the settings in Edge browser (recommended)
Click on the 'Settings' cog.
Select plain text and switch the toggle on at the bottom:
2. As you are copying the link:
Copy the link and as you paste it into your Word document, right click. Then select "Paste as plain text". It will paste the link in the standard format.
3. Once it is already pasted, use the paste function:
Right click on the hyperlink and click on the clipboard with the A under Paste Options.
The hyperlink will revert back to the standard format.
3. Edit the hyperlink
Right click on the hyperlink and click on "Edit Hyperlink"
Highlight the words shown in the "Text to display" box and delete them.
Click "OK" and the hyperlink should revert to the standard format.
Organising a reference list into alphabetical order in Word
1. Create your reference list
2. Highlight it
3. Click on the A>Z button in the Word toolbar
4. Click OK
Changing the case of letters in Word
1. Highlight the text you want to change the case of (the title of your information source, for example).
2. Select the Aa button in the font section of the toolbar:
3. Select the case you want (e.g. sentence case or to give each word a capital).
