APA List of References

Questions? Chat live with a librarian by typing into the widget below!

 

chat loading…


Tip:  Check out this sample paper to find out what an essay in the APA style looks like.

The examples found in the APA section are based on the style guide Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed., 2020.

General formatting

  • In APA style, your full citations are listed at the end of your paper in your List of References.
  • On a new double-spaced page titled “References”, list your citations in alphabetical order using the author’s last name. If there is no author, use the title.
  • If your citation is longer than one line, indent indent all the lines after the first one by 1.25 cm (this is called a hanging indentation).

Digital Object Identifiers (DOI)

In APA, your citation must include the digital object identifier (DOI) if it is available. This mostly applies to scholarly articles.

  • The DOI (digital object identifier) is a string of characters that provides a persistent link to the online location of a document. Each document is assigned a unique DOI.
  • It can be found on the first page of an article or if the document was found in a database, in the document description.
  • The DOI may be a string of characters or in the format of a URL.
  • Not all documents have a DOI. You can find more details in the APA examples.

DOI as a URL:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/rmh0000008

  • Use this format in your APA citations: your teachers will be able to click them to consult your sources.

DOI as a string of characters:

10.1111/j.1545-5300.2012.01407.x

Additional Resources