APA Guide for Students’ Bibliographies
Basic Components for an APA Reference
Author Rules:
Date Rules:
Title Rules:
Author’s last name, initial(s). (Date Published). Title. Publisher’s location: Publisher. Retrieved from URL
Example of a book reference:
Townley, E.G. & Stewart, W. (2002). Mussolini and Italy. London, England: Heinemann.
Publisher Rules:
URL:
Add the URL if the source is online. Updated:15/10/2020
Basic Components for an APA Reference
Author Rules:
- Last name is first, followed by initials which are separated and finished by a full-stop, e.g. Townley, E.G.
- Multiple authors are separated by a comma (,) and an ampersand (&), e.g. Townley, E.G., & Stewart, W.
- Authors with the same last name and initial, we add their name into square brackets, e.g. Townley, E. [Edward]
Date Rules:
- This is the date the item was published
- If the date is unknown (n.d.) is used in place of the date, e.g. Townley, E. G. (n.d.)
Title Rules:
- The title is given without using capitals unless proper nouns are used, e.g. Mussolini and Italy.
Author’s last name, initial(s). (Date Published). Title. Publisher’s location: Publisher. Retrieved from URL
Example of a book reference:
Townley, E.G. & Stewart, W. (2002). Mussolini and Italy. London, England: Heinemann.
Publisher Rules:
- If in the US: the city and the two-lettered state code is added, e.g. Los Angeles, CA: Penguin.
- Rest of the world: the city and country are stated, e.g. Auckland, New Zealand: Scholastic.
URL:
Add the URL if the source is online. Updated:15/10/2020
How should the finished reference list appear in your writing?
The reference list is a full list of all the information from resources you used in writing your document. It states the author, date of publication, title, publisher location and publisher. The APA reference list must:
The reference list is a full list of all the information from resources you used in writing your document. It states the author, date of publication, title, publisher location and publisher. The APA reference list must:
- Be on its own page at the end of your document.
- Be centred.
- Be listed alphabetically by the author or title if author is unknown. Titles starting with ‘a’ or ‘an’ are ignored in favour of the next word in the title.
- Multiple works by the author are placed in order by date. If the works are of the same year, order them alphabetically by title and allocate a letter after the date, e.g. (2002)a , next will be (2002)b.
- Obtain full references for all in-text citation you used in your document.