Formatting Your APA Reference List

The reference list appears at the very end of your paper and provides the complete details for every source you cited in the text. Consistent formatting is key to a professional and credible document. Here’s a breakdown of the essential elements:

The entries in your reference list must be alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each work. Here’s how to handle different scenarios:

Single Author or First Author: Arrange entries alphabetically by the author's last name.
Multiple Authors (Same First Author): Order chronologically by publication year, earliest first.
Multiple Works, Same Author(s), Same Year: Add lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.) after the year and order alphabetically by title.
Group Authors: Alphabetize by the first significant word (ignore "The", "A").