Create a spot-on reference in APA 7 and 6
How to format a references page
According to the requirements of APA Style (7th ed.), the following rules apply when formatting a list of references (bibliography page):
- page margins: 1 inch (2.54 cm) on all sides;
- double line spacing;
- a clearly readable font, for instance: a sans serif font such as Calibri (font size 11), Arial (font size 11), Lucida Sans Unicode (font size 10) or a serif font such as Times News Roman (font size 12), Georgia (font size 11), Computer Modern (font size 10);
- text aligned left.
The list of references should be given on a new blank page.
The references in the list are not numbered. Each reference should have a hanging indent of 0.5 inches (1.27 cm).
The heading of the bibliography page should be centered and made bold. It is titled ‘References’.
However, different journals and universities can have modified requirements for formatting the bibliography page under APA. In this case, you should consult such requirements additionally.
How to order the references
The references in a bibliography under APA (7th ed.) are given in alphabetical order and are ranged by the author’s last name. The text explaining the contributor’s role (such as ‘Ed.’ or ‘Trans.’) is ignored. If several works have authors with the same last name, initials are taken into account in sorting.
If a list of references contains works of the same author, such works are ranged by date: from oldest to newest.
If several works by the same author were published in the same year, a Latin minuscule from ‘a’ to ‘z’ is added to the year of every such publication.
If a work with multiple authors has the same first author as a work with one author, the work with one author is cited first in the bibliography.
If works with multiple authors have the same first author, they are ranged by the second author’s last name.
A work without an author is listed in the bibliography by its title alphabetically, with articles (‘A’, ‘An’, ‘The’) omitted.
Work titles containing numbers should be ranged in the list of references as if they were written with words (for example, ‘500’ = ‘five hundred’).
Example of listed references in a bibliography according to APA 7
Brown, P. (2017). Optics. HPress.
Evans, H. (1997). Astronomy. Stella.
Evans, H. (Ed.). (2018a). English-French dictionary of astronomy. World of Science.
Evans, H. (2018b, July 10). Ultraviolet rays and their effects. Astronomic Newspaper, 5.
Evans, H., & Barry, G. (2011). Constellations (2nd ed.). Windley.
Evans, H., & Smith, T. (2003). Space shuttles. Stella.
Evans, W. (2014). Exploration of Mars. MAN Media.
Jones, B. (n.d.-a). Saturnus. Folio.
Jones, B. (n.d.-b). A study of Jupiter. Folio.
How to range references automatically
The online citations generaor “Grafiati” allows you listing the references in you bibliography automatically in line with the requirements of APA Style and other international citation styles. To do this, go to the homepage, create your list of references, and choose “According to style” from the sorting menu.
Download your bibliography with the ‘Export’ button, and you will get a document formatted and ranged in accordance with APA style, which you can simply paste into your work!