Written and maintained by CASRAI Editorial Board
Last updated
In APA Style (7th edition), the end-of-paper list of cited works is titled References. While writers often search for an “APA format example for bibliography,” APA guidelines distinguish between a references page and a comprehensive bibliography. An APA reference list contains only the sources cited directly in the text, ensuring every citation corresponds to a full reference entry.
The reference list starts on a new page after the text. The heading References is centered and bolded at the top. The entire page is double-spaced with 1-inch margins, and each entry uses a 0.5-inch hanging indent. Entries are ordered alphabetically by the first author’s surname.
The format
APA 7th edition organizes every reference entry around four standardized elements: author, date, title, and source.
- Author (Who): Surname followed by initials (e.g.,
Smith, J. A.). For multiple authors, separate names with commas and place an ampersand (&) before the final author. For works with up to 20 authors, list all authors. For works with 21 or more authors, list the first 19, insert an ellipsis (...), and add the final author without an ampersand. - Date (When): In parentheses following the author, ending with a period:
(2024).. For works without a publication date, write(n.d.).. - Title (What): Formatted in sentence case—capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle, plus proper nouns. Standalone works (books, reports) are italicized. Works inside containers (journal articles, chapters) use Roman type without quotation marks.
- Source (Where): Publisher or container information plus a DOI or URL. For books, provide the publisher name without a location. For journal articles, provide the journal title in Title Case and italics, volume in italics, issue in parentheses (not italicized), page range, and a live DOI formatted as
https://doi.org/.... Never put a period after a DOI or URL.
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of work: Subtitle. Source. https://doi.org/xxxxxExamples
The following illustrative citations demonstrate standard APA 7th patterns for academic writing.
1. Authored Book with Edition
Publisher locations are omitted in APA 7th. The edition appears in parentheses after the italicized title.
Template: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book (edition ed.). Publisher. https://doi.org/xxxxx
Reynolds, G. K., & Alvarez, M. T. (2023). Research administration and laboratory management: A practical handbook (3rd ed.). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1000/18201
2. Journal Article with DOI
Article titles use sentence case. Periodical title and volume number are italicized; issue number is not.
Template: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Periodical Title, volume(issue), page–page. https://doi.org/xxxxx
Henderson, P. L., & Chen, W. Q. (2022). Peer-review transparency and data availability statements: An empirical analysis. Journal of Scholarly Communication, 14(2), 145–162. https://doi.org/10.1000/28405
3. Chapter in an Edited Book
List the chapter author and title first, followed by the editors (initials before surname) and page range.
Template: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. xx–xx). Publisher. https://doi.org/xxxxx
Vance, K. S. (2021). Digital repository governance and metadata curation. In D. M. Sterling (Ed.), Curating research datasets in higher education (pp. 55–78). University Research Press. https://doi.org/10.1000/39512
4. Organizational Technical Report
State the full group author. When the publisher matches the author, omit the publisher name.
Template: Group Name. (Year). Title of report (Report No. xxx). URL
National Research Oversight Council. (2024). Scientific integrity standards in automated analysis systems (Report No. 24-108). https://doi.org/10.1000/40933
In-text citation version
Every reference entry pairs with an author-date in-text citation in parenthetical or narrative format:
- Parenthetical: Author and date appear within parentheses, using an ampersand for two authors:
(Reynolds & Alvarez, 2023). Direct quotations add page numbers:(Reynolds & Alvarez, 2023, p. 45). Learn more about parenthetical citations across style guides. - Narrative: The author appears in running text with the year in parentheses, spelling out “and”:
Reynolds and Alvarez (2023) demonstrated.... - Three or more authors: Shorten from the first citation to the first author’s surname plus “et al.”:
(Sterling et al., 2021)orSterling et al. (2021).
| Author Count | Parenthetical In-Text | Narrative In-Text |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Author | (Vance, 2021) |
Vance (2021) |
| 2 Authors | (Henderson & Chen, 2022) |
Henderson and Chen (2022) |
| 3+ Authors | (Sterling et al., 2021) |
Sterling et al. (2021) |
| Organization | (National Research Oversight Council, 2024) |
National Research Oversight Council (2024) |
Common errors
Avoid these common APA reference formatting mistakes:
- Including publisher locations: Do not include cities or states for books (e.g., write “Academic Press”, not “New York: Academic Press”).
- Using Title Case for titles: Only periodicals use Title Case. Book, chapter, and article titles use sentence case.
- Outdated DOI prefixes: DOIs must be formatted as live URLs (
https://doi.org/...), not “doi:”. You can generate a formatted reference from a DOI directly. - Truncating authors at seven: List all authors up to 20; the 6th edition limit of 7 authors no longer applies.
- Periods after hyperlinks: Never add a period after a DOI or URL.
- Manual tabs for hanging indents: Use word processor paragraph settings (0.5 inches) instead of manual spacing.
Style-guide edition
This guide reflects the APA 7th edition (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed., 2020), verified on November 9, 2026. While other standards have newer manual editions—such as Chicago 18th in 2024 (see our guide to differences between Chicago style and APA) and MLA 9th in 2021—APA 7th remains the active standard for behavioral and social sciences.
When generating bibliographies in reference managers like Zotero or EndNote, always review exported entries to fix uncorrected title casing and missing DOIs.
FAQ
Is an APA bibliography called References or Bibliography?
In standard APA Style (7th edition), the page is titled References, centered and bolded. “Bibliography” is used only for comprehensive reading lists containing works not cited in text.
How do you format a hanging indent for an APA bibliography?
Highlight your citations, open your word processor’s Paragraph dialog box, select “Hanging” under Special Indentation, and set the value to 0.5 inches (or press Ctrl+T in Word).
How do you cite a source with more than 20 authors in APA 7?
List the first 19 authors separated by commas, insert an ellipsis (...), and add the final author. Do not include an ampersand before the final author.
Do you need a retrieval date for online sources in APA 7?
No retrieval date is required unless the online source is unarchived and continuously updated, such as a wiki article or real-time data dashboard.
Sources
- American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). Official instructional aids verified at https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/reference-examples.pdf (read 2026-11-09) and https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/reference-guide.pdf (read 2026-11-09).
- Purdue University Online Writing Lab. (2026). APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition): Reference List Basic Rules. Purdue OWL. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_basic_rules.html (read 2026-11-09).
- Walden University Writing Center. (2026). APA Style: Common Reference List Examples & Reference List Basics. Walden University. https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/apa/references (read 2026-11-09).
