6.4 Creating a References List
A list of references is where detailed information about the various research sources mentioned in your document are itemized. This list allows readers to learn more about your sources and use the information to validate your research. A list of references contains the author(s), year of publication, title, publication information, along with the URL for each source.
How do I set up my References list?
(Seneca Libraries, 2020)
Different citation styles use various terms to introduce their list of references, for example, Bibliography or Works Cited. APA style uses the term References.
At the end of your reports, add a list of all the sources you have cited in alphabetical order according to the author’s last name. Each reference must provide thorough and complete documentation so that readers can identify the kind of source, and retrieve it if they want to read it. It is important to use the correct conventions for each type of source, as readers familiar with academic conventions will expect this, and they will be able to tell what kinds of sources you are referencing based on what information is included and how it is formatted. If you use conventions incorrectly (such as failing to italicize or use quotation marks around titles to indicate what kind of source it is), you can confuse and mislead your readers.
Here are some general formatting guidelines for setting up your references list:
- Create a bold heading called References, aligned with the left margin. If you are using headings, make this heading consistent with other first level headings in your document.
- The author’s last name should be flush with the left margin, and the second and other lines of the entry must be formatted using the “hanging indent” function.
- Give all authors’ names (up to five), but only use the first initial. The last name of each author is written first, followed by the author’s initials. Separate names with commas, and include the ampersand (&) before the last author.
- Capitalize only the first word (and the first word after a colon, as well as proper nouns) in titles of articles within journals, magazines and newspapers, chapters in books, conference papers, and reports. Only use ALL CAPS for acronyms.
- Capitalize the first letter of all main words in the titles of books, journals, magazines and newspapers.
- Add a space between references if you single space each reference.
If you use citation software (such as Zotero, Endnote, or Mendeley) to generate a list of references, be sure to review the references it generates for any errors. These programs are not foolproof, and it is up to you to make sure your references conform to APA conventions. For example, sometimes the auto-generator will give a title in ALL CAPS or the author’s full first name. You will have to revise this. They usually do not give DOIs; you may have to add these.
Referencing Different Kinds of Sources–Examples
For detailed examples on creating References