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APA Citation Page Example: References & In-Text

APA Citation Page Example: References & In-Text
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    APA Citation Page Example: In APA 7th edition, the citation page is titled References, centered and bold on a new page. Entries are alphabetized by author surname, double-spaced, and formatted with a half-inch hanging indent on every line after the first.

    Every rule and example on this page follows the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition (2020) — the current standard for APA student and professional papers.

    What does an APA citation page look like?

    An APA citation page is a standalone References list at the end of your paper. The word References sits centered and bold at the top; entries follow in alphabetical order by the first author’s surname. Each entry uses a hanging indent, and the whole list is double-spaced with no extra space between entries.

    The list starts on a fresh page after your body text. Keep the same one-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman (or another approved font), and running page number used throughout the paper. Do not number or bullet the entries.

    Element APA 7th edition rule
    Page title References — centered, bold, top of page
    Order Alphabetical by first author’s last name
    Spacing Double-spaced throughout, no blank lines between entries
    Indent Hanging indent of 0.5 inch on lines 2+
    Author names Surname, then initials; up to 20 authors listed
    Titles Sentence case for articles/books; journal names in title case and italics

    What are the parts of one APA reference?

    A single APA reference entry has four core elements in a fixed order: author, date, title, and source. Online works add a DOI or URL at the end. The colour-coded example below breaks a real journal article into those pieces.

    APA 7th edition journal article reference
    Grady, J. S., Her, M., Moreno, G., Perez, C., & Yelinek, J. (2019). Emotions in storybooks: A comparison of storybooks that represent ethnic and racial groups in the United States. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8(3), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000185
    • Author — surname then initials; ampersand before the final author
    • Date — publication year in parentheses, followed by a period
    • Title — article title in sentence case, not italicized
    • Source — italic journal name, volume(issue), page range
    • DOI — formatted as a clickable https link, no period after

    APA reference examples for common sources

    The template stays the same, but each source type fills the four elements differently. Below are copy-ready APA 7th edition examples for the sources students cite most. Italics are shown for titles that require them.

    BookKabat-Zinn, J. (2013). Full catastrophe living: Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain, and illness (Rev. ed.). Bantam Books.

    Journal articleMcCauley, S. M., & Christiansen, M. H. (2019). Language learning as language use: A cross-linguistic model of child language development. Psychological Review, 126(1), 1–51. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000126

    WebsiteCenters for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, April 24). People who are at higher risk for severe illness. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/

    Newspaper (online)Roberts, S. (2020, April 9). Early string ties us to Neanderthals. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/science/neanderthals-string-fiber.html

    Edited book chapterAron, L., Botella, M., & Lubart, T. (2019). Culinary arts: Talent and their development. In R. F. Subotnik, P. Olszewski-Kubilius, & F. C. Worrell (Eds.), The psychology of high performance (pp. 345–359). American Psychological Association.

    YouTube videoHarvard University. (2019, August 28). Soft robotic gripper for jellyfish [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guRoWTYfxMs

    How do APA in-text page citations work?

    APA in-text citations use the author–date system, and a page number is required for any direct quotation. Write the page number with the abbreviation p. for one page or pp. for a range, placed after the year inside the parentheses.

    Paraphrases do not require a page number, though APA encourages one to help readers locate the passage. Both parenthetical and narrative formats are valid:

    • Parenthetical quote: (Grady et al., 2019, p. 210)
    • Narrative quote: Grady et al. (2019) noted the pattern (p. 210).
    • Page range: (McCauley & Christiansen, 2019, pp. 12–14)
    • No page numbers (web): use a paragraph number — (CDC, 2020, para. 3)

    Two authors are joined with an ampersand inside parentheses and with “and” in running text. Three or more authors use the first author’s name plus et al. from the very first citation.

    APA References page formatting rules

    Consistent mechanics separate a clean APA citation page from a marked-down one. These rules apply to every entry regardless of source type.

    Situation What to do
    Multiple works, same author Order by year, earliest first
    Same author, same year Add letters: 2019a, 2019b, ordered by title
    No author Alphabetize by the work’s title
    No date Use (n.d.) in the date position
    21+ authors List first 19, an ellipsis, then the final author
    DOI vs. URL Prefer a DOI; use a URL only when no DOI exists

    Do not add “Retrieved from” before URLs unless the content is designed to change and has no archived version. Access dates are needed only for such unstable pages, like a live wiki entry.

    How accurate is this guide, and its limits

    Every example here is drawn from or modeled on the official APA 7th edition manual and Style and Grammar Guidelines, so the formatting is reliable for current student and professional papers. That said, a guide cannot replace your instructor’s brief.

    Some programs still require APA 6th edition, which formats titles, DOIs, and running heads differently. Journals and universities also publish house-style overrides — for example, requiring access dates or a specific font. When your assignment sheet and this page disagree, follow the assignment. Automated tools, including our generator, can misread incomplete source metadata, so always proofread capitalization, italics, and author order against the original source.

    APA citation page FAQ

    What is the APA citation page called?

    It is called the References page. The title appears centered and bold at the top; APA does not use the terms “Bibliography” or “Works Cited,” which belong to other styles.

    Do all APA references need a hanging indent?

    Yes. Every reference uses a 0.5-inch hanging indent, meaning the first line is flush left and all following lines are indented. This applies to all source types on the References page.

    When do I include a page number in an APA citation?

    Include a page number for every direct quotation, using p. or pp. after the year. Page numbers are optional but encouraged for paraphrases to help readers locate the source material.

    How are entries ordered on an APA References page?

    Entries are alphabetized by the first author’s surname. Works with no author are alphabetized by title, and multiple works by one author are ordered from earliest to most recent year.

    Is the References page double-spaced?

    Yes. The entire References list is double-spaced with no extra blank lines between entries, matching the spacing used in the body of the paper.

    What if a source has no date?

    Use (n.d.), the abbreviation for “no date,” in the position where the year would normally appear, both in the reference entry and in the in-text citation.