APA Reference Page Format
The reference page is where markers look first — and where easy points are lost. The good news: APA reference page formatting follows a handful of mechanical rules. Get these right and your list will look professional every time.
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Open the Citation GeneratorPage setup rules
- New page after the end of your text, before any tables or appendices.
- Heading: the single word References, centered and bold, at the top. (Not "Bibliography" or "Works Cited".)
- Double-spacing throughout — within and between entries, no extra blank lines.
- Hanging indent: first line of each entry flush left, every following line indented 0.5 inch (1.27 cm).
- Same font as the rest of the paper (e.g., 12 pt Times New Roman or 11 pt Calibri).
In Word or Google Docs, select the entries and choose Paragraph → Indentation → Special → Hanging. Never build the indent with spaces or tabs.
Alphabetical order rules
- Sort by the first author's last name, letter by letter. "Nothing precedes something": Brown, J. comes before Browning, A.
- No author? Alphabetize by the first significant word of the title (ignore A, An, The).
- Same first author, different co-authors: the shorter entry comes first, then alphabetize by the second author.
- Same author(s), different years: earliest year first. Same author, same year: alphabetize by title and add letters (2020a, 2020b).
What belongs on the reference page
Every source cited in your text — and only sources cited in your text. Two exceptions never get reference entries: personal communications (interviews, emails — cited in text only) and whole websites mentioned in passing.
Sample reference list
Final checklist
- ☐ Every in-text citation has a matching reference (and vice versa)
- ☐ "References" heading — bold, centered
- ☐ Alphabetical order, hanging indents, double-spaced
- ☐ Italics on book titles, journal names, and volume numbers
- ☐ Sentence case for article/book titles; Title Case for journal names
- ☐ DOIs formatted as https://doi.org/... links
Setting up the page in Word and Google Docs
In Microsoft Word: select your references → Home → Paragraph dialog → Special: Hanging → 0.5". Set Line spacing to Double and remove Space After Paragraph. In Google Docs: Format → Align & indent → Indentation options → Special: Hanging → 0.5. Both editors keep the setting as you add entries, so format once and keep pasting citations from the generator.
References vs. Bibliography vs. Works Cited
The names are style-specific, not interchangeable: APA uses References (only cited sources), Chicago uses Bibliography (may include background reading), MLA uses Works Cited. Handing in an APA paper titled "Bibliography" is a small error that graders notice immediately.