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Reference Page Basics
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Begin the reference list on a new page after the main body of the paper.
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Place the section label "References" in bold at the top of the page, centered.
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All sources listed on the reference page must be cited somewhere in the paper.
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Order references alphabetically by author’s last name (or article title if there is no author).
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Double-space the reference list.
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Format sources using a hanging indent: First line is flush left, all other lines are indented. In Microsoft Word: Go to the Home tab > Paragraph group settings (click on the small arrow at the bottom right) > in the “Special” drop down menu, select “Hanging indent”
*** Remember: Each source listed on the reference page must correspond to at least one in-text citation in the body of the paper; each in-text citation must correspond to a source listed on the reference page.
Authors
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List authors in the order they appear in the original source.
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Spell out each author’s last name. Use initials for first and middle names.
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Be aware that an organization (e.g., National Institutes of Health) or a company (e.g., Amazon Web Services, Inc.) can be an author.
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If a source has no author, begin the reference with the title of the source.
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Sources with 20 or fewer authors: List all authors.
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Sources with 21 or more authors: List first 19 authors, add three ellipses ( . . . ), add last author.
Article, book, and chapter titles
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Capitalize ONLY the first word in the title and subtitle (the word that follows a colon or dash).
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Capitalize proper nouns in the title.
Date
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If a source has no date, use (n.d.) –no date – in place of the date.
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