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APA Formatting and Style Guide 7th Edition : Reference List

Learn how to format your paper in APA, according to the American Psychology Association and Purdue Owl.

Reference List

Reference List Tips

Reference List Examples for Electronic Sources from Purdue Owl. 

  • Sources need to be in alphabetical order on the last page of your paper, titled, References in Bold. Each source needs to match your in-text citation, double spaced, and have a hanging indent.
  • Journal articles from online academic databases without a DOI are referenced as print versions.  "Do not include the database name or URL. See Section 9.30 for more...information..." (APA 7th Edition Manual, 2020, 10.1 Periodicals section, p. 317).
  • Journal article without a DOI that is not from a research database includes an URL and only include retrieval date when it is not the original source.
    • Example: Retrieved April 4, 2021, from https://ajot.aota.org/index.aspx
  • Do not include "Retrieved from" before a URL on Reference List unless source is unarchived--see APA manual for details.
    • Example: Price, D. (2018, March 23). Laziness does not exist. Medium. https://humanparts.medium.com/laziness-does-not-exist-3af27e312d01
  • Does your article have a DOI? Find out at Crossref.org