APA 7th ed. Style Guide

Alphabetizing and Ordering Authors

What to do with...

Two authors. Same last name. Different first names. Same publication years.

Rule: Order by first initials.

Example:

• Brown, J. (2009). Ardent anteaters. Brockton.
• Brown, M. (2009). Capriciousness. Harvard.

What to do with...

Entry by author who also appears as one of many authors in another resource.

Rule: Single author appears first in list.

Example:

• Alone, A. (2008). By himself. Herald Publishers.
• Alone, A., Other, B., & Other, C. (2011). With others. Herald Publishers.

What to do with...

One author. Two publications. No dates.

Rule: Add lower case letter.

Example:

• Carlisle, M. A. (n.d.). Erin and the perfect 
• Carlisle, M. A. (n.d.-b). Perfect pitch 

(NOTE: If there is no date of publication, use n.d.)

What to do with...

Two resources. One author. Same year.

Rule: Arrange alphabetically by title and add lower case letters to the year.

Example:

• Double, C. (2008a). This is arranged alphabetically by the title. Peters.
• Double, C. (2008b). This is the second. Peters.

General guidelines for the References page

• The References page is usually the last section of the paper.
• Start the References on a new page after the body of your paper.
• The References page is called 'References' however, if only one source is used, the title should read 'Reference'.
• The title should be bolded and centered.
• Skip a line and then begin your list of references.
• Use a hanging indent for each entry. The second line of each entry should be indented 5 spaces or 1/2 inch. (See tips below.)
• All sources cited in the paper must appear on the Reference page except for
  • personal communications (such as private letters or telephone conversations) and
  • general references to whole websites. However, a specific page or item on the website must be included in the References.
• List sources in alphabetical order, beginning with the author's last name followed by their first initial.

Example:

Smith, J.

Example (book or eBook, no DOI):

Smith, A. (2012). Citing sources and getting the grade. Great Publishers.

This example refers to in-text citations such as:

• In text quotation: He wrote, “It is important to cite sources” (Smith, 2012, p. 12).
• In text paraphrase: Good grades can be achieved through creating proposals (Smith, 2012).

Word document set up tip:

To create hanging indent spacing In Microsoft Word:

• highlight your reference entries
• right click
• choose Paragraph
• set your indentation to “Hanging” (See screen shot below.)