When formatting the APA reference list, the following guidelines should be followed:

1. Start the reference list on a new page after the main body of the paper.
2. Use the heading "References" centered at the top of the page and bolded.
3. List all sources in alphabetical order by the author's last name. If there is no author, use the title of the source.
4. Use a hanging indent for each reference, where the first line is flush left, and subsequent lines are indented by 0.5 inches (or 1.27 cm).
5. Include all necessary information for each source, following the specific format for different source types (e.g., books, journal articles, websites, etc.).
6. Use italics for titles of books, journals, and other longer works. Only capitalize the first word of the title and any proper nouns.
7. For journal articles, include the volume number (in italics) and issue number (in parentheses) after the journal title.
8. For electronic sources, provide a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) if available. If a DOI is not available, include the URL or a stable URL (permalink) for the source.

Please see these additional pages in this guide regarding citing sources:

• For information on what to cite and in-text citations, see In-text Citations
• For information on what to include in your Reference page, see Reference List Basics
• For information on how to format specific types of References, see References Page

(Please check Sample Student Paper page 10.)

APA style requires the References page to use a hanging indent.  A hanging indent has the first line of each reference flush with the left margin and each line underneath indented by .5 inches.  The easiest way to do this is to write your references without indentation, then select them all and change them all to a hanging indent.  Do not use the [tab] key or space bar to create the illusion of a hanging indent.

How to create a hanging indent in Microsoft Word:

1. Write all of your references without using any indentation (remember, the references are all double-spaced, and the reference page has a heading of "References," bolded and centered, at the top of the page)
2. Select all of your references
3. Click the small arrow to open the Paragraph Settings window
4. In the Indentation section, click the Special drop-down menu
5. Select Hanging
6. Confirm the indentation amount is set to .5 (this is usually the default)
7. Click Ok

How to create a hanging indent in Google Docs:

1. Write all of your references without using any indentation (remember, the references are all double-spaced, and the reference page has a heading of "References," bolded and centered, at the top of the page)
2. Select all of your references
3. Click Format
4. Hover over Align & Indent, then click Indentation Options
5. Click the Special drop-down menu
6. Select Hanging
7. Click in the box that appears next to Hanging and type .5
8. Click Apply