APA Style (6th ed.) Resource For Your Bibliography Page
This resource includes nearly everything you need to know to create an APA Style formatted bibliography page for your research paper. The author was as exhaustive as possible to combine information from several sources to make creating an APA formatted bibliography simple.
This wiki is a compilation of multiple resources that were combined for ease of use. A listing of sources of information used by the author to create this wiki concludes the document. This wiki is for educational purposes only and created for a course project on educational wikis.
What is APA formatting?
APA formatting or APA style is a specific way in which to organize a written document that was created by the American Psychology Association. APA style is used across several disciplines however it is most abundantly used in the social and behavioral sciences. The APA style guide is currently on its 6th edition and may be purchased here from Amazon. Other retailers and university bookstores will most likely carry the APA style guide as well.
Overall Page Formatting
Before you start to add references take a moment to correctly format the overall page or document starting with the margins and spacing. These are general formatting requirements for the entire document including the bibliography page.
Margins
Left Margin = 1 inch
Right Margin = 1 inch
Top Margin = 1 inch
Bottom Margin = 1 inch
Headers & Footers
Headers & Footers should be 0.5 inches from the edge of the document
APA style requires a different header on the first page of your document as compared to the other pages of the document. Be sure to format the document for a "Different first page" in the document formatting.
The secondary Running Head will be included on the bibliography page the same as all preceding page except for the first page. Click here for additional information on the running head.
Paragraph
Paragraphs need to be aligned to the left.
The entire document including the bibliography should be double spaced. Specifically, all references are double-spaced within and between references. Therefore, do not add extra blank lines between entries.
Insert a page number by adding automatic page numbers in the header
Paragraphs should be indented.
Text Formatting
Font
APA style requires the use of Times New Roman font throughout the document including the header.
Capitalize the first word of the article title and subtitle as well as any proper nouns.
Italicize the journal title and volume number.
List
The reference list in an APA Style (6th ed.) bibliography page is NOT a numbered or bulleted list (see examples below).
The list should be in alphabetical order by author's last name.
How to Create a Hanging Indent
One of the most frustrating aspects of the APA style can be the hanging indent if you are unfamiliar with how to format it in your specific word processing application. Many students attempt to use the tab key or space key which is incorrect, inefficient, and looks different from a correctly formatted hanging indent.
Though different word processors will vary here is one video example of how to create a Hanging Indent
Other Formatting Specific to APA Style
Hyphen vs. En Dashes
In APA style an en dash is used between a range of page numbers in a reference on a bibliography page as opposed to a regular hyphen. You may insert an en dash via special symbols.
Mac Users
It's difficult at times to find resources for Mac users. Here is a great APA style video reference for MS Word for Mac.
Information Required for Print Sources
The information below is required for all print sources in APA format.
Author(s) name
Title of the publication
Title of the article
Date of the publication
The place of publication of a book
The publishing company of a book
The volume number of a magazine or printed encyclopedia
Page numbers
Information Required for Web Sources
Author and editor names (if available)
Title of the page (if available)
The company or organization that posted the webpage
The web address (URL) for the page
The last date you looked at the page
Examples of a Completed Bibliography Page in APA Style (6th ed.)
APA Style (6th ed.) Resource For Your Bibliography Page
This resource includes nearly everything you need to know to create an APA Style formatted bibliography page for your research paper. The author was as exhaustive as possible to combine information from several sources to make creating an APA formatted bibliography simple.This wiki is a compilation of multiple resources that were combined for ease of use. A listing of sources of information used by the author to create this wiki concludes the document. This wiki is for educational purposes only and created for a course project on educational wikis.
What is APA formatting?
APA formatting or APA style is a specific way in which to organize a written document that was created by the American Psychology Association. APA style is used across several disciplines however it is most abundantly used in the social and behavioral sciences. The APA style guide is currently on its 6th edition and may be purchased here from Amazon. Other retailers and university bookstores will most likely carry the APA style guide as well.Overall Page Formatting
Before you start to add references take a moment to correctly format the overall page or document starting with the margins and spacing. These are general formatting requirements for the entire document including the bibliography page.Margins
Headers & Footers
Paragraph
Text Formatting
Font
List
How to Create a Hanging Indent
One of the most frustrating aspects of the APA style can be the hanging indent if you are unfamiliar with how to format it in your specific word processing application. Many students attempt to use the tab key or space key which is incorrect, inefficient, and looks different from a correctly formatted hanging indent.Other Formatting Specific to APA Style
Hyphen vs. En Dashes
In APA style an en dash is used between a range of page numbers in a reference on a bibliography page as opposed to a regular hyphen. You may insert an en dash via special symbols.Mac Users
It's difficult at times to find resources for Mac users. Here is a great APA style video reference for MS Word for Mac.Information Required for Print Sources
The information below is required for all print sources in APA format.Information Required for Web Sources
Examples of a Completed Bibliography Page in APA Style (6th ed.)
APA Style (6th ed.) Template for MS Word
References
American Psychology AssociationAPA Style
Purdue University Online Writing Lab
Science Buddies
Wikipedia - APA
Wikipedia - APA Style
Wikipedia - En Dash
Youtube - APA Format in Word for Mac
Youtube - Hanging Indent