1

Creating Your Reference List

The basic pattern for a reference list is:

Author Year of publication Title of work* Publication data

*Tip: For titles of works, capitalize only the first word, the word after a colon or a dash, and proper nouns. Follow
this APA rule even if the original source you consulted shows the title with capital letters on all major words.

Here are examples of common types of sources:

Book ↓ author ↓ year published ↓ book edition ↓ publisher

(with McWhorter, K. (2010). Academic reading (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Longman.
edition
↑ book title ↑ place published
stated)
Webpage
↓ author ↓ year published ↓ webpage title ↓ date you viewed the webpage
on website
Sah, P. (2018). Study habits for success: Tips for students. Retrieved August 23,
2019, from http://theconversation.com/study-habits-for-success-tips
for-students-89147
↑ URL for the webpage

How to Create a Reference List Entry

1. Look at your source, and ask yourself, “What type of source is it?”
Is it a book? An article? A webpage? A report? For online sources, this can be a tricky question to answer.
If you are unsure, ask your teacher for help.

2. Find the corresponding section in the Reference Examples pages of this guide (pp. 3-6). For example, if
your source is a website article, go to section C on page 5

3. Follow the following formatting details in each example closely (e.g., italics, punctuation, capitalization).

Rules

1. Start your reference list on a new page Include only sources cited in your paper*
2. Put entries in alphabetical order, according to the first letter of the entry
3. URL with a hyperlink or without; just be consistent
4. Start each new entry at the left margin
5. Use a ½-inch hanging indent for subsequent lines of an entry → Tip for PC users: Ctrl+t)
6. Use publisher name only → MacMillan Publishers Ltd.
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Example Reference List

References
Alberta Social Services and Community Health. (2005). Breaking the pattern: Understanding wife abuse.
Edmonton, Canada: Author.
Ancient tool makers discovered fire treatment. (2009, August 13). The Globe and Mail.
Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Arnold, A. (1985). Afghanistan: The Soviet invasion in perspective (Rev. ed.). Retrieved
from http://books.google.com/
Bohren, M. A., Hofmeyr, G. J., Sakala, C., Fukuzawa, R. K., & Cuthbert, A. (2017). Continuous support for
women during childbirth. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2017(7).
https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858
.CD003766.pub6
Brandt, F. (Producer), & Messina, P. F. (Director). (1995). Too smart for strangers [Motion picture].
Burbank, CA: Walt Disney Home Video.
Canadian Nurses Association. (2017). Code of ethics for registered nurses. Retrieved from https://www.cna
-aiic.ca/html/en/Code-of-Ethics-2017-Edition/files/assets/basic-html/page-
1.html Cell division. (2008). In E. Martin & R. Hine (Eds.), Dictionary of biology.
Retrieved from
http://www.oxfordreference.com
Downing, L., Carter, J. C., & McManus, T. (2007). Students in our midst. Toronto, Canada: Doubleday.
Family Counselling Centre. (2003). Dealing with a delinquent student [Brochure]. Calgary, Canada:
Author. Fung, M. (2006, December 12). Asthma rates increasing. Winnipeg Free Press, pp. C4, C7−C8.
Kallai, J., Makany, T., Csatho, A., Karadi, K., Horvath, D., Kovacs-Labadi, B., . . . Jacobs, J. W. (2007). Cognitive
and affective aspects of thigmotaxis strategy in humans. Behavioral Neuroscience, 121, 21−30.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7044.121.1.21
Klein, N. (2002). The new apartheid [Review of the book We are the poor: Community struggles in post-
apartheid South Africa, by A. Desai]. Nation, 275, 25−28.

Kushner, K. E., & Jackson, M. (2019). Health and wellness. In B. J. Astle et al. (Eds.), Canadian
fundamentals of nursing (6th ed., pp. 1–17). Milton, Canada: Elsevier Canada.
O’Brien-Pallas, L., Hiroz, J., Cook, A., & Mildon, B. (2005). Nurse-physician relationships: Solutions
and recommendations for change. Retrieved from http://deslibris.ca
Sah, P. (2018). Study habits for success: Tips for students. Retrieved August 23, 2018,
from https://theconversation.com/study-habits-for-success-tips-for-students-
89147
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Reference Examples

A. Books
REMEMBER: For book titles, capitalize only the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns.

A1. Book: 1 author, no edition

Johnston, M. (2009). Perspective, persistence, and learning. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.

NOTE: For U.S. publications, use the city followed by the two-letter abbreviation
for the state.
A2. Book, 2 authors, edition
Downing, L., Carter, J. C., & McManus, T. (2007). Students in our
stated
midst. Toronto, Canada: Doubleday.
NOTE: For non-U.S. publications, use the city followed by the country.
A3. Translation: English Mancusa, S., & Viola, A. (2015). Brilliant green: The surprising history and science
translation of non-English of plant intelligence (J. Benham, Trans.). Washington, DC: Island Press.
book
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B. Articles: Newspapers & Magazines

B1. Newspaper article, with

Harris, M. (2011, August 16). Grades improve if classes start later, studs find.
author, on the web
The Calgary Herald. Retrieved from https://calgaryherald.com/

B2. Newspaper article, author Ancient tool makers discovered fire treatment. (2009, August 13). The Globe
unknown on the web and Mail. Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

B3. News story on media Raccoon in Banff eludes Parks Canada staff. (2017, October 28). Retrieved
website, author unknown (e.g., from http://www.cbc.ca/news/Canada/Calgary/Banff-national-park-
BBC, CNN, CBC) raccoon-1.4377055

B4. Magazine article author, Singer, P. (2011, August). Visible man: Ethics in a world without secrets.
print version Harper’s Magazine, 323(1935), 31-36.

B5. Magazine article with Wells, P. (2009, July 28). Our universities can be smarter. Maclean’s,
author, web version 122(29/30). Retrieved from https://www.macleans.ca/
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C. Websites

C1. Webpage on website Sah, P. (2018). Study habits for success: Tips for students. Retrieved
with author
August 23, 2018, from http://theconversation.com/study-
habits-for-success-tips-for-students-89147

NOTE: A retrieval date is required because the content of a webpage can change
over time.
C2. Webpage on website, World Health Organization. (n.d.). Electromagnetic fields (EMF): Research
group or corporate
agenda. Retrieved July 17, 2018, from http://www.who.int/peh-
author, no date
emf/research/agenda/en/
NOTE: For an organization with an acronym, write its name in full on the
reference list, and do not include its acronym (APA Style Blog, October 28,
2015).
C3. Document on a website, Canadian Nurses Association. (2017). Code of ethics for registered nurses.
group or corporate author
Retrieved from https://www.cna-aiic.ca/html/en/Code-of-Ethics-2017-
Edition/files/assets/basic-html/page
-1.html
NOTE: A retrieval date is not required because the content of documents (e.g.,
PDFs) posted to a website is not likely to change.
C4. Multiple pages from a single The Mustard Seed. (n.d.-a). About us. Retrieved May 30, 2019, from
website, same author, same https://theseed.ca/about-us/
year
The Mustard Seed. (n.d.-b). Services. Retrieved May 30, 2019, from

https://theseed.ca/services/ The Mustard Seed. (n.d.-c). Take action.

Retrieved May 30, 2019, from https://theseed.ca/takeD-action/

NOTE: You need a separate entry for each individual webpage on a website. Put
the entries in alphabetical order by the title of the page (e.g., “About us”), and
add a, b, c… to the year (e.g., 2017a). If the year is not known, then insert a
hyphen after n.d. (i.e., n.d.-a). An example of an in-text citation for the first entry
above would be
(The Mustard Seed, n.d.-a, “30 Years,” para. 3).
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D. Other Kinds of Information Sources

D1. Image on a website, with Mylayne, J.-L. (2017). Together [Photograph]. Retrieved from
photographer, date, and
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/273229?locale=en&page=1&
title
with_images=true
NOTE: Use the same format for a painting but change to [Painting].
Check if your instructor wants a parenthetical citation or a figure note under
the image (see Chapter 5.21 of the
APA Manual). Also, use images for which the creator has
given permission. Consult the MRU Copyright guide for
more information: http://libguides.mtroyal.ca/copyright
D2. Image on a website, [Photo of Mount Royal University personal trainer with client]. (n.d.).
no photographer, no title, no
date Retrieved July 2, 2019, from
https://www.mtroyal.ca/CampusServices/Recreation/PersonalT
raining/index.htm

NOTE: If the image does not have a title, begin the citation with a
description in brackets [ ] of the image.
D3. Image from an online article Frare, T. (1990). David Kirby on his deathbed, Ohio, 1990
[Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://time.com/3503000/behind-the-picure-the-photo-that-
changed-the-face-of-aids/

D4. Audio or video podcast Luksic, N., & Howell, T. (Producers). (2017, July 10). The open mind: Are
‘unconscious’ patients more conscious that we think? [Audio
podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/the-open-
mind-are-unconscious-patients-more-conscious-than
-we-think-1.3564615
D5. Blog post Webber, S. (2007, July 11). Survey of plagiarism penalties [Blog post].
Retrieved from http://information-
literacy.blogspot.com/2007/07/this-was-published-last-month-
tennant
-p.html
D8 TED Talk, author known Anholt, S. (2014, June 23). Which country does the most good for the world?
Retrieved from
www.ted.com/talks/simon_anholt_which_country_does_the_most_go
od_for_the_world

NOTE: The author is the person(s) giving the TED talk. For the in-text citation when you are
quoting the speech, include the timestamp in place of a page number, e.g., The policy
advisor stated that “these governments are cultural psychopaths” (Anholt, 2014, 5:15).