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Tertiary Access Course Guide: Reference Lists

Reference list

The reference list contains the full details of the sources you have referred to in-text. See the Reference List page of the APA 7th Referencing Guide for more information.

Setting out the reference list

Notes on the layout for your reference list:

Layout of page:

  • The reference list starts on a new page, after your assignment and before any appendices. Place the word References, centered, at the top of the page. APA does not require other formatting for the title of your reference page (like bold or underlined).
  • Each entry in the reference list has a hanging indent, so that the first line of the entry is flush with the left margin, but all other lines are indented (this is the opposite of the paragraph structure in the body of your essay). You can do this easily by selecting your references, and pressing Ctrl + T on a PC, or Command (⌘) + T on a Mac.

Order of references:

  • For APA the reference list is arranged in alphabetical order of authors' surnames.
  • Arrange by first author's name, then by second author if you have the same first author, etc. (check the page on Authors for how to set out the reference if you have more than one author).
  • If there are two references by the same author, list them in order of publication date with the older one first.
  • If references by the same author have been published in the same year, list them alphabetically by title. Letters a, b, etc. are placed after the year, e.g. (2001a), (2001b). For example:

Queensland Health. (2017a). Five things you might not know about asthma. https://www.health.qld.gov.au/news-alerts/news/5-things-you-might-not-know-about-asthma

Queensland Health (2017b). Managing your asthma symptoms. https://www.health.qld.gov.au/news-alerts/news/managing-asthma-symptoms

  •  If a reference has no author, list it alphabetically according to the title. Ignore the words 'A', 'An' and 'The' at the beginning of a corporate author or title for deciding where it fits alphabetically.

Format of titles:

  • APA uses sentence case for all titles except for journal titles. ie. Begin each title and subtitle with a capital letter, as well as any proper nouns, eg. names of people, countries etc.

Sample reference list

References

Boudville, A. I., Anjou, M. D., & Taylor, H. R. (2013). Improving eye care for Indigenous Australians in primary health care settings. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 21(2), 121-127.

Hendriks, J. M. L., & Fabritz, L. (2019). AI can now identify atrial fibrillation through sinus rhythm. The Lancet, 394(10201), 812-813. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31719-2

Hou, Y., Zhao, A., Feng, Y., Cui, X., Wang, L., & Wang, L. (2014). Nurses' knowledge and attitudes on comfort nursing care for hospitalized patients. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 20(6), 573 - 578. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijn.12200

Ng, A. W., & Sage, S. (2017). Igniting the potential of wound care champions. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Journal, 24(8), 38-39.

McMaster, R. (2018). If the fourth industrial revolution relevant to you? Nursing & Health Sciences, 20(2), 139-141. https://doi.org/10.1111/nhs.12542

Pollack, M. E. (2005). Intelligent technology for an aging population: The use of AI to assist elders with cognitive impairment. AI Magazine, 26(2), 9-24.

How to reference a journal article using APA 7th

Reference journal article using APA 7th animation

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