OmniDocAPA Reference Format: Rules and Examples
Learn the APA 7th edition rules for a reference list, including hanging indents, sort order, italics and DOI links, with examples you can copy.
A reference list that looks almost right can still get marked down. The usual problems are small: a missing period, italics in the wrong place, an indent that stops after the first line, or an entry that is never cited in the text. This guide covers the APA 7th edition rules for the reference list itself, with examples you can copy for journal articles, books and webpages.
This page stays on the reference list. For margins, headings, title pages and other thesis layout rules, use a broader thesis-formatting guide. The sections below focus on how each entry is built and how the whole page is laid out.
You will get a clear layout you can apply in Word, a set of example entries for common source types, and a checklist to run before you submit. Start with the short answer below, then work through the steps.
What is the reference format for APA 7th edition? The short answer
Put the reference list on a new page after the body text, sort entries alphabetically by first author, and give every entry a hanging indent. Each entry follows the pattern author, year, title and source details, with italics applied to the parts APA specifies.
| Your situation | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You cite a journal article | Give author, year, article title in sentence case, journal name and volume in italics, page range, and a DOI link | APA treats the journal and volume as the container for the article |
| You cite a book | Give author, year, book title in italics, edition if not the first, and publisher | Italics mark the book as a standalone work |
| You cite a webpage | Give author or organization, date, page title in italics, site name if different from the author, and the URL | Readers need the page and its origin to find it |
| You have more than one work by the same author | Sort by year, oldest first, and add a letter (2023a, 2023b) when two works share a year | Order and suffixes keep entries distinct |
| You have an entry with no author | Move the title to the author position and sort by the first word of the title, skipping A, An and The | Alphabetical order still needs a starting point |
Before you start
Check these items before you format anything. Each one saves you a rewrite later.
- Confirm every source is cited in the text. A reference list should contain only works you cited. If an entry has no in-text citation, either add a citation where it fits or remove the entry. A reference list with extra entries signals sloppy editing.
- Collect the full details for each source. Find the author names, year, title, journal volume and issue, page range and DOI, or the page date and site name. Going back to a source later often costs more time than gathering the details once.
- Use the original source for names and numbers. If your references came from a scanned PDF, read them through the original source or the PDF itself. Scanned text can misread author names, years and page numbers, so verify those fields before you trust them.
- Decide on your word-processing file. Format the reference list in the editable file you write in, usually a .docx. Hanging indents and italics are much easier to keep consistent in an editable document than in a flattened PDF.
- Know whether your course or publisher has its own rules. Some programs ask for specific layout details or a different treatment of retrieval dates. When an instruction conflicts with this guide, follow the instruction and keep the rest of the APA format.
Formatting the reference list in Word, step by step
OmniDoc's Word editing can help you apply the layout across the whole reference list. The steps below assume you have a .docx draft. OmniDoc does not check APA rules for you, so you still need to review each entry yourself.
- Start the reference page. Place the cursor at the end of the last body page, insert a page break, and type "References" at the top. Center it and make it bold, with no italics or quotation marks.
- Sort the entries. Put the entries in alphabetical order by the first author's surname. For works with the same first author, sort by year, oldest first. For entries with no author, sort by the title and ignore A, An and The.
- Write each entry in the APA pattern. Build each one as author, year in parentheses, title and source details. Each entry ends with a period, except when the DOI or URL is the last element.
- Apply the italics and capitalization rules. Use sentence case for article and book titles. Italicize the journal name and the volume number for journal articles, and italicize the book title or webpage title. Do not italicize the article title.
- Set the page spacing and indent. Apply double spacing to the whole reference list. Then select all the entries and set a hanging indent of 0.5 inch, so the first line sits at the margin and every following line is indented.
- Add DOIs and URLs. Paste each DOI as a full link that begins with the https prefix, copied from the source's own record. Leave out the "Retrieved from" phrase unless the page content is likely to change and you need to record when you read it.
- Export or save the document. Save the .docx first. If you need a PDF for submission, export from the editable file rather than editing the PDF directly, because adjusting indents in a PDF is unreliable. If you spot a typo in an existing PDF, the PDF editor can edit paragraph text in place.
For a browser-based round trip, you can open the file in the UniDoc web editor, apply the layout there, and export it back to Word.
Example entries for common source types
These examples follow APA 7th edition. Replace the sample names, titles and numbers with your own details. Text in square brackets stands in for the full DOI link or page URL you copy from your source.
A journal article with a DOI:
Okafor, A. B., & Lin, M. (2021). Sentence-level revision habits in graduate writing. Journal of Academic Writing, 14(2), 88–104. [full DOI link]
A book:
Ruiz, C. (2019). Measuring learning in small classrooms (2nd ed.). Harbor Press.
A webpage:
Maddox Public Library. (2023, March 14). Citation help for local history projects. Maddox Public Library. [full page URL]
A journal article with no DOI, which ends with the page range:
Patel, S. (2018). Revising the revision process. Writing Studies Review, 9(4), 210–226.
Notice that the article titles use sentence case, while the journal names use title case. Journal names and volume numbers are italic, and the issue number in parentheses is not.
Check the result
Once you have the finished reference list, go through it entry by entry. The table below covers the checks that catch most problems.
| Check | How to see it | If it's wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Hanging indent | Each entry's first line sits at the margin and later lines are indented 0.5 inch | Select all entries together and reapply the indent so the setting is consistent |
| Alphabetical order | Read the first word of each entry down the page | Move the entry to the correct position and check the spelling of the author's surname |
| Italics | Select the journal name and volume, then the book or webpage title | Remove italics from article titles and add them to the journal name and volume only |
| Sentence case | Compare article and book titles with the rule | Lowercase all words except the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns |
| DOI format | Each DOI appears as a full link that begins with the https prefix and opens the source | Replace any shortened or outdated DOI address and remove "Retrieved from" phrases |
| Citation match | Each in-text citation has a matching entry, and each entry is cited | Add the missing citation or entry, or delete the unused entry |
If you find a mismatch between your text and your list, fix the source of the error rather than just the entry. For example, a wrong year in the text usually means the entry also needs a check.
❓ FAQ
1. Is a citation page the same as a reference list?
Yes, in APA style the page is called "References." People searching for a citation page usually mean this page. A bibliography can include sources you read but did not cite, while an APA reference list includes only works cited in the text.
2. What changed from the APA 6th edition?
APA 7th edition lists up to 20 authors in an entry, instead of six. It no longer includes the publisher's location for books. DOIs are written as full links with the https prefix, and "Retrieved from" is generally omitted unless the content is likely to change.
3. How do I include a webpage with no clear author?
Move the page title into the author position, then add the date and site name. Sort the entry by the first word of the title, skipping A, An and The. If there is no date, use "n.d." in its place.
4. Does the reference list go before or after the appendices?
The reference list comes before the appendices. Start each appendix on its own page after the reference list.
📝 Summary
A correct APA 7th edition reference list depends on three things: a hanging indent on every entry, alphabetical order by first author, and italics applied only where APA requires them. Work through the steps in Word, then run the checks table on the finished page before you submit.
