F.I.R.S.T. Tutorial

Chapter Eight: Citing Your Sources
In this chapter: Understanding why citing sources is important; knowing when to cite; learning how to cite a book and journal article in APA and MLA styles

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Reference List in APA style

The reference list appears at the end of your paper, and consists of citations for all the books, articles, websites and other sources you cited in the text of your paper.

  • Begin your reference list on its own page.
  • In the header, give the first two or three words of the paper title, and a page number.
  • Type the word References centered, at the top of the page.
  • Number the pages of the reference list continuously with the rest of your paper.
  • The entries in the list of works cited are alphabetized by author's last name. An entry with no author is alphabetized by title (ignoring "a", "an", and "the").
  • Double-space your list of works cited.


Each citation is done in a hanging indent style, where the first line is flush with the left-hand margin and subsequent lines are indented one-half inch.

Here's an example of a reference list in APA style: