RTM 300: Recreation and Community Development

View the APA Style website for additional style and grammar guidelines.

Basic APA Formatting Guidelines 

• Reference list entries are alphabetized by author’s last name or equivalent.
• Reference lists are doubled spaced with a hanging indent after the first line of each entry
• References (in bold) should appear at the top center of the page.
• When referring to books, chapters, articles, or webpage titles, capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns
• Cite up to the first 20 authors. Separate the authors name with a comma, and place the & symbol prior to the last name. 
  • Example: Last, F. M., Last, F. M., & Last, F. M.
• In-text citations are placed directly after the quote or paraphrase. Information needed: (Author's Last Name, Year, page number). 
  • Parenthetical citation: “Direct quote” (Furlong, 2015, p.25).
  • Narrative citation, if the author is mentioned in the sentence, place the year after the last name and the page number after the quote. Example: Furlong (2015) found that “direct quote” (p. 25)
• More guidelines can be found in the PDF Style Guide, citing in APA 7th edition. 

• Citation engages you in a scholarly conversation. By citing work, you're able to support it, show where's it's wrong, or expand it.  Properly formatted citations allow your readers to follow up on the work you've used so they can participate, too.
• Citation bolsters your authority. Citation makes your arguments more credible and persuasive.
• Citation gives credit to the original authors for their work. Scholars aren't paid for their contributions to peer-reviewed journals.  The credit that accrues to them when they're cited is the only way they can be rewarded for their efforts.