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Referencing: APA Style 7th Edition

This is a guide to using the Citing and Referencing: APA 7th Edition

Reference list format

General notes and tips:

  • All of the references in the reference list must also be cited in the text.
  • All references cited in text must also be included in the reference list. Note: unpublished items, such as personal correspondence, are an exception.
  • List the references in alphabetical order by author surname according to the first listed author. (Note: The order of the authors on a document is important. Do not rearrange them).
  • Where there are two articles with the same authors and date, order the references alphabetically by article title and add a letter suffix to the year of copyright, for example (Smith, 2003a, 2003b...).
  • Provide organisation names in full, unless they are obviously recognisable as abbreviations (e.g., APA for American Psychological Association).
  • Do not add full stops to URLs (e.g., https://lib.uwc.ac.za/)
  • In an article, chapter or book title capitalise only the first word of the title and of the subtitle and any proper nouns. A proper noun is a person, place or entity. (Note: Book titles should be italicised).
  • In a periodical, journal, or serial title, give the title in full, in title case. The title should be italicised (e.g., Durban Business Review).
  • Formatting tip: All reference entries should be double-spaced. Quick tip: to change your text to double space: highlight the reference list then choose "CTRL 2" (PC) or "Command 2" (Mac).
Where a publication has: List authors in the reference list as:
One (1) author Author, A. A.
Two (2) authors Author, A. A., & Author, B. B.
Three (3) to twenty (20) authors (inclusive)

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author, C. C., Author, D. D., Author, E. E., Author, F. F., Author, G. G., Author, H. H., Author, I. I., Author, J. J., Author, K. K., Author, L. L., Author, M. M., Author, N. N., Author, O. O., Author, P. P., Author, Q. Q., Author, R. R., Author, S. S., & Author, T. T.
Twenty-one (21) or more authors - list first nineteen (19) authors, add a three dot ellipsis, then the last author

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author, C. C., Author, D. D., Author, E. E., Author, F. F., Author, G. G., Author, H. H., Author, I. I., Author, J. J., Author, K. K., Author, L. L., Author, M. M., Author, N. N., Author, O. O., Author, P. P., Author, Q. Q., Author, R. R., Author, S. S., . . . Author, Z. Z.
No author Transfer the title to the author space.
Two or more works by same author

Use author's name for all entries and list entries by year - Earliest year comes first.

If they are the published in the same year, list alphabetically by title, assigning a suffix of a, b, c, d, etc. after the year. For example (De Wet, 2012a, 2012b).
A group or corporate author Spell the name out.
Where a publication has: List authors in the reference list as:
One (1) author

Falloon. (2020). From digital literacy to digital competence: the teacher digital competency (TDC) framework. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68(5), 2449–2472. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-020-09767-4
Two (2) authors

Jameel, B., & Majid, U. (2018). Research fundamentals: Data collection, data analysis, and ethics. Undergraduate Research in Natural and Clinical Science and Technology Journal, 2, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.26685/urncst.39
Three (3) to twenty (20) authors (inclusive)

Pegion, K., Kirtman, B. P., Becker, E., Collins, D. C., LaJoie, E., Burgman, R., Bell, R., DelSole, R., Min, D., Zhu, Y., Li, W., Sinsky, E., Guan, H., Gottschalck, J., Metzger, E. J., Barton, N. P., Achuthavarier, D., Marshak, J., Koster, R., . . . Kim, H. (2019). The subseasonal experiment (SubX): A multimodel subseasonal prediction experiment. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 100(10), 2043-2061.
Twenty-one (21) or more authors-list first nineteen (19) authors, add a three dot ellipsis, than the last author

Kalnay, E., Kanamitsu, M., Kistler, R., Collins, W., Deaven, D., Gandin, L., Iredell, M., Saha, S., White, G., Woollen, J., Zhu, Y., Chelliah, M., Ebisuzaki, W., Higgins, W., Janowiak, J., Mo, K. C., Ropelewski, C., Wang, J., Leetmaa, A., Reynolds, R., Jenne, R., & Joseph, D. (1996). The NCEP/NCAR 40-Year Reanalysis Project, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 77(3), 437-472. doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(1996)077<0437:TNYRP>2.0.CO;2

 

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