APA Reference List: Common Formatting Errors

The reference list is often where APA formatting errors pile up the most. Each reference type has its own specific requirements for author formatting, italicization, capitalization, and punctuation. Here are the most common errors and how to fix them.

1. Author Name Formatting

APA requires last name first, followed by initials with periods and spaces. The final author in a multi-author list is preceded by an ampersand (&), not “and.”

Note the spaces between initials (J. A., not J.A.) and the ampersand before the last author.

2. Title Capitalization

APA uses different capitalization rules depending on the source type:

• Article and book titles: Sentence case (only capitalize the first word, first word after a colon, and proper nouns)
• Journal names: Title case (capitalize all major words)

3. Italicization Errors

Knowing what to italicize is essential:

• Italicize: Journal names, book titles, report titles, volume numbers
• Do not italicize: Article titles, chapter titles, issue numbers (in parentheses after the volume)

Note that the volume number (45) is italicized along with the journal name, but the issue number (2) in parentheses is not.

4. DOI and URL Formatting

APA 7th edition requires DOIs as full hyperlinks. The older format using “doi:” prefix or “Retrieved from” phrasing is no longer standard for most sources.

No period after a DOI or URL. And “Retrieved from” is only used for sources whose content may change over time and have no publication date.

5. Alphabetical Ordering

References must be listed alphabetically by the first author’s last name. Additional sorting rules that are often missed:

• Single-author entries come before multi-author entries with the same first author
• When the same author has multiple works, list them chronologically (oldest first)
• Same author, same year: add lowercase letters after the year (2023a, 2023b) based on title alphabetical order

6. Missing Elements

Incomplete references are extremely common, especially when information is copied from databases that format references differently. Check each reference for all required elements for its source type: author, date, title, source/publisher, and DOI/URL where applicable.