Reference Page
You will need to include a reference page at the end of your essay. The reference page serves several purposes. If a reader is interested in your paper and wants to read the sources that you read, they can look in your references and find them. The reference list can also add to your credibility as an academic writer. It can show that you have done enough research that your reader can believe what you wrote.
When you build a reference page, you need to know what type of sources you used. Books have a different format than journal articles; newspaper articles have a different format than websites. The following pages include a series of sources you may use in your researched essays. Each source will include the type of source (e.g., newspaper article) and a general citation format. In addition to the general information, an example will be provided of the source and how that source should be cited.
The format of your reference page (as well as your in-text citations) depends on which style guide you are using. Style guides are a list of rules about how to format your writing. Common style guides include APA, MLA, Chicago, and Turabian. Your college professors will tell you which style guide to use. You will learn what a reference page for APA looks like in this section of the book, but there are other style guides to be aware of. You do not need to memorize the rules for any particular style guide, but you do need to know where to find them and how to use them. As with the in-text citations, there are many rules about how to format your reference page, and this section of the book is not comprehensive. If you have a source that is not explained in this section of the book, you can look up the APA Publication Manual (6th edition) or the Purdue OWL.
Once you have all of the sources formatted correctly, then you will need to organize them for your reference page.
- Start with the word "References" centered on the first line.
- Organize your references in alphabetical order.
- Use a "hanging indent". This means that the first line of the entry will start at the left margin, but the subsequent lines will be indented in .5" from the margin.
- Double-space between each entry on the entire reference page.
- The reference page should be included on a separate page after the body of the essay.
Example: References
Agaric, A. & Garcia, I. (2002). The historic uses of pangrams and Latin filler text. International Journal of Greeked Text, 69(8), 101-121. Retrieved from https://edtechbooks.org/-Uka
Allot, R. & Thyme, J. (2016). Man's search for academic sources (2nd ed.). Mock City, Washington: Filler Texts Unlimited.
Oorzes, N. L. (2012, December 12). Students are finding more online resources than ever. FTU News. Retrieved from http://ftu-news.com
Plagiarism, (n.d.) In Filler Texts Unlimited online dictionary. Retrieved from https://edtechbooks.org/-BddA
Shriver, S. (2006). Metaliterature and writing about writing. National Journal of Nationalism, 11(1), 111-131. doi: 10.1109/5.771073
Journal Article with DOI
A doi is a digital object identifier. This number acts as a permanent link to be able to find a copy of a specific article on the internet. Journal articles sometimes have a doi assigned to them. If the journal article you use has a doi, you should include it in the citation.
General format:
Surname, Initial. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), pages. doi: ############ Shriver, S. (2006).
Metaliterature and writing about writing. National Journal of Nationalism, 11(1), 111-131. doi: 10.1109/5.771073
Journal Article without DOI
As mentioned in the previous example, a doi acts as a permanent link to be help people find a copy of a specific article on the internet. If the journal article you use does not have a doi, you should include the URL you got the article from.
General format:
Surname, Initial. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), pages. Retrieved from http://site
Agaric, A. & Garcia, I. (2002). The historic uses of pangrams and Latin filler text. International Journal of Greeked Text, 69(8), 101-121. Retrieved from http://fillertextsunlimited.com/lorem-ipsum
Book
There are slight variations in requirements for citing chapters of books, books with editors, and books that have several editions. The following is a general format.
General format:
Surname, Initial. (Year). Title of book. Location: Publisher.
Allot, R. & Thyme, J. (2016). Man's search for academic sources (2nd ed.). Mock City, Washington: Filler Texts Unlimited.
Newspaper Articles
Journal articles take time to develop, review, and publish. If you are looking for information about an event of current interest (especially in quickly changing fields like technology and politics) a reputable newspaper can be a good source.
General format:
Surname, Initial. (Year, Month Date). Title of article. Title of Newspaper. Retrieved from http://site
If you use a paper copy of a newspaper article, replace the website with the page numbers of the article.
Oorzes, N. L. (2012, December 12). Students are finding more online resources than ever. FTU News. Retrieved from http://ftu-news.com
Entry in an Online Reference
Online references include dictionaries and encyclopedias. These words frequently do not list an author or a date of publication. If they do list the author, then you should list the author's name like you usually would.
General format:
Search term (n.d.). In Title of reference. Retrieved from http://site
Plagiarism, (n.d.) In Filler Texts Unlimited online dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.ftu-dictionary.net/dictionary/plagiarism
If you cite a website with an organization listed (e.g., NASA, EPA, etc.) instead of an author, the or- ganization should be listed as the author. If there is not an organization, write the title of the arti- cle in the author’s position. (If there is no article title, write the name of the website). The article or website title does not need to be italicized. If the date, month, and year are included on the website, list all of them. If not, just use the year.
General Websites
If you cite a website with an organization listed (e.g., NASA, EPA, etc.) instead of an author, the organization should be listed as the author. If there is not an organization, write the title of the article in the author's position. (If there is no article title, write the name of the website). The article or website title does not need to be italicized. If the date, month, and year are included on the website, list all of them. If not, just use the year.
General format:
Surname, Initial. (Year). Title of article. Retrieved from http://site
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (2018, January 17). Kilopower: What's next? Retrieved from https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/kilopower/Kilopower_whats_ next
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