APA 7 Referencing

Formatting your reference list

Please check the assignment formatting requirements for your individual unit as they may differ from the advice provided in the APA manual.

  • Begin the reference list on a new page after the text
  • Place the label References in bold, centred on the top of the page
  • Arrange the list alphabetically by the first author’s surname or organisation name. Where there is no author, use the first word of the title (other than A, An, or The)
  • All titles, with the exception of journal titles, should be presented in sentence-case capitalisation (where only the first word, proper nouns and words following certain punctuation are capitalised). Journal titles should be presented in headline-style capitalisation (where each significant word is capitalised)
  • Double space the entire reference list (both within and between references)
  • Apply a hanging indent of 1.27cm to each reference list entry
  • All DOIs and URLs should be presented in their resolved form (e.g. beginning with https://…). It is acceptable to present these links as live hyperlinks or as plain text, as long as you are consistent throughout your reference list

Download our handy APA referencing checklist which highlights some points to pay attention to when editing your in-text citations and reference list:

What is a DOI?

A Digital Object Identifier (DOI), is a string of numbers, letters and symbols that creates a permanent link to a journal article, book or other online document, e.g. 10.1108/HER-10-2015-0023.

In the APA style, DOIs are presented as hyperlinks and are preceded by https://doi.org/. For example: https://doi.org/10.1108/HER-10-2015-0023

Where can I find the DOI?
DOIs will usually be presented on the first page of an article or with the publication details. If you cannot locate a DOI, do a quick search in the document by clicking CTRL + F (Windows) or Command + F (Mac) and entering doi in the search box

Sample reference list

References

Arkoudis, S., Dollinger, M., Baik, C., & Patience, A. (2019). International students’ experience in Australian higher education: Can we do better? Higher Education, 77(5), 799-813. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0302-x

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Education and work, Australia. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/education/education-and-work-australia

Forsyth, H. (2014a). Dreaming of higher education. Southerly, 74(2), 119-142. https://doi.org/10.3316/informit.792227855125093

Forsyth, H. (2014b). A history of the modern Australian university. NewSouth Publishing.

Forsyth, H. (2017). Post-war political economics and the growth of Australian university research, c.1945-1965. History of Education Review, 46(1), 15-32. https://doi.org/10.1108/HER-10-2015-0023

A higher education return. (2016, August 18). The Australian. https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/higher-education-return/docview/1811922139/se-2?accountid=10382

Lam, K. (2014, July 16). Wearable technology in education. edtechtimes. https://edtechtimes.com/2014/07/16/wearable-technology-education/

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). (2019, February 27). The future of higher education in the age of disruption [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/NFP2S2f3io4

Rudick, C. K., & Dannels, D. P. (2018). “Yes, and … ”: Continuing the scholarly conversation about immigration and higher education. Communication Education, 67(1), 120-123. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2017.1392584

10 ways wearables will revolutionise education. (2015, April 28). Progressive Digital Media Technology News. https://www.proquest.com/wire-feeds/10-ways-wearables-will-revolutionise-education/docview/1677305214/se-2?accountid=10382

Tierney, W. G., & Lanford, M. (2016). Conceptualizing innovation in higher education. In M. B. Paulsen (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (pp. 1-40). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26829-3

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (n.d.). Education transforms lives. https://en.unesco.org/themes/education

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2017). Six ways to ensure higher education leaves no one behind. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000247862

The World Bank. (2017). Higher education. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/tertiaryeducation