Reference List Examples

Books & Reference Works

The books category includes:

• Authored books

• Edited books

• Anthologies

• Religious works

• Classical works

The reference work category includes dictionaries, encyclopedias, and diagnostic manuals.

For a chapter in an authored book, create a reference for the whole book and provide the chapter number within the in-text citation only.

Not all examples are represented here. Please see pp. 321-325 of the manual for more examples.

Edited Book Chapters & Entries in Reference Works

The edited book chapter category includes chapters of edited books and works in anthologies. The entries in reference works category includes dictionary, thesaurus, and encyclopedia entries.

The format, platform, or device is not included in the reference for these types of sources.

For a chapter in an authored book, create a reference for the whole book and provide the chapter number within the in-text citation only.

Not all examples are represented in this document. Please see pp. 326-329 of the manual for more examples.

Reports & Gray Literature

Reports, like journal articles, usually cover original research, but they may or may not be peer-reviewed. There are many kinds of reports, including:

• Government reports

• Technical reports

• Research reports

Gray literature includes reports, but also:

• Press releases

• Codes of ethics

• Grants

• Policy briefs

• Issue briefs

• Patents

It is optional–but often helpful–to describe these types of gray literature in square brackets after the title.

When the publisher is the same as the author, omit the publisher from the source element.

Conference Sessions & Presentations

Conference sessions and presentations include:

• Paper presentations

• Poster sessions

• Keynote addresses

• Symposium contributions

Include a label in square brackets after the title that matches how the presentation was described at the conference: include all authors listed as contributing, even if they were not physically present.

The date should match the date(s) of the full conference to help readers find the source, even though a session or presentation is likely to occur on only one day.

Include the location of the conference to help with retrieval.

Conference proceedings published in a journal or book follow the same format as for a journal article, edited book, or edited book chapter.

Disserations & Theses

Reference for doctoral dissertations and master's and undergraduate theses are divided by whether they are unpublished or published. This guide will focus on published dissertations and theses.

Published works may be available from a database, a university archive, or a personal website.

Unpublished Dissertation or Thesis

If you wish to cite an unpublished dissertation or theses, please check with your instructor to make sure this source would be appropriate for your assignment.

To learn how to cite unpublished dissertations or theses, see pp. 333-334 of the manual.

Reviews

Reviews of books, films, TV shows, albums, and other entertainment are published in a variety of outlets, including journals, magazines, newspapers, websites, and blogs.

The reference format for a review should be the same as the format for the type of content appearing within that source, with the addition of information about the item being reviewed in square brackets after the review title.

Within square brackets, write "Review of the" and then the type of work being reviewed (e.g., film, book, TV series episode, video game); its title; and its author or editor, director, writer, and so forth, with a designation of role for all except regular authors of books.

See pp. 334-335 of the manual for more information.

Data Sets & Software

Data Sets

Authors should include an in-text citation and reference list entry for a data set when they have either (a) conducted secondary analysis of publicly archived data or (b) archived their own data being presented for the first time in the current work.

The date for published data is the year of publication and for unpublished data is the year(s) of collection.

When a version number exists, include it in parentheses after the title.

The bracketed description is flexible (e.g., data set, data set and code book).

In the source element of the reference, for published data, provide the name of the organization that has published, archived, produced, or distributed the data set; for unpublished data, provide the source (e.g., a university), if known.

Include a retrieval date only if the data set is designed to change over time.

Software

Common software and mobile apps mentioned in the text, but not paraphrased or quoted, do not need citations, nor do programming languages. "Common" is relative to your field and audience.

Include reference list entries and in-text citations if you have paraphrased or quoted from any software or app, or if you are mentioning software, apps, and apparatuses or equipment with limited distribution.

To learn how to cite software, please see pp. 338-340 of the manual.

Tests, Scales & Inventories

To cite a test, scale, or inventory, provide a citation for its supporting literature (e.g., its manual, which may be an authored or edited book, or the journal article in which it was published).

If supporting literature is not available, it is also possible to cite the test itself and/or a database record for a test.

The title of a test, a scale, or an inventory should be capitalized using title case whenever it appears in a paper, even if the test title is italicize in the reference.

A test database name is included only for test database records.

Audio Works

Describe the audio work in square brackets--for example, "[Audio podcast episode]," "[Song]," and so forth in the title element of the reference.

In the source element, provide the name of the label for music albums or singles; or the name of the streaming site that hosts an audio podcast, radio interview, or speech recording.

If you want to reproduce an audio work rather than just cite it, you may need to seek permission from the copyright owner.

Visual Works

Describe the visual work in square brackets--for example, "[Clip art]," "[Infographic]," "[Painting]," and so forth in the title element of the reference.

In the source element, provide the name and location of the museum for artwork, department and university name for materials found in archives, or the site from which a visual work was received.

If you want to reproduce an visual work rather than just cite it, you may need to seek permission from the copyright owner.

Social Media

Cite only original content from social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and so forth.

Do not use this entry example for content you discovered through social media that is available elsewhere.

Social media posts may contain text, text with audiovisuals, or audiovisuals alone. Include the text of the social media post up to 20 words. Note the presence of audiovisuals in square brackets after the text of the post.

Social media posts might contain nonstandard spelling and capitalization, hashtags, links, and emojis. Do not alter spelling and capitalization. Retain hashtags and emojis (when possible).

If you are unable to replicate an emoji, provide the emoji's name in square brackets. The full list of emoji names can be found on the Unicode Consortium's website.

See pp. 348-350 of the manual for more information.

Webpages & Websites

Use the webpages and websites category if there is no other reference category that fits and the work has no parent or overarching publication (e.g., journal, blog, conference proceedings).

If you cite multiple webpages from a website, create a reference entry for each.

To mention a website in general, do not create a reference entry or an in-text citation. Instead, use the name of the website in the text and provide the URL in parentheses.