Scientific Writing

General Format for Books

Author Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year of Publication). Book title: Capital for subtitle. (# ed.). Publisher Name.

One Author Example

Shields, C. J. (2006). Mockingbird: A portrait of Harper Lee. Henry Holt.

Multiple Authors Example

Anson, C. M., Schwegler, R. A., & Muth, M. F. (2000). The Longman writer's companion. (4th ed.). Longman.

Chapter in an Edited Book Example

Smith, P. M. (2006). The diverse librarian. In E. Connor (Ed.). An introduction to reference services in academic libraries. (pp. 137-140). Haworth Press.

General Format for Webpages

Author Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year, Month Date). Title of page. Site name. URL

Webpage Example - With Author

Price, D. (2018, March 23). Laziness does not exist. Medium. https://humanparts.medium.com/laziness-does-not-exist-3af27e312d01

Webpage Example - With Group or Organizational Author

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. (2019, November 21). Justice served: Case closed for over 40 dogfighting victims. https://www.aspca.org/news/justice-served-case-closed-over-40-dogfighting-victims

Webpage Example - Without an Author

Tuscan white bean pasta.  (2018, February 25). Budgetbytes. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from  https://www.budgetbytes.com/tuscan-white-bean-pasta/

Webpage Example - Without a Date

National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.).  Mental health conditions. https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions

APA Reference Lists 101

• A reference list should appear at the end of a paper, on a new page. The word 'References' (if multiple sources) should be bold font and centered on the page at the top. 

• Each cited work in a paper should be included in the list, and every listed reference should be found in the body of the paper.

• The reference list should be alphabetized by the leading author's last name.

• All entries on the reference list should be double-spaced. 

• The first line of each listed reference should be flush with the left margin, and all succeeding lines should be indented one-half inch from the left margin (i.e., hanging indentation).