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📚 Research Papers & Citations · Lesson 6 of 7

References and Works Cited

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Formatting the list: APA 7 and MLA 9 entries, hanging indents and order.

APA 7 references

BookAuthor, A. A. (Year). Title of work in sentence case. Publisher.
Journal articleAuthor, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, 12(3), 45–67. https://doi.org/…
Web pageAuthor or Organization. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. URL
Page title“References”, bold and centered

MLA 9 Works Cited

BookLast, First. Title in Title Case. Publisher, Year.
Journal articleLast, First. “Title of Article.” Journal Name, vol. 12, no. 3, Year, pp. 45–67. DOI.
Web pageLast, First. “Title of Page.” Site Name, Day Mon. Year, URL.
Page title“Works Cited”, centered (not bold)

Formatting both

  1. Start the list on a new page at the end
  2. Alphabetize by the first author’s last name (or title if no author)
  3. Hanging indent: first line flush left, the rest indented 0.5"
  4. Double-space everything, same font as the paper
  5. Every in-text citation has an entry, and every entry is cited in the text

Build your list

APA citation

Fill in at least the title to see your citation.

Always double-check against your instructor's guidelines. Paste into Word or Google Docs and the italics come along.

Tip

💡 In Word or Google Docs, set a hanging indent with Format > Paragraph > Special > Hanging, 0.5". Don’t use spaces or tabs.

✏️ Practice: your turn

  1. Generate citations for all your sources with the tool above
  2. Copy the whole list into your paper
  3. Set the hanging indent and double spacing
  4. Match every in-text citation to an entry

✏️ APA & MLA citation generator with a saved works-cited list

🧠 Quick quiz

Answer all 4 questions correctly to mark this lesson as done.

1. How is the APA list titled?
2. How is the list ordered?
3. What is a hanging indent?
4. APA titles of books and articles use…

0 of 4 correct

All lessons in Research Papers & Citations

  1. ❓ 1. From topic to research questionNarrow a broad topic into a question you can answer
  2. 🔎 2. Finding scholarly sourcesLibrary databases, Google Scholar and smart search terms
  3. ⚖️ 3. Evaluating sourcesPeer review, the CRAAP test and lateral reading
  4. 🧭 4. Thesis and outlineAn arguable thesis and an outline built around it
  5. 💬 5. In-text citationsQuoting, paraphrasing and citing in APA and MLA
  6. 📋 6. References and Works CitedFormatting the list: APA 7 and MLA 9 entries, hanging indents and order
  7. ✅ 7. Formatting, revising and academic integrityPaper format, revision passes, the writing center and AI rules