Last Updated: 06 Dec, 2018     Views: 5656

In APA Style, you only have one list for all of your references. This list is in alphabetical order according to the first word in the entry.  This is normally the first author's surname, but sometimes it may be the first word in a corporate author's name (e.g. Queensland Health), or the first word in the title if there is no author (e.g., for encyclopedia entries or some newspaper articles).

This means your journal articles, books, book chapters and web pages are all mixed in together.

However, if your lecturer has specifically asked you to format your reference list in a certain way for an assignment, you should always follow the instructions you have been given.

Comments (3)

  1. This is a very helpful response!
    by Ralph on 12 Jul, 2022
  2. Is this answer still valid since now we have the APA 7th edition?
    by Ezgi on 14 May, 2023
  3. Yes, this is current for APA 7th edition. APA, as an author-date system, will have their reference list in alphabetical order (without dividing into categories) until they have a radical change.
    by Sharon Bryan on 15 May, 2023