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APA Citation Style: What is a Reference List

APA Citation Format (Commonly used for psychology and other social science papers)

Difference between Reference Lists and Bibliographies

From apa.org:

Reference List Bibliography
"References provide the information necessary for readers to identify and retrieve each work cited in the text." A reference list contains works that specifically support the ideas, claims, and concepts in a paper. ---- apastyle.apa.org A bibliography provides works for background or further reading and may include descriptive notes (e.g., an annotated bibliography).

 

Basic Elements of a Reference List

Generally a reference list entry consists for four elements:

Author -- Who created the work? Click here for information on how to format author names.

Date -- When was it published? Click here for information on how to format date.

Title -- What is the name of the work?  Click here for information on how to format title.

Source -- Where was the work published?  Click here fo rinformation on how to format source.

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