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Citation Guides

Guides on everything related to citing sources: MLA and APA style, citing websites, and avoiding plagiarism.

References Page Formatting and Hanging Indent

General rules
  • The references list should be on a separate sheet of paper. To format, go to the end of your paper and click after the end of the last sentence. In Microsoft Word, select "Insert" then "Page Break". This ensures the references list always remains on a separate page for printing.
  • Type the word References at the top, then center it (using the center symbol in the Microsoft Word Paragraph menu ribbon) and bold it.
  • Use the same font size and style as the rest of your paper.
  • Put references in alphabetical order, alphabetized by the first word of each citation. This is usually the author's last name, but may be the first word of a title (excluding A, An, The) where no author is given. 
  • The entire reference list is double-spaced, with no extra space between citations. You will likely have to adjust the spacing from the default to achieve this. Find detailed instructions in the linked document below, Formatting Reference list in MS Word & Google Docs for APA.
  • Each reference list citation should be formatted with a hanging indent. This is a paragraph setting in Microsoft Word that is like a reverse paragraph indent. Find detailed instructions for creating this format in the linked document below, Formatting Reference list in MS Word & Google Docs for APA.

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