What is the Order of the Reference List in APA?

To footnote in an essay, add a superscript number after the cited sentence or quotation, then include the matching numbered note at the page bottom with the source’s author, title, and page number.

UK universities using OSCOLA or Oxford referencing require footnotes for direct quotes, paraphrased ideas, and statistics; most word processors insert them automatically via the References or Insert Footnote menu.

For example, a law essay citing a case would footnote: 1 Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562, 580. A full bibliography then lists sources again at the essay’s end in a different format.

Footnotes differ from in-text citations used in Harvard or APA referencing, so always check your module handbook first; our essay structure guide explains where citation style fits into overall formatting.

If referencing rules feel confusing, Essays UK’s referencing and citation support service checks footnote formatting, numbering, and bibliography consistency across your essay, report, or dissertation.

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Keywords in an APA abstract are 3–5 words or short phrases placed directly below the abstract, indented and introduced by the italicised label “Keywords:”, that summarise a paper’s main topics so it can be found in databases and search engines.

Most UK universities following APA 7th edition ask for three to five keywords, listed alphabetically or by importance and separated with commas, without a full stop at the end of the list.

For example, a psychology essay might list: mental health, cognitive behavioural therapy, anxiety, university students. For wider APA formatting rules beyond the abstract, our APA style guide covers referencing, headings, and layout in detail.

UK dissertations and journal articles typically cap the abstract at 150–250 words, with keywords added afterwards on a new line; check your specific module or journal guidelines, as APA style permits some formatting flexibility.

If drafting an abstract and keyword list feels daunting alongside a full dissertation, Essays UK’s referencing and citation support service checks APA formatting, from in-text citations to keyword placement.

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Yes, in APA-formatted work, your table of contents should show a page number beside every heading and subheading, aligned with a dotted leader line. The contents page itself is also numbered, usually with lowercase roman numerals (ii, iii).

Most students generate the table of contents automatically using their word processor’s built-in tool, which applies heading styles to pull in each section title and its correct page number, updating instantly whenever you edit or reorder your document.

APA’s own Publication Manual does not require a table of contents for most student essays or journal articles; it is more commonly requested for dissertations, theses and longer reports, so always confirm whether your assignment brief actually asks for one.

Format the heading ‘Contents’ the same way you would a Level 1 APA heading – bold and centred – then keep font, spacing and dotted leaders consistent throughout so the page reads cleanly and matches the rest of your document’s formatting.

For a full walkthrough of formatting front matter correctly, browse our APA style guide hub, or let our dissertation writing service handle the formatting for you alongside your chapter content.

In APA format, the table of contents goes after the title page and abstract, and before the introduction. Head it ‘Contents’, centred and bold, in the same font and size as the rest of the document.

APA’s official 7th edition guidelines do not require a table of contents for standard student essays, but longer projects such as theses, dissertations, and reports commonly include one for readability, and many university departments ask for it regardless.

A typical entry lists each chapter or heading with its page number, indented to mirror the document’s heading levels, so Chapter 1 sits flush left while its subsections step in slightly. Page numbers usually align on the right margin.

Most word processors can generate this automatically from heading styles, which is worth setting up early rather than typing page numbers by hand. Our dissertation writing guide covers formatting front matter, including contents pages, in more depth.

If a dissertation’s overall structure still feels unsettled before the contents page can be finalised, our dissertation writing service can help map out chapters and headings first.

A running head is a shortened page header in APA format, appearing at the top of every page in capital letters. It condenses the paper’s title to 50 characters or fewer and sits alongside the page number for consistent document navigation.

The running head sits in the top margin of every page, separate from the title itself, and stays identical throughout the document so markers can identify the paper if pages are separated or printed loose.

Many UK students search for running head and running header interchangeably, since they describe the same element just phrased differently; our APA style guide breaks down margins, spacing, and title-page layout alongside the header rules.

Word processors like Word or Google Docs insert running heads through the header tool, so page numbers update automatically as the document grows, which matters for dissertations spanning many chapters.

Getting APA formatting exactly right across a full dissertation or long assignment takes patience; referencing and citation support from a subject specialist can check headers, citations, and reference lists match one style consistently.

To create a running head in APA style, shorten your paper’s title to 50 characters or fewer, type it in capital letters, and place it in the page header alongside the page number.

In Word, open Insert, then Header to add one; in Google Docs, use Insert, then Headers and footers. Type your shortened title flush left, then insert an automatic page number flush right.

Once inserted, the running head and page number repeat automatically on every page, so you only need to set it up once even in a dissertation running to dozens of pages.

Getting the title short enough can be the tricky part, since you must capture the paper’s focus in very few words; our APA style guide has worked examples of shortened titles done well.

If you’d rather have an expert double-check every formatting detail before you submit, our referencing and citation support team can review headers, spacing and citations together in one pass.

Yes, APA reference lists must be alphabetised by the first author’s surname. When two authors share the same surname, alphabetise next by their first initial, and if that also matches, then by the middle initial or full first name.

Sources with an organisational author, such as the NHS or Department of Health, are alphabetised by the first significant word of that organisation’s name; sources with no named author at all are alphabetised by the title instead.

If you cite several works by the same author, order those entries chronologically by publication year, oldest first, rather than alphabetically by title; entries with no date at all are usually placed first, labelled ‘n.d.’ for ‘no date’.

Consistent alphabetical ordering matters because it lets your marker or reader locate any in-text citation in your reference list quickly; a reference list that mixes ordering approaches or skips entries is one of the easiest formatting errors to spot.

Browse our APA referencing guide for more formatting rules, or if you would rather have your reference list checked professionally, our referencing and citation support service reviews ordering and formatting accuracy.

Start the APA reference page on a new page after the essay body, titled ‘References’ in bold, centred at the top. List sources alphabetically by author surname, double-spaced throughout, with a 0.5-inch hanging indent on each entry.

Each entry follows author, publication year, title and source, for example: Smith, J. (2020). Title of work in sentence case. Publisher. Only the first letter of the title and any proper nouns are capitalised.

Alphabetise by the first author’s surname; for sources with no named author, alphabetise by the organisation or title instead. Multiple works by the same author are ordered by publication year, earliest first.

In-text citations must match the reference list exactly, using author-date format such as (Smith, 2020). Our referencing and citation support checks that every in-text citation has a corresponding reference list entry.

For general formatting guidance beyond referencing, including how APA style shapes essay structure and headings, see our APA style guide hub, which covers the full referencing system UK universities commonly require.

Yes, in APA 7th edition the reference list is arranged alphabetically by the first author’s surname, regardless of publication date, so authors aren’t grouped by year or by how they’re cited in the text.

When a source has no individual author, alphabetise it by the first significant word of the organisation or title instead, ignoring words like ‘A’ or ‘The’ at the start.

For two or more works by the same author, list them chronologically by publication year, starting with the earliest, and add letters, such as 2020a and 2020b, if two share a year.

Each reference also uses a hanging indent, with the second and later lines indented half an inch, which is separate from the alphabetical ordering rule but often checked alongside it.

Our APA style guide covers author-name formatting, in-text citation order, and reference list punctuation in more detail, since alphabetising is only one part of getting APA 7 correct.

If you’d rather have the whole reference list checked professionally, our referencing and citation support service reviews ordering, formatting, and consistency against your source list.

In APA 7th edition, headings organise content within the body of a paper using five formatted levels, while section labels are standardised titles, such as Abstract or References, that mark whole sections and aren’t counted as headings.

Section labels apply to specific parts: the title itself, the abstract, the reference list, footnotes, and appendices, and these are formatted consistently rather than styled like a numbered heading level.

Headings, by contrast, appear within the main body and can go up to five levels, ranging from a centred, bold title at level one to a shorter, indented, bold italic heading at level five.

Subheadings in APA should stay at the same level for sections of equal importance; skipping a level, such as jumping from level one straight to level three, breaks the document’s logical hierarchy.

Getting this distinction right matters most in dissertations and long reports, where our APA style guide breaks down each heading level with formatting examples.

If you’d rather have a specialist format the whole document correctly, our referencing and citation support service checks headings, section labels, and citations together.

In Google Docs and Word, apply headings through the built-in Styles menu: select your text, then choose Heading 1, 2 or 3, rather than manually bolding or resizing it, so APA formatting stays consistent throughout.

In Google Docs, highlight the line, open the ‘Styles’ dropdown in the toolbar (it usually shows ‘Normal text’) and select the heading level you need. Word offers the same styles gallery on its Home tab.

Using proper heading styles, rather than just formatting text to look like a heading, is what allows both programs to automatically generate a table of contents that updates as you edit your dissertation or essay.

For APA 7th edition, update the default heading styles to match APA’s five heading levels rather than relying on the software’s own default formatting; our APA style guide explains how each level should look.

Headings alone don’t handle in-text citations or your reference list, so many students combine consistent heading styles with dedicated software or expert checks; our assignment writing service can format a document correctly from the start.

APA 7th edition uses five heading levels: Level 1 is bold, centred, Title Case; Level 2 is bold, left-aligned, Title Case; Level 3 adds italics; Levels 4 and 5 are indented, bold, end with a period, with Level 5 also italicised.

Level 1 headings mark main sections such as Method or Discussion, while Level 2 headings introduce subsections beneath them. Most undergraduate essays only need one or two heading levels, whereas longer dissertations and reports often use three or more.

Levels 4 and 5 are the ones writers most often misapply: the heading is indented like a paragraph, ends with a period, and the body text begins on the very same line rather than dropping to a new one.

Title Case means capitalising all major words while keeping short conjunctions, articles and prepositions such as ‘the’, ‘of’ and ‘and’ lowercase, unless they start the heading. Consistent capitalisation across every heading level keeps your paper looking professional.

For worked examples of each level applied to a full paper, see our APA style guide hub; if you would rather have a formatting check done for you, our referencing and citation support service reviews heading structure too.

Common APA 7th edition methodology citation mistakes include omitting a hardware model number and manufacturer, leaving out a software’s version and URL, or failing to cite the source of a test or scale.

For equipment, always name the manufacturer and exact model rather than a generic description like a heart rate monitor, since precise identification lets another researcher replicate your setup.

For common software, include the developer, version number, and a URL where relevant, rather than just naming the programme, since version differences can affect analysis and results.

When you use an established test or psychometric scale, cite the original manual or validation article rather than describing it from memory, since this confirms its reliability and origin.

These details belong in the methodology section, not just the reference list, and our APA style guides cover the full range of formatting edge cases in more depth.

If checking every citation feels daunting close to a deadline, referencing and citation support can review your methodology section for consistency and accuracy.

Write an APA methodology (Method) section by reporting participants, sampling procedure and size, measurement techniques, data collection methods, and statistical analysis approach, in past tense with enough detail that another researcher could replicate the study.

Begin with participants or subjects, describing sample size, sampling procedure, and relevant characteristics such as age or demographic group. APA expects enough detail here to judge whether the sample suits the research question, though exact reporting norms vary by discipline and journal.

Next comes the techniques used to measure study variables, often called Materials or Measures, followed by the exact procedure participants went through, step by step. This section should let a reader repeat the study without needing to ask follow-up questions.

Data collection methods and statistical analysis techniques close the section, explaining which tests or software processed the results. Students structuring a longer project can review a full APA style guide for heading levels and formatting rules.

In a dissertation, this chapter is usually called Methodology rather than Method and sits after the literature review. Where the design feels unclear, our dissertation writing service offers model methodology chapters for reference.