Washington and Lee University

Washington and Lee University

APA Style -- Miscellaneous

Because of frequent questions, several clarifications of APA style for a paper's bibliography (or "reference list") might be helpful.

Spacing

The Fifth Edition of the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (section 5.18) states that "reference lists" (bibliographies) may be single-spaced or double-spaced, depending upon the type of paper being produced. Diana Hacker recommends double-spacing. W&L students may want to check with their instructors regarding a recommendation.

Annotations

Annotations describing the content of an item cited in a bibliography can add a great deal to the value of that list.
Here are two guides to preparing an annotated bibliography, one from Cornell University and one from Carleton College.

Citing Dissertations and Theses

Masters' and doctoral theses and dissertations present an unusual citation challenge because they are not "published" materials.
Both the Diana Hacker guides and the Fifth Edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (pages 260-262) differentiate between those dissertations which were found through the commercial supplier University Microfilms and those dissertations which were not. See the following example: 

Rush, M.E.  (1990).  Redistricting: The Supreme Court and American elections.
     Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Johns Hopkins University.  
     (University Microfilms No. AAI9030244)
If information about the University Microfilms number is not readily available, omit that information from the citation.

Typing a URL

Some word-processing programs automatically underline a Web page's URL when you type it, a practice that can cause trouble when you are trying to format and print a bibliography. You can "turn off" that underlining function before typing a paper, if you wish.
If you are using Microsoft Word, choose the "Tools" option, click on "AutoCorrect," and then choose "AutoFormat As You Type." Make sure that the option "Internet and network paths with hyperlinks" does NOT have a check-mark in the box next to it.

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