Q. How should I order my references in APA Style?

APA Style (7th ed.)

Alphabetize your references by the last names of authors (American Psychological Association [APA], 2020, p. 303) or titles of works that do not identify an author (APA, 2020, p. 306). Order multiple references by the same author chronologically with the earliest work listed first (APA, 2020, p. 304).

Alphabetizing by author name

Alphabetize authors with identical last names by their first initial (e.g., Ling, A. before Ling, B.) (APA, 2020, p. 303). Alphabetize author names beginning with an identical sequence of letters by the first different letter in their names (e.g., Andersen before Anderson, since E precedes O) (APA, 2020, p. 303). In “APA Style for alphabetizing names, ‘nothing precedes something’” (APA, 2020, p. 303), which means that short names precede longer names with which they share all their letters (e.g., Williams, B. before Williams-Johnson, A., even though A precedes B in the alphabet).

Treat the title of an organization as an author name for work produced by “governement agencies, associations, non-profit organizations, businesses, hospitals, task forces, and study groups” (APA, 2020, p. 268). When alphabetizing references by group authors, “spell out the full name of a group author in the reference list entry” (APA, 2020, p. 268).

Alphabetizing by title of source

List the author as “Anonymous” only if the work is attributed to “Anonymous” (American Psychological Association, 2020, p. 289). See How Do I Cite a Resource by “Anonymous” or Without a Stated Author in APA Style? for more information.

If the author is unknown, “move the title of the work to the author position (followed by a period), before the date of publication” (APA, 2020, p. 289). Alphabetize the references by the “first significant word of the title (i.e., ignoring the words “A”, “An”, and “The” at the beginning of the title” (APA, 2020, p. 306).

If the author published more than one work in a single year, see How Do I Cite Two or More Resources by the Same Author That Were Published in the Same Year in APA Style? for information and examples.

Ordering by year of publication

Order a list of two or more works by the same author(s) in different years chronologically according to the year of publication with the earliest work coming first (American Psychological Association, 2020, p. 304); for example, list a work published in 2009 before a work published in 2012, since 2009 is the earlier entry. If at least one of several works by the same author was co-authored by additional authors, the single-author entry precedes the multi-author entry (APA, 2020, p. 305).

Reference

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000