How to Write a Reference List: APA vs MLA vs Chicago vs IEEE

A reference list includes every source you cite in your work. It lets readers trace any piece of information back to its source and is a cornerstone of academic integrity. Which style you use is usually decided by your university or the journal, not by you.

Reference list vs bibliography

• Reference list: only the sources you cite in the text.
• Bibliography: may also include sources you read but did not cite.

Theses and articles usually require a reference list.

Styles and where they are used

APA

Common in psychology, education and the social sciences. In-text: (Author, Year). The year follows the author name in the reference list.

MLA

Used in languages, literature and the humanities. In-text: author and page (Smith 45). The list is titled "Works Cited".

Chicago

Common in history and the arts. It has two systems: notes-bibliography (citations in footnotes) and author-date.

IEEE and Vancouver

Used in engineering (IEEE) and medicine (Vancouver). Citations are numbered in square brackets or superscript: [1]. The list is numbered in order of first appearance.

ISNAD

A citation system developed in Türkiye and used especially in theology and parts of the social sciences, with footnote and in-text variants. Many Turkish journals require it.

Checklist for a good reference list

• Does every in-text citation have a matching entry?
• Is every entry cited somewhere in the text?
• Do author names and years match exactly?
• Are journal title, volume, issue and pages complete?
• Is the DOI included where available?
• Is the order correct (alphabetical for APA/MLA, numerical for IEEE)?
• Is the formatting consistent (italics, punctuation, hanging indent)?

Reference managers

Tools such as Zotero, Mendeley and EndNote gather your sources in one place and generate the reference list automatically. You can export sources as BibTeX, RIS or CSL-JSON to move them to other tools.

Reference lists with Academiana

In Academiana you never type the reference list by hand: it is built from the citations in your text and always matches it. You can import from Zotero, Mendeley and EndNote and export in formats those tools read. Clicking an entry shows every section of your text where that source is used, and changing the style takes one click.