Student Resources APA Style and Writing How to Write an APA Format Bibliography By Kendra Cherry facebook twitter Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author, educational consultant, and speaker focused on helping students learn about psychology. Learn about our editorial process Kendra Cherry Fact checked by Fact checked by Emily Swaim on May 14, 2020 linkedin Emily is a fact checker, editor, and writer who has expertise in psychology content. Learn about our editorial process Emily Swaim Updated on May 14, 2020 Print PeopleImages / Getty Images An APA format bibliography is an alphabetical listing of all sources that might be used to write an academic paper, essay, article, or research paper. In some cases, your instructor may require you to hand in a bibliography with your final paper. Even if it is not a required part of your assignment, writing a bibliography can help you keep track of your sources and make it much easier to create your final reference page in proper APA format. Creating an APA Bibliography A bibliography is similar in many ways to a reference section, but there are some important differences. While a reference section includes every source that was actually used in your paper, a bibliography may include sources that you considered using but may have dismissed because they were irrelevant or outdated. Bibliographies can be a great way to keep track of information you might want to use in your paper and as a way to organize and keep track of the information that you find in different sources. In order to write an APA format bibliography, here are four steps you should take. Start on a New Page Your working bibliography should be kept separate from the rest of your paper. Start it on a new page, with the title “Bibliography” centered at the top. Gather Your Sources Compile all the sources you might possibly use in your paper. While you may end up not using all of these sources in your paper, having a complete list will make it easier later on when you prepare your reference section. This can be particularly helpful as you outline and write your paper. By quickly glancing through your working bibliography, you will be able to get a better idea of which sources will be the most appropriate to support your thesis and main points. Reference for Each Source Your references should be listed alphabetically by the author’s last name and should be double-spaced. The first line of each reference should be flush left, while each additional line of the reference should be a few spaces to the right of the left margin, which is known as a hanging indent. Create an Annotation for Each Source Normally a bibliography contains only references' information, but in some cases you might decide to create an annotated bibliography. An annotation is a summary or evaluation of the source. An annotation is a brief description of approximately 150 words describing the information in the research, your evaluation of its credibility, and how it pertains to your topic. Writing one of these for each piece of research will make your writing process faster and easier. Not only is this step helpful in determining which sources to ultimately use in your paper, but also your instructor may require it as part of the assignment so they can assess your thought process and understanding of your topic. Reasons to Write a Bibliography One of the biggest reasons to create an APA format bibliography is simply to make the research and writing process easier. If you do not have a comprehensive list of all your references, you might find yourself scrambling to figure out where you found certain bits of information that you included in your paper. While writing an annotated bibliography might not be required for your assignment, it can be a very useful step. The process of writing an annotation helps you learn more about your topic, develop a deeper understanding of the subject, and become better at evaluating various sources of information. A Word From Verywell If you are taking a psychology class, you may be asked at some point to create a bibliography as part of the research paper writing process. Even if your instructor does not expressly require a bibliography, creating one can be a useful way to help structure your research and make the writing process easier. For psychology majors, it can be helpful to save any bibliographies you have written over the course of your studies so that you can refer back to them later when studying for exams or writing papers for other psychology courses. APA Format: 12 Basic Rules Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Ever wonder what your personality type means? Sign up to find out more in our Healthy Mind newsletter. Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Masic I. The importance of proper citation of references in biomedical articles. Acta Inform Med. 2013;21(3):148–155. doi:10.5455/aim.2013.21.148-155 Cornell University Library. How to prepare an annotated bibliography: The annotated bibliography. Updated February 24, 2020. Additional Reading American Psychological Association. How do you format a bibliography in APA Style? American Psychological Association. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 7th Edition. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2020.