The Most Satisfying Writing Center Resource? Common Reference List Examples

It could be the Type-A side of my brain, but I love organizing and filing any and all things. I just moved into a new (old) apartment in a Victorian mansion-turned-condo building, and the unpacking and organizing has been so fun! My favorite features of the new apartment are the 15-foot built-in cabinets in the hallways. I just finished meticulously organizing every inch of their shelves. My towels have their own shelf. My cleaning supplies have their own shelf. My favorite pairs of shoes, tucked inside their original boxes, have their own shelf. It is so satisfying! 

I get this same thrill of satisfaction from working with APA references. Are you rolling your eyes at me yet? I genuinely enjoy the puzzle of categorizing a text to determine its style of reference, and from there, formatting and building my reference list. In my experience, few people get any enjoyment from this tedious task, but I don’t mind at all.

The Common Reference List Examples page is my favorite Writing Center resource because it makes categorizing and formatting my references a total breeze. The page is laid out with an index of alphabetized reference categories on the left side of the page, while the rest of the page provides examples of references for each category, notes on any formatting or content nuances, and links to our other resources that support the specific type of reference.

To demonstrate how to use the Common Reference List Examples page, I’m going to try categorizing the PDF Taking Part in Cancer Treatment Research Studies. Looking at this text, it’s not clear right away how it should be classified. When I have a mystery text such as this, I first try to identify the following: author, publication year, title, method of publication, and any additional identifying information. The author of this text is the National Cancer Institute, a division of the National Institute for Health—a government organization. The very last page lists a publication date of October 2016, in addition to a publication number, which seems important. I know the title of the document, and I have determined the publication method is a PDF.

Based on this information, I can rule out most of the categories from the list on the left-hand side of the Common Reference Examples page. The document is not an academic article or book, nor is it a regular web page because of its PDF form. However, the category of “Technical and Research Report” seems promising. The notes for this type of reference state, “Technical and research reports by governmental agencies and other institutions…”— this is the clue I need! The reference example under this category also includes a report number—a second helpful clue! The category of Technical or Research report is a perfect fit—so satisfying!

Now that I have determine the reference category, all that’s left is to format the reference. Using the example provided for me, I pull the reference information and create the following:

National Cancer Institute. (2016). Taking part in cancer treatment research studies (Publication No. 16-6249). Retrieved from https://www.cancer.gov/publications/patient-education/CRS.pdf

Determining which category your research materials fall under will usually be more straightforward. Most peer-reviewed articles can be categorized as an Article with URL or Article with DOI categories. The categories Walden University Course Catalog and Course Materials are very common as well. If the Common Reference Examples List were a cabinet, you can bet there would be a shelf for each reference list category. 

Tasha Sookochoff is a writing instructor in the Walden University Writing Center. Along with earning degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Stout and Depaul University, Tasha has written documentation for the U.S. House of Representatives that increases government transparency, blogged for DePaul University, copy-edited the Journal of Second Language Writing, tutored immigrants and refugees at literacy centers, and taught academic writing to college students.

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