Cite references in alphabetical order. Like other formatting styles, APA requires that references be put in alphabetical order.
Inverse author names so that the last name is first. An author with the name John Smith would be cited as Smith, John instead. For works that have more than one or two authors, initials are used for first names. When there are doubts about the use of initials versus full names, use only the initials.
Put the date of publication after the author names.
Capitalize the first letter of the first word of book or article titles. The remaining words are left in lowercase letters, excepting names, places and other proper nouns. Book titles are placed after the date and italicized.
Write the publisher information after the book title. This should include the city, state and name of the publisher. For publishers related to schools, the state and name is required.
Use the title first in works with unknown authors. Whenever authors are anonymous, the title is placed first, using the first letter to place it alphabetically with other sources. The exception to this is when the work is published by an association or organization, in which case the association name is used for the author name.
Add the date retrieved and the URL to any online sources. In the case of online sources, APA format requires that the date the information was found and the URL be added, but the remaining information is the same. The author, date published, title and publisher should be placed before the Internet information. In many cases, online source will not have publisher information.