PC Word 2010/2007 Bibliographies and References Lists | Page 1 of 7
How to Format a Bibliography or References List in the
American University Thesis and Dissertation Template
Click to Jump to a Topic
In this Guide
Not in this Guide
Creating a Uniform Hanging Indent
Removing Issues that Prevent the Indent from Working
Alphabetizing Your Reference List or Bibliography
Formatting According to Your Discipline’s Style Guidelines
Using Endnote, Zotero, or Other Bibliographic Software
Creating a Reference-Formatting System
In this Guide
This guide offers several tips for creating uniform, readable formatting in a bibliography or references list,
including line spacing, indentation, and alphabetization. The tips are useful at any point in the process, whether
you are just starting or nearly finished.
Not in this Guide
This guide does not include specific guidelines for how to format different types of references (e.g., books,
journal articles) because those issues are covered in great detail in the various style guides (e.g., APA, Turabian).
Creating a Uniform Hanging Indent
Both Turabian and APA use a hanging indent (first line flush left with the margin, subsequent lines indented the
same width as a paragraph indent). It is not a good idea to use the TAB key or spacebar to create hanging
indents because it takes a long time, often results in uneven spacing throughout references, cannot be
transferred to new documents with different margin sizes, causes white-space gaps when modifications are
made, and sometimes does not even work to create the indent. Instead, follow the steps in the images below.
1. Highlight all of
your references.
2. Open the Page
Layout tab.
arrow in the
Paragraph section
to open detailed