ASA References

    Create comprehensive reference lists following ASA style for sociology papers

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    Published: September 15, 2025
    By heypaperhero Team

    Reference List Fundamentals

    ASA reference lists appear at the end of the paper under the heading "REFERENCES" and include all sources cited in the text, arranged alphabetically by author.

    Key Guidelines:

    • • Alphabetical order by author surname
    • • Hanging indent for each entry
    • • Double-spaced throughout
    • • Include only sources cited in text
    • • Use specific format for each source type
    • • Capitalize only first word of titles and subtitles

    Books

    Format:

    Author, First Name. Year. Title of book: Subtitle. City: Publisher.

    Examples:

    Durkheim, Emile. 1897. Suicide: A study in sociology. New York: Free Press.

    Bourdieu, Pierre and Jean-Claude Passeron. 1977. Reproduction in education, society and culture. London: Sage Publications.

    Wilson, William Julius. 2012. The declining significance of race: Blacks and changing American institutions. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Journal Articles

    Format:

    Author, First Name. Year. "Title of article." Journal Name Volume(Issue):page range.

    Examples:

    Coleman, James S. 1988. "Social capital in the creation of human capital." American Journal of Sociology 94:S95-S120.

    Lareau, Annette. 2002. "Invisible inequality: Social class and childrearing in black families and white families." American Sociological Review 67(5):747-776.

    Book Chapters and Edited Collections

    Format:

    Author, First Name. Year. "Chapter title." Pp. xx-xx in Book title, edited by Editor Name. City: Publisher.

    Example:

    Granovetter, Mark S. 1973. "The strength of weak ties." Pp. 1360-1380 in American Journal of Sociology, edited by Morris Janowitz. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Electronic Sources

    Online Journal Article:

    Author, First Name. Year. "Article title." Journal Name Volume(Issue):pages. Retrieved Month Day, Year (URL).

    Website:

    Organization. Year. "Webpage title." Retrieved Month Day, Year (URL).

    Examples:

    Smith, John A. 2023. "Digital inequality in rural communities." Rural Sociology 88(2):45-67. Retrieved October 15, 2023 (https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12345).

    U.S. Census Bureau. 2023. "Poverty statistics." Retrieved October 15, 2023 (https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty.html).

    Special Publication Types

    Dissertation/Thesis

    Johnson, Mary. 2023. "Social mobility in post-industrial society." Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Sociology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

    Government Report

    Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2023. Employment and earnings. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

    Newspaper Article

    Davis, Robert. 2023. "Education gap widens across income levels." New York Times, October 15, A1.

    Sample Reference List

    Here's an example of a properly formatted ASA reference list:

    REFERENCES

    Bourdieu, Pierre. 1986. "The forms of capital." Pp. 241-258 in Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education, edited by John Richardson. New York: Greenwood.

    Coleman, James S. 1988. "Social capital in the creation of human capital." American Journal of Sociology 94:S95-S120.

    Lareau, Annette. 2011. Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life. 2nd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Wilson, William Julius. 2012. The declining significance of race: Blacks and changing American institutions. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.