APA referencing in LaTeX using Overleaf

I’m now very used to the referencing style used in education journals (e.g. “according to Author (1999)”), to the point where the numbered style more commonly used in science (e.g. “according to [1]”) really annoys me!

This year I’m supervising three undergraduate projects, and I’ve asked them to use the APA style for referencing in their reports.

It took me a while to find a way of doing this in LaTeX that I was happy with, so to smooth the path for my students I shared this version of the project template, where I’d made all the necessary changes to implement APA style:

https://www.overleaf.com/read/yjkyzmpmkcdm

The key parts are as follows.

In the preamble:

% formatting of hyperlinks
\usepackage{url}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\hypersetup{
    colorlinks,
    linkcolor={red!50!black},
    citecolor={blue!50!black},
    urlcolor={blue!80!black}
}

% Use biblatex for references - change style= as appropriate
\usepackage[natbib=true,backend=biber,sorting=nyt,style=apa]{biblatex}
\renewcommand*{\bibfont}{\fontsize{10}{12}\selectfont}

% add your references to this file
\addbibresource{references.bib}

At the end of the document:

\printbibliography{}

And make sure to add references.bib to your project, with all the bibtex references. I’ve found Mybib.com a really useful tool for this, though I mainly use Zotero as my reference manager (and this can import easily into Overleaf).

5 Replies to “APA referencing in LaTeX using Overleaf”

  1. It’s interesting how our preferences for referencing styles can vary depending on our exposure and familiarity with different formats. It sounds like you’ve become quite accustomed to the style commonly used in education journals, where authors are referenced by their names and publication years. The APA style, with its specific guidelines for citations and references, is certainly a popular choice in academia and provides a structured approach to citing sources. It’s great that you’ve introduced your undergraduate students to the APA style for their project reports, as it will help them develop important academic skills and adhere to established conventions in their field.

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