How To Write Referernces For A Paper . Format each reference according to the appropriate style guide. List the title of the research paper. 003 Reference Essays References Writing Help Thatsnotus from www.thatsnotus.com Start with the last name, followed by a comma and the initials, separated by a period and space. You should write the surname (last name) first followed by any initials. Author's full name, inverted so that last name appears first.