Be careful! Just because you found something on the web, it doesn’t mean you are citing a website.
Look at the material closely – is it a journal article? A newspaper article? An encyclopedia? An eBook? Use the format that best describes the item. APA treats a source as a website only when it does not fit another category.
Citing source from websites can be challenging because they are not standardized in the same way as journal articles or books. This video from Valencia East Library walks you through the process with an example from the Centre for Disease Control website.
Author
It can sometimes be difficult to find out who the author of a website is. Remember that an author can be a corporation or group, not only a specific person. Author information can sometimes be found under an "About" section on a website.
If there is no known author, you can start the citation with the title of the website instead. However, APA tends to reserve this type of citation for a very small set of sources: for example, The Bible and some dictionaries and encyclopedias such as Wikipedia (which should not form a central part of your research).
Date
The best date to use for a website is the date that the content was last updated. Otherwise look for a copyright or original publication date. Unfortunately this information may not be provided or may be hard to find. Often date information is put on the bottom of the pages of a website.
If you do not know the complete date, put as much information as you can find. For example you may have a year but no month or day.
If there is no date provided, put the letters (n.d.) in round brackets where you'd normally put the date.
Title
Titles of websites should be in plain text but use italics for webpages, articles, etc.
Retrieval Date
Most website citations in APA 7th Edition do not require a retrieval date. Unfortunately, however, determining which situations require this date can be challenging. If you use a stable, archived version of a web page, no retrieval date is needed. But if you use a web page that is continually updated, providing a retrieval date can help clarify inconsistencies between the page when you viewed it and when it was viewed by your reader.
Long URLs
If a URL is too long to fit onto one line, try to break it at a slash (/).
Note: All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.
A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.
Corporation/Group/Organization's Name. (Year webpage was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Title of page: Subtitle (if any). URL
| Example |
Canadian Cancer Society. (2013, April 14). Cancer research. http://www.cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-101/cancer-research/?region=on |
| In-Text Paraphrase |
(Corporation/Group's Name, Year) Example: (Canadian Cancer Society, 2013) |
| In-Text Quote |
(Corporation/Group's Name, year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section) Example: (Canadian Cancer Society, 2013, Behavioural research section, para. 2) Note: When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the paragraph number to identify where your quote came from. |
Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year webpage was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Title of page: Subtitle (if any). Website name. URL
| Example |
Kmec, J. (2012, March 13). Where’s the Boss? And What Counts as “Work”? The Society Pages. https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2012/03/13/wheres-the-boss-and-what-counts-as-work/ |
| In-Text Paraphrase |
(Author Last Name, Year) Example: (Kmec, 2012) |
| In-Text Quote |
(Author Last Name, Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section) Example: (Kmec, 2012, para. 1) Note: When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the paragraph number to identify where your quote came from. |
Title of page: Subtitle (if any). (Year webpage was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Name of Website. URL
| Example |
Timeline: Environmental movement (n.d.). The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/timeline/environment Or, to emphasize that the page could be updated, include a retrieval date: Timeline: Environmental movement (n.d.). The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 20, 2020, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/timeline/environment Note: For further explanation of retrieval dates, see the Tips section on this page. |
| In-Text Paraphrase |
(Shortened title, Year) Example: (Timeline: Environmental, n.d) |
| In-Text Quote |
(Shortened title, Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section) Example: (Timeline: Environmental, n.d, Canadian National Parks Act section) Note: When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph to identify where your quote came from. In this example, there is only one paragraph under the specific heading, so no paragraph number is needed. |
Corporation/Group/Organization's Name. (Year report was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Title of report: Subtitle if given (Pub. No. Publication Number if given). Website Name if different from author. URL
| Example |
College of Nurses of Ontario. (2009). Practice standard: Ethics (Pub. No. 41034). http://www.cno.org/docs/prac/41034_Ethics.pdf Note: If there was a chapter or section number instead of a publication number, it would be included after the title in the same place as the publication number: (Chapter xx) or (Section xx). |
| In-Text Paraphrase |
(Corporation/Group's Name, Year) Example: (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2009) |
| In-Text Quote |
(Corporation/Group's Name, Year, p. Page Number) Example: (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2009, p. 4) |
Name of Government Department, Agency or Committee. (Year of Publication, Month Day). Title of document: Subtitle if given (edition if given and is not first edition). Publisher if different from author. URL
| Example |
Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services. (2010, April 27). Your preschool child's speech and language development. http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/topics/earlychildhood/ speechlanguage/brochure_preschool.aspx |
| In-Text Paraphrase |
(Name of Government Department, Agency or Committee, Year) Example: (Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services, 2010) |
| In-Text Quote |
(Name of Government Department, Agency or Committee, Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section) (Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services, 2010, By Age Five section, para. 4) Note: When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph to identify where your quote came from. |
Author's Last Name, First intial. Second Initial if Given or Username if real name not provided. (Year blog post was published, Month Day). Title of blog post. Title of Blog. URL
| Example |
Dobbs, D. (2012, June 13). Fun in cities: Feature, not bug. Wired Science. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/06/fun-in-cities-feature-not-bug/ Note: If the blog author's real name is not provided, use their username instead. |
| In-Text Paraphrase |
(Author's Last Name, Year) Example: (Dobbs, 2012) |
| In-Text Quote |
(Author's Last Name, Year, Section Heading section if given) Example: (Dobbs, 2012) Note: This blog post has no page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings so this information is left out of the in-text citation. |
Title of entry. (Year article was edited, Month Day). In Wikipedia. URL
Note: Cite the archived version of the page you used. To access this information on Wikipedia select "View history," choose the version you used, and copy its URL.
Wikipedia may not be considered an acceptable source for a college or university assignment. Be sure to evaluate the content carefully and check your assignment.
| Example |
Veterinary medicine. (2019, December 22). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Veterinary_medicine&oldid=931891450 |
| In-Text Paraphrase |
("Title of Entry," Year) Example: ("Veterinary Medicine," 2019) |
| In-Text Quote |
("Title of Entry," Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number) Example: ("Veterinary Medicine," n.d., Paraveterinary Workers section, para. 1) Note: When used in an in-text citation, the title of the entry should be in quotation marks, with each word starting with a capital letter. When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph in that section to identify where your quote came from. |
Corporation/Group/Organization Name. (Year website was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Title of website. URL
Note: To mention a web site in general, do not create a reference list entry or an in-text citation.
| Example |
Jam Jar. (n.d.). Jam Jar Commercial. http://www.jam-jar.ca/commercial |
| In-Text Paraphrase |
(Corporation/Group Name, Year) Example: (Jam Jar, n.d.) Note: Since this website does not include any publication date, the date information is written as n.d. (no date). |
| In-Text Quote |
(Corporation/Group Name, Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section) Example: (Jam Jar, n.d., Our Story section) Note: When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph in that section to identify where your quote came from. In this example there is only one paragraph under the specific heading, so no paragraph number is needed. |
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General mention of a web site (No specific information from the site is used) |
Example: The design team created a web site for Jam Jar (https://www.jam-jar.ca/). Note: If no specific information is drawn from a web site, do not create a reference list entry or an in-text citation. Instead, mention the name of the web site in-text and include the url in brackets. |
Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year website was updated/published, Month Day if given). Title of website. URL
Note: To mention a web site in general, do not create a reference list entry or an in-text citation.
| Example |
Mabillard, A. (2011, December 29). Shakespeare online. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/ |
| In-Text Paraphrase |
(Author's Last Name, Year) Example: (Mabillard, 2011) |
| In-Text Quote |
(Author's Last Name, Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section) Example: (Mabillard, 2011, Elizabethan Fashion Faux Pas section) Note: When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph in that section to identify where your quote came from. In this example there is only one paragraph under the specific heading, so no paragraph number is needed. |
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General mention of a web site (No specific information from the site is used) |
Example: Amanda Mabillard maintains the Shakespeare Online website (http://www.shakespeare-online.com/). Note: If no specific information is drawn from a web site, do not create a reference list entry or an in-text citation. Instead, mention the name of the web site in-text and include the url in brackets.
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