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.
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 7 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 appear only on the periphery 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 7 do not require a retrieval date. 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 (/).
Corporation/Group/Organization's Name. (Year webpage was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Title of page: Subtitle (if any). URL
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Example |
American Cancer Society. (2020, December 3). Study: More than 12% of people newly diagnosed with lung cancer never smoked cigarettes. https://www.cancer.org/latest-news/study-more-than-twelve-percent-of-people-newly-diagnosed-with-lung-cancer-never-smoked.html |
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In-Text Paraphrase |
(Corporation/Group's Name, Year) Example: (American Cancer Society, 2020) |
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In-Text Quote |
(Corporation/Group's Name, year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section) Example: (American Cancer Society, 2020, 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
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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 |
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In-Text Paraphrase |
(Author Last Name, Year) Example: (Kmec, 2012) |
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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
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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. |
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In-Text Paraphrase |
(Shortened title, Year) Example: (Timeline: Environmental, n.d.) |
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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
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Example |
American Nurses Association. (2019, August 2). Coalition for patients rights fact sheet (Pub. No. 414). https://patientsrightscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Fact-Sheet-8_2_19.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). |
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In-Text Paraphrase |
(Corporation/Group's Name, Year) Example: (American Nurses Association, 2019) |
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In-Text Quote |
(Corporation/Group's Name, Year, p. Page Number) Example: (American Nurses Association, 2019, 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
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Example |
Texas Health and Human Services. (2021, January 27). Child care. https://hhs.texas.gov/services/safety/child-care |
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In-Text Paraphrase |
(Name of Government Department, Agency or Committee, Year) Example: (Texas Health and Human Services, 2021) |
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In-Text Quote |
(Name of Government Department, Agency or Committee, Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section) (Texas Health and Human Services, 2021, Child care licensing 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
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Example |
Dobbs, D. (2020, June 13). Fun in cities: Feature, not bug. Wired Science. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2020/06/fun-in-cities-feature-not-bug/ Note: If the blog author's real name is not provided, use their username instead. |
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In-Text Paraphrase |
(Author's Last Name, Year) Example: (Dobbs, 2020) |
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In-Text Quote |
(Author's Last Name, Year, Section Heading section if given) Example: (Dobbs, 2020) 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.
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Example |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. (2021, January 27). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tampa_Bay_Buccaneers |
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In-Text Paraphrase |
("Title of Entry," Year) Example: ("Tampa Bay Buccaneers," 2021) |
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In-Text Quote |
("Title of Entry," Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number) Example: ("Tampa Bay Buccaneers," 2021, Pro Bowl selections 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 website in general, do not create a reference list entry or an in-text citation.
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Example |
Kraft Foods. (n.d.). Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. https://www.kraftmacandcheese.com/home |
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In-Text Paraphrase |
(Corporation/Group Name, Year) Example: (Kraft Foods, n.d.) Note: Since this website does not include any publication date, the date information is written as n.d. (no date). |
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In-Text Quote |
(Corporation/Group Name, Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section) Example: (Kraft Foods, 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 website (No specific information from the site is used) |
Example: The design team created a web site for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (https://www.kraftmacandcheese.com/home). 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 parentheses. |
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 website in general, do not create a reference list entry or an in-text citation.
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Example |
Kim, L. (2021, January 4). Leonard Kim: Personal branding for humans. https://leonardkim.com/ |
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In-Text Paraphrase |
(Author's Last Name, Year) Example: (Kim, 2021) |
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In-Text Quote |
(Author's Last Name, Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section) Example: (Kim, 2021, Are you tired of faking it? section, para. 3) 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 are four paragraphs under the specific heading, so the third paragraph number is needed. |
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General mention of a website (No specific information from the site is used) |
Example: Leonard Kim maintains a human branding website (https://leonardkim.com/). Note: If no specific information is drawn from a website, 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 parentheses.
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First Time Paraphrased |
Second and Subsequent Times Paraphrased |
First Time Quoting |
Second and Subsequent Times Quoting |
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Two |
(Case & Gates, 2021) |
(Case & Gates, 2021) |
(Case & Gates, 2021, p. 57) |
(Case & Gates, 2021, p. 57) |
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Three to Five |
(Case, Gates, Hayek, Smith, & Raash, 2021) |
(Case et al., 2021) |
(Case, Gates, Hayekm, Smith, & Raash, 2021, p. 57) |
(Case et al., 2021, p. 57) |
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Six or More |
(Case et al., 2021) |
(Case et al., 2021) |
(Case et al., 2021, p. 57) |
(Case et al., 2021, p. 57) |