APA 7: Web Sources

Webpage from a news site

Webpage created by an organization, organization as author

Authored information on a website

Publication from a government webpage, agency as the author

CITING MULTIPLE PAGES FROM ONE SITE?

• You must include a reference entry for each page you cite so your reader can easily locate that information.
• If the pages have the same author and year, place a letter next to the year in both the in-text citation and the reference entry (for example, 2018a). 
• While in the reference list you'll include the full date available, in-text citations only include the year.
• If you cite multiple pages with the same author and there is no publishing date (n.d.), add a letter to the reference and in-text citation (n.d.-a, n.d.-b)

AUTHOR: List the author’s name last name first, then initials. In some cases, an agency or organization is the author. For example The American Psychological Association. Always spell out the author's name on the reference page. For example, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention instead of CDC.

Can’t find the author? Check the “About us” page or ask your instructor or a librarian for help.

DATE: Don’t use the copyright date for the entire website. Instead, look for the date the particular page or document was published or updated; if multiple dates are listed, use the most recent date.

• Do not use the "last reviewed" date as the information may not have been updated and made current.
• Remember only to use the YEAR of publication for in-text citations. 
• When citing multiple sources with the same author and date, use letters after the date to differentiate citations. For example: 2020a, 2020b.

NO DATE: If there is no date, use (n.d.). If you cite multiple pages with the same author and there is no publishing date (n.d.), add a letter to the reference and in-text citation (n.d.-a, n.d.-b)

TITLE: Italicize the title of the page and only capitalize the first word, proper nouns, and the first word after a colon.

DOCUMENT TYPE: To help identify the work for your reader, indicate the document type in brackets if it is available – for example, [Brochure], [Infographic], [Fact sheet].

GOVERNMENT REPORT NUMBERS: Some government agencies assign a document number to reports and other materials. Include that number in parenthesis after the title.

WEBSITE NAME (PUBLISHER): If available, include the website name; however, if the source name and the author are the same, you only need to list the source once in the author's position.       

GOVERNMENT AGENCY (PUBLISHER): Many government reports are published by agencies of large departments. Always list the authors (or if no author, agency) that wrote the report as the first element in the citation; include the "publisher" after the title using this format:   Overall department, next department, smallest department. For example, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health.

RETRIEVAL DATE: Per The Publication Manual, p. 290, it is unnecessary to include a retrieval date unless the information is likely to be moved, changed, or rapidly updated. When adding the retrieval date, use the format Retrieved Month Day, Year, from https://xxxxx

RETRIEVAL STATEMENT: For most citations, do not include the phrase “Retrieved from” before the URL (see “Retrieval Date” above).                 

SOURCE URL: For ease of retrieval, end the citation with the complete URL for the page you are referencing. URLs can be hyperlinked, so it is not necessary to remove the link. DO NOT put a period after the URL. You CAN shorten long URLS using a site like tinyurl.com

Kamenetz, A. (2020, April 22). How cell phones keep people learning around the world. NPR.

     https://www.npr.org/2020/04/22/840337498/how-cell-phones-can-keep-people-learning-around-the-world

• Use this example ONLY if you retrieved an article from a news website such as CNN, NPR, HuffPost, etc. If you are citing an article from an online journal or magazine, see section A of this handout.
• For the in-text citation, only use the YEAR, not the entire date (Kamenetz, 2020).

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Getting your weight under control [Fact sheet].

     https://www.apa.org/topics/weight-control

• Since there is no date for the document’s creation or update, n.d. is used for the date.
• The site indicates this is a fact sheet, so note the format information in brackets after the page source. Other document forms include [Brochure], [White paper], [Policy brief], [Press release], and more.
• It’s not necessary to include the website name as the source, as it’s the same as the author.

Smith, M., Robinson, L., & Segal, R. (2019, July). Age-related memory loss. HelpGuide.

     https://www.helpguide.org/articles/alzheimers-dementia-aging/age-related-memory-loss.htm

• In this case, the website name, “HelpGuide,” is NOT the same as the author, so include it.

Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare. (2015). Public health service policy on humane care and use of laboratory

     animals (NIH Publication No. 15-8013). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes

     of Health. https://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/references/PHSPolicyLabAnimals.pdf

• For the author, use the main agency that “wrote” the work.

• If the agency provides a publication number, include it in parenthesis after the title.

• List the overarching departments as publishers, starting with the agency that oversees the rest.