Formatting Web Pages and Sites:
Reference and Text Citations
Duration: 4 min. 45 sec.
Web Page with No Author – Title Goes
First
Web title
Survey: More Americans get news from the Internet
than newspapers or radio. (2010). Retrieved
March 16, 2010. from http://www.cnn.com/2010
/TECH/03/01/social.network.news/index.html
• The title of the web page goes first when there is no
author.
• The title is not italicized.
• Capitalize the first word in the title and subtitle as well
as any proper names such as Americans.
• End the title with a period.
Web page, no author. Frequently Asked Questions about APA style.
http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/web-page-no-author.aspx
Date of Publication
Date of Publication
Survey: More Americans get news from the Internet
than newspapers or radio. (2010). Retrieved
March 16, 2010. from http://www.cnn.com/2010
/TECH/03/01/social.network.news/index.html
• When there is no author for a web page, the title moves
to the first position of the reference entry.
• Enclose the date in parentheses and follow by a period.
• Use (n.d.) if there is no date.
Retrieval Statement
Survey: More Americans get news from the Internet
than newspapers or radio. (2010). Retrieved
March 16, 2010, from http://www.cnn.com/2010
/TECH/03/01/social.network.news/index.html
Retrieval statement
- Start with the words “Retrieved from …”
- Include the date of retrieval.
- Include a comma after the year.
- Provide the complete URL starting with http://
- If the web address wraps to the next line, break the address
before most punctuation.
- Do not include a period after the URL.
Text Citation of Web Page
Newspaper circulation continues to plummet(“Survey:
More Americans,” 2010).
Text citation
• Enclose the text citation in parentheses before period.
• Cite in text the first few words of the reference list entry (usually
the title) and the year.
• Capitalize all the important words in title or abbreviated title
• Use double quotation marks around the title or abbreviated title:
(“Survey: More Americans," 2010).
• End the sentence with a period after the parentheses.
Text Citation for Entire Web Site
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools website
provides accreditation standards for the region (http://
www.sacs.org).
Site URL
• It is sufficient to give the address of the site in just the text when
citing an entire website rather that a specific document on that site.
• Include http:// in the URL, remove the hyperlink, and do not end
with a period.
Frequently asked questions about APA style.
http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/cite-website.aspx
Report on Web -- Authors
Wirl, J., Chou, S., Provasnik, S., Rooney, P., Sen,
A., & Tabin, R.(2003). The condition of education:
2003 (Report No. NCES 2003-067). Retrieved from the
National Center for Educational Statistics website:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/2003067.pdf
Publisher information
• List the six authors with the last names, followed, but the first initial.
• Include an ampersand between the last two authors.
• Insert a comma before the ampersand.
Date of Publication
Wirl, J., Chou, S., Provasnik, S., Rooney, P., Sen,
A., & Tabin, R.(2003). The condition of education:
2003 (Report No. NCES 2003-067). Retrieved from the
National Center for Educational Statistics website:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/2003067.pdf
Publisher information
• The date of publication goes in parentheses and is followed by a period.
Report Title and Number
Wirl, J., Chou, S., Provasnik, S., Rooney, P., Sen,
A., & Tabin, R.(2003). The condition of education:
2003 (Report No. NCES 2003-067). Retrieved from the
National Center for Educational Statistics website:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/2003067.pdf
Report title and
report number
• Unlike a web site or web page, the title of the report is italicized.
• If there is a report number, put it in parentheses after the title and
before the period.
• Do not italicize the report number.
Retrieval Statement
Wirl, J., Chou, S., Provasnik, S., Rooney, P., Sen,
A., & Tabin, R.(2003). The condition of education:
2003 (Report No. NCES 2003-067). Retrieved from the
National Center for Educational Statistics website:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/2003067.pdf
Publisher information
• Unlike a report published in print, you do not include the location and
publisher information if the report was retrieved online.
• Instead, provide a retrieval statement. Identify the publisher as part of
the retrieval statement unless the publisher was identified as the author.
• Include http:// in the URL.
• Do not include a period after the URL.
Report Cited in Text Citation
The National Center of Educational Statistics reported
that academic achievement in primary grades is improving
(The Condition of Education, 2003).
Text citation
• When there is no author, cite the first few words of the reference
list entry (usually the title).
• The report title is italicized in the in-text citation just like a book
when there is no author, and follow by a comma.
• Provide the date of publication.
• Enclose in parentheses and follow by a period.
APA (6th ed.)
See APA’s FAQ page on formatting for an entire web site:
http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/cite-website.aspx
See APA’s FAQ page on formatting a web page with no
author -- http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/web-pageno-author.aspx
See the APA manual, pp. 205-206, for reports found on
the web.
Examples #31-33 on pp. 205–206.