Health Sciences Library
CITING ELECTRONIC TEXTS: ADAPTATION OF APA STYLE
Source used for bibliographical forms is: American Psychological Association. (2010).
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC:
Author. Also note the arrangement of the author's name, and initials in the following
bibliographical examples. Bibliographical information can be obtained from the on-line
catalog, the title page of book, or journal table of contents.
Authors using and citing internet sources should observe the following two guidelines:
1. Direct readers as closely as possible to the information being cited – whenever
possible, reference specific documents rather then home or menu pages.
2. Provide addresses that currently work.
EXAMPLES OF REFERENCES TO ELECTRONIC PERIODICAL SOURCES
Abstract as secondary source
King, N. S. (2011). Permanent post-concussion symptoms after mild head injury, Brain Injury, 25,
462-470. Abstract retrieved from PsycINFO database. (Accession No. 2011-07379-004)
Journal article with DOI
Lamb, B. W., & Nagpal, K. (2009). Patient safety. Importance of near misses. BMJ, 339, 3032.
doi: 10.1136/bmj.b3032
Journal article with DOI, advance online publication
Osvath, S., Quynh, L. M., & Smeller, L. (2009). Thermodynamics and kinetics of the pressure
unfolding of phosphoglycerate kinase. Biochemistry. Advance online publication.
doi:10.1021/bi900922f
Journal article without DOI (when DOI is not available)
Mora, P., & Carta, A. (2009). Ocular manifestations of Lyme borreliosis in Europe. International
Journal of Medical Sciences, 6(3), 124-125. Retrieved from http://www.medsci.org
Journal supplement
Patterson, M., Mechan, P., Hughes, N., & Nelson, A. (2009). Safe vertical transfer of patient with
extremity cast or splint. Orthopaedic Nursing, 28(Suppl. 2), S18-S23. doi:
10.1097/NOR.0b013e318199d1bb
Online magazine article
Benjamin, L. T., Jr. (2009, September). Psychoanalysis, American style: One hundred years ago
this month, Freud made his first and only visit to the United States. Monitor on Psychology,
40(8). Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/
Online newspaper article
Herszenhorn, D. M. (2009, September 14). Showdown week for the Baucus Six. The New York
Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com
EXAMPLES OF REFERENCES TO OTHER ELECTRONIC SOURCES
Conference paper abstract retrieved online
Magee, R. (2011, August). Color and cognition: The influence of Web colors on cognitive inputs.
Paper presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
Conference, St. Louis, MO. Abstract retrieved from http://www.aejmc.com/home/2011/06/
ctec-2-11-abstracts
Corporate author, government report
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute. (2008). How asthma-friendly is your school? (NIH Publication No.
55-830). Retrieved from http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/lung/asthma/friendhi.htm
Corporate author, task force report filed online
American Psychological Association, Task Force on the Interface Between Psychology and
Global Climate Change. (2009). Psychology and global climate change: Addressing a multifaceted phenomenon and set of challenges. Retrieved from
http://www.apa.org/science/climate-change
Data set
Pew Hispanic Center. (2007). Changing Faiths: Latinos and the transformation of American
religion [Data file and code book]. Retrieved from http://pewhispanic.org/datasets/
Doctoral dissertation, from an institutional database
Chen, S. (2008). Tumor-targeting drug delivery system of anticancer agent (Doctoral
dissertation). Retrieved from http://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/
Electronic version of a print book
Maclise, J. (1859). Surgical anatomy [Adobe Digital Editions version]. Retrieved from
http://www.gutenberg.org
Entry in an online reference work
MacFarlane, J. (2009). Logical constants. In E.N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of
philosophy (Fall 2009 ed.). Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/logical-constants/
Entry in an online reference work, no author or editor
Fallacy. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (11th ed.). Retrieved from
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fallacy
Podcast
Zeff, T. (Producer). (2009, July 16). The highly sensitive person [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from
http://www.shrinkrapradio.com/
Review of a book
Ellison, P. T. (2009, September 4). Evolutionary biology for doctors [Review of the book
Principles of evolutionary medicine, by P. Gluckman, A. Beedle & M. Hanson]. Science, 325,
1207. doi:10.1126/science.1179152
Video blog post
Harrison, S. (2009, September 28). The story of charity: water: The 2009 September campaign
trailer [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rphhfy4qCfc