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APA Citation Guide

Butler's guide to APA citations

FORMATTING ONLINE SOURCES ON YOUR REFERENCES PAGE

Online sources frequently don't have the same types of publication information that you'd find for a print source. Use as much information as you have.

Other formatting requirements:

  • Your entire paper, including your References page, should be double-spaced.
  • Alphabetize your References list by the first word of the citation (usually the author's last name).
  • Indent the second & following lines of the citation 0.5 inches (a hanging indent).
  • Only capitalize the first word of the document title. If there is a colon in the title, capitalize the first word after the colon.
  • For electronic sources, do not include a period after the DOI number or URL.
  • Dates: Use n.d. (no date) when a publication date is not available.
  • Do not include the date you retrieved the source unless it is likely to change.

SECTION / ARTICLE FROM A WEBSITE

Usually, you’ll use only part of a website (a section or article – see the next example). Only cite an entire website if you really did use all of it.

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of document. Web Site name. URL

Cush, A. (2016, June 24). Hours after Brexit vote, leader of "Leave" movement admits one major promise was a sham. Gawker. http://gawker.com/hours-after-brexit-vote-leader-of-leave-movement-adm-1782570341

If the author is an organization instead of an individual, use the name of the organization where the author should be and omit it from where the site name usually goes.

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2015). Occupational Outlook Handbook. http://www.bls.gov/ooh/

BLOG POST

The use of screen names is acceptable for anonymous bloggers. In the example below, the Bloggess' real identity, Jenny Lawson, is well-known. Since she still blogs using the screen name Bloggess, either would be acceptable as the author's name.

Last Name, First Initial(s). (Year, Month Day). Title of blog post. Publisher. Full URL of Blog Post

Bruce, S. (2020, February 5). Teaching with care: A relational approach to individual research consultations. In The Library With The Lead Pipe. http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2020/teaching-with-care/

YOUTUBE VIDEO

Lushi, K. [Korab Lushi]. (2016, July 3). Albatross culture 1 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AMrJRQDPjk&t=148s

For most videos, the authors will be the producer and, if available, the director. For a TV episode, the authors will be the person who wrote the episode and the person who directed the episode. 

VIDEO FROM A DATABASE

Last Name, A. (Producer), & Last Name, B. (Director). (Year). Title of video [Video]. Publisher. URL

History Education (Producer). (2005). The presidents: 1865-1885 [Video}. Films on Demand. http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=95465&xtid=43177.

VIDEO FROM YOUTUBE OR OTHER STREAMING SERVICES

Last Name, F. M. [Username]. (Year, Month Date). Title of video [Video]. Streaming Service. URL

Gage, G. (2015). How to control someone else’s arm with your brain [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/greg_gage_how_to_control_someone_else_s_arm_with_your_brain

SciShow. (2016). Sprites, jets, and glowing balls: The science of lightning [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzNk4w2k2h0

PODCAST EPISODE

Last Name, First Initial(s). (Host). (Year, Month Day). Title of episode [Audio podcast episode]. In Title of podcast. Publisher. URL of episode

Judge, P. (Host). (2015, June 26). Ex libris [Audio podcast episode]. Criminal.  http://thisiscriminal.com/episode-22-ex-libris-6-26-2015/

VISUAL WORKS

Artist Last Name, First Initial(s). (Year). Title of work [Format of work]. Publisher. URL

van Gogh, V. (1889). Starry night [Painting]. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VanGogh-starry_night_ballance1.jpg

Edison's greatest marvel--The vitascope [Photo]. (1896). Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2003689462/