Frequently asked questions
How do i cite a source with no author in apa style.
When no individual author name is listed, but the source can clearly be attributed to a specific organization—e.g., a press release by a charity, a report by an agency, or a page from a company’s website—use the organization’s name as the author in the reference entry and APA in-text citations .
When no author at all can be determined—e.g. a collaboratively edited wiki or an online article published anonymously—use the title in place of the author. In the in-text citation, put the title in quotation marks if it appears in plain text in the reference list, and in italics if it appears in italics in the reference list. Shorten it if necessary.
Frequently asked questions: APA Style
APA footnotes use superscript numbers and should appear in numerical order. You can place footnotes at the bottom of the relevant pages, or on a separate footnotes page at the end:
- For footnotes at the bottom of the page, you can use your word processor to automatically insert footnotes .
- For footnotes at the end of the text in APA, place them on a separate page entitled “Footnotes,” after the r eference page . Indent the first line of each footnote, and double-space them.
For both approaches, place a space between the superscript number and the footnote text.
APA Style requires you to use APA in-text citations , not footnotes, to cite sources .
However, you can use APA footnotes sparingly for two purposes:
- Giving additional information
- Providing copyright attribution
Yes, APA language guidelines state that you should always use the serial comma (aka Oxford comma ) in your writing.
This means including a comma before the word “and” at the end of a list of three or more items: “spelling, grammar, and punctuation.” Doing this consistently tends to make your lists less ambiguous.
Yes, it’s perfectly valid to write sentences in the passive voice . The APA language guidelines do caution against overusing the passive voice, because it can obscure your meaning or be needlessly long-winded. For this reason, default to the active voice in most cases.
The passive voice is most useful when the point of the sentence is just to state what was done, not to emphasize who did it. For example, “The projector was mounted on the wall” is better than “James and I mounted the projector on the wall” if it’s not particularly important who mounted the projector.
Yes, APA language guidelines encourage you to use the first-person pronouns “I” or “we” when referring to yourself or a group including yourself in your writing.
In APA Style, you should not refer to yourself in the third person. For example, do not refer to yourself as “the researcher” or “the author” but simply as “I” or “me.” Referring to yourself in the third person is still common practice in some academic fields, but APA Style rejects this convention.
If you cite several sources by the same author or group of authors, you’ll distinguish between them in your APA in-text citations using the year of publication.
If you cite multiple sources by the same author(s) at the same point , you can just write the author name(s) once and separate the different years with commas, e.g., (Smith, 2020, 2021).
To distinguish between sources with the same author(s) and the same publication year, add a different lowercase letter after the year for each source, e.g., (Smith, 2020, 2021a, 2021b). Add the same letters to the corresponding reference entries .
According to the APA guidelines, you should report enough detail on inferential statistics so that your readers understand your analyses.
Report the following for each hypothesis test:
- the test statistic value
- the degrees of freedom
- the exact p value (unless it is less than 0.001)
- the magnitude and direction of the effect
You should also present confidence intervals and estimates of effect sizes where relevant.
The number of decimal places to report depends on what you’re reporting. Generally, you should aim to round numbers while retaining precision. It’s best to present fewer decimal digits to aid easy understanding.
Use one decimal place for:
- Standard deviations
- Descriptive statistics based on discrete data
Use two decimal places for:
- Correlation coefficients
- Proportions
- Inferential test statistics such as t values, F values, and chi-squares.
No, including a URL is optional in APA Style reference entries for legal sources (e.g. court cases , laws ). It can be useful to do so to aid the reader in retrieving the source, but it’s not required, since the other information included should be enough to locate it.
Generally, you should identify a law in an APA reference entry by its location in the United States Code (U.S.C.).
But if the law is either spread across various sections of the code or not featured in the code at all, include the public law number in addition to information on the source you accessed the law in, e.g.:
You should report methods using the past tense , even if you haven’t completed your study at the time of writing. That’s because the methods section is intended to describe completed actions or research.
In your APA methods section , you should report detailed information on the participants, materials, and procedures used.
- Describe all relevant participant or subject characteristics, the sampling procedures used and the sample size and power .
- Define all primary and secondary measures and discuss the quality of measurements.
- Specify the data collection methods, the research design and data analysis strategy, including any steps taken to transform the data and statistical analyses.
With APA legal citations, it’s recommended to cite all the reporters (publications reporting cases) in which a court case appears. To cite multiple reporters, just separate them with commas in your reference entry . This is called parallel citation .
Don’t repeat the name of the case, court, or year; just list the volume, reporter, and page number for each citation. For example:
In APA Style , when you’re citing a recent court case that has not yet been reported in print and thus doesn’t have a specific page number, include a series of three underscores (___) where the page number would usually appear:
In APA style, statistics can be presented in the main text or as tables or figures . To decide how to present numbers, you can follow APA guidelines:
- To present three or fewer numbers, try a sentence,
- To present between 4 and 20 numbers, try a table,
- To present more than 20 numbers, try a figure.
Since these are general guidelines, use your own judgment and feedback from others for effective presentation of numbers.
In an APA results section , you should generally report the following:
- Participant flow and recruitment period.
- Missing data and any adverse events.
- Descriptive statistics about your samples.
- Inferential statistics , including confidence intervals and effect sizes.
- Results of any subgroup or exploratory analyses, if applicable.
When citing a podcast episode in APA Style , the podcast’s host is listed as author , accompanied by a label identifying their role, e.g. Glass, I. (Host).
When citing a whole podcast series, if different episodes have different hosts, list the executive producer(s) instead. Again, include a label identifying their role, e.g. Lechtenberg, S. (Producer).
Like most style guides , APA recommends listing the book of the Bible you’re citing in your APA in-text citation , in combination with chapter and verse numbers. For example:
Books of the Bible may be abbreviated to save space; a list of standard abbreviations can be found here . Page numbers are not used in Bible citations.
Yes, in the 7th edition of APA Style , versions of the Bible are treated much like other books ; you should include the edition you used in your reference list .
Previously, in the 6th edition of the APA manual, it was recommended to just use APA 6 in-text citations to refer to the Bible, and omit it from the reference list.
To make it easy for the reader to find the YouTube video , list the person or organization who uploaded the video as the author in your reference entry and APA in-text citation .
If this isn’t the same person responsible for the content of the video, you might want to make this clear in the text. For example:
When you need to highlight a specific moment in a video or audio source, use a timestamp in your APA in-text citation . Just include the timestamp from the start of the part you’re citing. For example:
To include a direct quote in APA , follow these rules:
- Quotes under 40 words are placed in double quotation marks .
- Quotes of 40 words or more are formatted as block quote .
- The author, year, and page number are included in an APA in-text citation .
APA doesn’t require you to include a list of tables or a list of figures . However, it is advisable to do so if your text is long enough to feature a table of contents and it includes a lot of tables and/or figures .
A list of tables and list of figures appear (in that order) after your table of contents, and are presented in a similar way.
Copyright information can usually be found wherever the table or figure was published. For example, for a diagram in a journal article , look on the journal’s website or the database where you found the article. Images found on sites like Flickr are listed with clear copyright information.
If you find that permission is required to reproduce the material, be sure to contact the author or publisher and ask for it.
If you adapt or reproduce a table or figure from another source, you should include that source in your APA reference list . You should also include copyright information in the note for the table or figure, and include an APA in-text citation when you refer to it.
Tables and figures you created yourself, based on your own data, are not included in the reference list.
An APA in-text citation is placed before the final punctuation mark in a sentence.
- The company invested over 40,000 hours in optimizing its algorithm (Davis, 2011) .
- A recent poll suggests that EU membership “would be backed by 55 percent of Danish voters” in a referendum (Levring, 2018) .
In an APA in-text citation , you use the phrase “ as cited in ” if you want to cite a source indirectly (i.e., if you cannot find the original source).
Parenthetical citation: (Brown, 1829, as cited in Mahone, 2018) Narrative citation: Brown (1829, as cited in Mahone, 2018) states that…
On the reference page , you only include the secondary source (Mahone, 2018).
Popular word processors like Microsoft Word and Google Docs can order lists in alphabetical order, but they don’t follow the APA Style alphabetization guidelines .
If you use Scribbr’s APA Citation Generator to create citations, references are ordered automatically based on the APA guidelines, taking into account all the exceptions.
Order numerals as though they were spelled out:
- “20 tips to relax” is ordered on the “T” of “Twenty”.
- “100 cities you should visit” is ordered on the “O” of “One hundred”.
Read more about alphabetizing the APA reference page .
If the author of a work is unknown, order the reference by its title. Disregard the words “A”, “An”, and “The” at the beginning of the title.
- The privacy concerns around social media
- Teens, social media, and privacy
Yes, if relevant you can and should include APA in-text citations in your appendices . Use author-date citations as you do in the main text.
Any sources cited in your appendices should appear in your reference list . Do not create a separate reference list for your appendices.
When you include more than one appendix in an APA Style paper , they should be labeled “Appendix A,” “Appendix B,” and so on.
When you only include a single appendix, it is simply called “Appendix” and referred to as such in the main text.
Appendices in an APA Style paper appear right at the end, after the reference list and after your tables and figures if you’ve also included these at the end.
An appendix contains information that supplements the reader’s understanding of your research but is not essential to it. For example:
- Interview transcripts
- Questionnaires
- Detailed descriptions of equipment
Something is only worth including as an appendix if you refer to information from it at some point in the text (e.g. quoting from an interview transcript). If you don’t, it should probably be removed.
If you adapt or reproduce a table or figure from another source, you should include that source in your APA reference list . You should also acknowledge the original source in the note or caption for the table or figure.
APA doesn’t require you to include a list of tables or a list of figures . However, it is advisable to do so if your text is long enough to feature a table of contents and it includes a lot of tables and/or figures.
A list of tables and list of figures appear (in that order) after your table of contents , and are presented in a similar way.
In an APA Style paper , use a table or figure when it’s a clearer way to present important data than describing it in your main text. This is often the case when you need to communicate a large amount of information.
Before including a table or figure in your text, always reflect on whether it’s useful to your readers’ understanding:
- Could this information be quickly summarized in the text instead?
- Is it important to your arguments?
- Does the table or figure require too much explanation to be efficient?
If the data you need to present only contains a few relevant numbers, try summarizing it in the text (potentially including full data in an appendix ). If describing the data makes your text overly long and difficult to read, a table or figure may be the best option.
In an APA Style paper , the abstract is placed on a separate page after the title page (page 2).
An APA abstract is around 150–250 words long. However, always check your target journal’s guidelines and don’t exceed the specified word count.
In APA Style , all sources that are not retrievable for the reader are cited as personal communications . In other words, if your source is private or inaccessible to the audience of your paper , it’s a personal communication.
Common examples include conversations, emails, messages, letters, and unrecorded interviews or performances.
Interviews you conducted yourself are not included in your reference list , but instead cited in the text as personal communications .
Published or recorded interviews are included in the reference list. Cite them in the usual format of the source type (for example, a newspaper article , website or YouTube video ).
To cite a public post from social media , use the first 20 words of the post as a title, include the date it was posted and a URL, and mention the author’s username if they have one:
Dorsey, J. [@jack]. (2018, March 1). We’re committing Twitter to help increase the collective health, openness, and civility of public conversation, and to hold ourselves publicly [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/jack/status/969234275420655616
To cite content from social media that is not publicly accessible (e.g. direct messages, posts from private groups or user profiles), cite it as a personal communication in the text, but do not include it in the reference list :
When contacted online, the minister stated that the project was proceeding “according to plan” (R. James, Twitter direct message, March 25, 2017).
When you quote or paraphrase a specific passage from a source, you need to indicate the location of the passage in your APA in-text citation . If there are no page numbers (e.g. when citing a website ) but the text is long, you can instead use section headings, paragraph numbers, or a combination of the two:
(Caulfield, 2019, Linking section, para. 1).
Section headings can be shortened if necessary. Kindle location numbers should not be used in ebook citations , as they are unreliable.
If you are referring to the source as a whole, it’s not necessary to include a page number or other marker.
APA Style usually does not require an access date. You never need to include one when citing journal articles , e-books , or other stable online sources.
However, if you are citing a website or online article that’s designed to change over time, it’s a good idea to include an access date. In this case, write it in the following format at the end of the reference: Retrieved October 19, 2020, from https://www.uva.nl/en/about-the-uva/about-the-university/about-the-university.html
The 7th edition APA Manual , published in October 2019, is the most current edition. However, the 6th edition, published in 2009, is still used by many universities and journals.
The APA Manual 7th edition can be purchased at Amazon as a hardcover, paperback or spiral-bound version. You can also buy an ebook version at RedShelf .
The American Psychological Association anticipates that most people will start using the 7th edition in the spring of 2020 or thereafter.
It’s best to ask your supervisor or check the website of the journal you want to publish in to see which APA guidelines you should follow.
If you’re citing from an edition other than the first (e.g. a 2nd edition or revised edition), the edition appears in the reference, abbreviated in parentheses after the book’s title (e.g. 2nd ed. or Rev. ed.).
In the 7th edition of the APA manual, no location information is required for publishers. The 6th edition previously required you to include the city and state where the publisher was located, but this is no longer the case.
In an APA reference list , journal article citations include only the year of publication, not the exact date, month, or season.
The inclusion of volume and issue numbers makes a more specific date unnecessary.
In an APA journal citation , if a DOI (digital object identifier) is available for an article, always include it.
If an article has no DOI, and you accessed it through a database or in print, just omit the DOI.
If an article has no DOI, and you accessed it through a website other than a database (for example, the journal’s own website), include a URL linking to the article.
You may include up to 20 authors in a reference list entry .
When an article has more than 20 authors, replace the names prior to the final listed author with an ellipsis, but do not omit the final author:
Davis, Y., Smith, J., Caulfield, F., Pullman, H., Carlisle, J., Donahue, S. D., James, F., O’Donnell, K., Singh, J., Johnson, L., Streefkerk, R., McCombes, S., Corrieri, L., Valck, X., Baldwin, F. M., Lorde, J., Wardell, K., Lao, W., Yang, P., . . . O’Brien, T. (2012).
Include the DOI at the very end of the APA reference entry . If you’re using the 6th edition APA guidelines, the DOI is preceded by the label “doi:”. In the 7th edition , the DOI is preceded by ‘https://doi.org/’.
- 6th edition: doi: 10.1177/0894439316660340
- 7th edition: https://doi.org/ 10.1177/0894439316660340
APA citation example (7th edition)
Hawi, N. S., & Samaha, M. (2016). The relations among social media addiction, self-esteem, and life satisfaction in university students. Social Science Computer Review , 35 (5), 576–586. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439316660340
When citing a webpage or online article , the APA in-text citation consists of the author’s last name and year of publication. For example: (Worland & Williams, 2015). Note that the author can also be an organization. For example: (American Psychological Association, 2019).
If you’re quoting you should also include a locator. Since web pages don’t have page numbers, you can use one of the following options:
- Paragraph number: (Smith, 2018, para. 15).
- Heading or section name: ( CDC, 2020, Flu Season section)
- Abbreviated heading: ( CDC, 2020, “Key Facts” section)
Always include page numbers in the APA in-text citation when quoting a source . Don’t include page numbers when referring to a work as a whole – for example, an entire book or journal article.
If your source does not have page numbers, you can use an alternative locator such as a timestamp, chapter heading or paragraph number.
Instead of the author’s name, include the first few words of the work’s title in the in-text citation. Enclose the title in double quotation marks when citing an article, web page or book chapter. Italicize the title of periodicals, books, and reports.
No publication date
If the publication date is unknown , use “n.d.” (no date) instead. For example: (Johnson, n.d.).
The abbreviation “ et al. ” (meaning “and others”) is used to shorten APA in-text citations with three or more authors . Here’s how it works:
Only include the first author’s last name, followed by “et al.”, a comma and the year of publication, for example (Taylor et al., 2018).
APA Style papers should be written in a font that is legible and widely accessible. For example:
- Times New Roman (12pt.)
- Arial (11pt.)
- Calibri (11pt.)
- Georgia (11pt.)
The same font and font size is used throughout the document, including the running head , page numbers, headings , and the reference page . Text in footnotes and figure images may be smaller and use single line spacing.
The easiest way to set up APA format in Word is to download Scribbr’s free APA format template for student papers or professional papers.
Alternatively, you can watch Scribbr’s 5-minute step-by-step tutorial or check out our APA format guide with examples.
You need an APA in-text citation and reference entry . Each source type has its own format; for example, a webpage citation is different from a book citation .
Use Scribbr’s free APA Citation Generator to generate flawless citations in seconds or take a look at our APA citation examples .
APA format is widely used by professionals, researchers, and students in the social and behavioral sciences, including fields like education, psychology, and business.
Be sure to check the guidelines of your university or the journal you want to be published in to double-check which style you should be using.
Yes, page numbers are included on all pages, including the title page , table of contents , and reference page . Page numbers should be right-aligned in the page header.
To insert page numbers in Microsoft Word or Google Docs, click ‘Insert’ and then ‘Page number’.
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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / APA Format / APA Website Citation
How to Cite a Website in APA
This guide explains all of the important steps to referencing a website/web page in your APA research papers. The guidance below follows APA style, 7th edition.
APA format is much different than MLA format and other styles. If you need to cite websites in MLA , or you’re looking for more styles , check out the other resources on EasyBib.com!
Guide Overview
Here’s a run-through of everything this page includes:
What is a website? Am I citing a website or a web page?
Citing a website in the text (in-text citation), citing a website on the reference page, citing a general web article without an author, titles of pages on the web, extra information, publisher information, web addresses and dois, apa format for online news articles, additional website citation examples, troubleshooting.
A website is a place on the Internet that holds a group of individual pages (called web pages).
Think of a website like a tree. A website is the tree, and the individual web pages are the branches. Use YouTube as an example. YouTube is the site, and the individual channel pages and video pages are the branches. Wikipedia is a site, and each article has its own individual web page on that site.
Most of the time, you aren’t trying to cite a whole, entire site, but actually an individual web page. If you used a YouTube video to help you with your research project, you wouldn’t cite the entire YouTube site, you would cite the specific YouTube page the video was found on.
Here’s a similar question we’re often asked when it comes to the APA citation of a web page:
Q: This page describes citing specific pages and articles. Can I cite an entire site?
A: According to the APA manual (7th edition), it is not necessary to cite a site in its entirety in a reference list. Instead, include a reference to the website in the body of your paper and cite any web page individually.
The Department of Justice has just released a new site called ReportCrime.gov at https://www.reportcrime.gov/ to help people identify and report crimes in their area.
In the above passage, the website is stated in the text rather than cited. This guide focuses on how to cite individual pages found on the web (web pages). If you used an entire website, it’s perfectly acceptable to cite the whole site in the text of your paper, as shown above, but for the most part, you want to cite the page where the information was found.
If you’re seeking out an APA citation website to take the stress away from proper referencing, try out EasyBib.com! Stop typing into the search bar, “how to cite a website APA” or “APA in-text citation website.” EasyBib.com is the answer to your referencing questions and needs!
When you include a piece of information from a site in your project, you must include two citations: a brief citation in the text and also a full citation on the reference page.
When it comes to mentions in the text, students are sometimes tempted to put the web address in the body of a project. However, URLs can be long, clunky, and distracting. They should never be written in the body of a project.
Instead of writing the full address in the text, use the last name of the author and the date the source was published. If no author is shown, write the title of the individual page and the date.
For direct quotations, you may use paragraphs to indicate the quotation’s location in the work. Count the paragraphs manually if needed and use the abbreviation “para.” for paragraph.
Check out this in-text citation APA website example:
Cite your source
The above APA website in-text citation (the author’s last name and the date the information was published) corresponds to the information on the final page of the project, the reference page.
Here’s how the full APA citation for a web page looks on the final page of the project:
Need more in-text citation APA website info? Here’s more on how to build an APA parenthetical citation . You may also like our full-length guide on how to create an APA in-text citation .
If you’re looking for information on structuring other styles in the text of your paper, check out our page on MLA in-text and parenthetical citations .
In the next section of this APA citation website guide, we’re going to focus on how to format an APA website citation. If you’re wondering how to create an APA citation of a web page, the majority of web references use the structure shown below.
General structure for how to cite a website in APA
Note: A retrieval date is no longer required for online sources. It’s only needed if the content is likely to change over time (such as wikis and social media). The article or page title should be italicized. The URL is at the end and does not have a period after it.
Full reference example:
View Screenshot | Cite your source
Example of an in-text citation for a website in APA:
If you’re looking for an APA format website to do the work for you, try out EasyBib.com’s citation generator. Our APA citation website makes referencing a breeze!
APA citation for website structure:
Do you need to cite a source with no author in APA ? No problem. Wikipedia pages, online dictionary sites, and online encyclopedia sites are just a few examples of sites without an author. When there is no clear individual author, use the website organization (group author) as the author.
Group authors
There are plenty of times when an individual’s name isn’t listed as the author, but the information on the site is written by a group, organization, or company.
In an APA website citation, it is completely acceptable to use the group’s name in the author position. Type it out in its entirety and add a period at the end. Check out the various APA citation of web page examples at the bottom of the page to see group authors in action!
Note: If the author name and website name is the same, just list it once in as the author; leave out the website name section in the APA citation.
APA citation for website example:
If you’re wondering whether to include the full date in your APA citation for web pages (month, day, and year) or just the year, we have the answer for you here.
An APA citation of web page reference includes the month, day, and year if it’s a site that is updated with new information frequently. Blog posts, newspaper articles, posts from social media profiles, and YouTube videos are just a few of the sources that would display the full date. In an APA citation for web pages, it’s written in this order in parentheses: (Year, Month Day).
If there is any information missing, simply include what is available. Also, if there is no date , indicate this by using (n.d.).
No date APA website example:
If you’re using the EasyBib citation generator to create an APA citation for a web page, our technology structures dates for you in their proper order. It’s the APA format website (and also the APA in-text citation website) you’ve been waiting for. Give it a whirl!
Here’s the advice we provide on many of our guides:
- If the source you are citing is a standalone source, meaning an entire book, television series, or film, the title of such sources should be in italics.
- If, however, you are citing a piece of a larger source, i.e., a journal article, a page on a site, or an episode of a show, the title should be in sentence case and not in italics.
Long story short, do not italicize an APA citation for web pages’ title in the text and on the final page of references.
For full references on the final page of the project, only include capital letters at the beginning of the title, at the beginning of each proper noun, and at the beginning of the first word in the subtitle.
The title is written in the text only when there isn’t an author listed. So, instead of showing the reference as (Author, Date), use (“Title of Page,” Date) in any APA citation for web pages. Notice the switch from sentence case to title case in the text reference.
A little extra information goes a long way when it comes to site citations. If you’re including a unique source type, include information about the medium directly after the title. This information is placed in brackets. Only the first letter is capitalized.
Here are a few examples you might see in an APA citation for a web page:
[Image attached]
[Infographic]
[Status update]
To see some of the extra information in action, scroll down to the examples towards the bottom of this page.
Speaking of extra information, it may not hurt to get some extra details on grammar topics in that brain of yours. Brush up on your adjective , pronoun , and interjection knowledge with our comprehensive guides!
Any information related to the publisher is not invited to the web citation party. In an APA citation of a web page, you do not need to include information about the company that made the site, where its offices are located, or any other similar information about the company in any web references. One thing less to worry about in your APA citation for web pages!
Other source types are much different, so before you exclude publisher information from all of your references, make sure you check out our APA citation page. While you’re at it, check out our other helpful resources, such as APA reference page and MLA works cited .
We also need a web address and DOI number in an APA citation for a web page. Including site addresses and DOIs are an absolute necessity. Addresses and DOIs (which stand for direct object identifiers) are usually the last item in an APA website citation.
For sites, after adding the full URL to the APA citation for a web page, do not end it with a period. If the address is very long, it is acceptable to roll it onto the next line, but break it up so that a type of punctuation mark or symbol is the first item closest to the left margin. Check out the APA citation of a webpage URL below.
APA citation of a webpage example of a properly structured URL:
DOI numbers are assigned by publishers to electronic sources such as journal articles, e-books, datasets, and more. They’re a string of numbers and sometimes other characters. If the source you’re using has a DOI number assigned to it, place it at the end of the APA website citation, instead of the URL, in this format: https://doi.org/10.XXXXXXXXX. Place the DOI string in place of the X’s shown above.
DOIs were created to combat the problem of broken links and 404 errors (pages taken down). Think about it: if a webpage is taken off of the Internet, it can be pretty difficult to find a copy of it. If you’re lucky, an archive site may have a copy stored somewhere, but for the most part, when sites are gone, they’re gone. DOIs are permanent, making them the ideal choice to include in any APA citation for webpages.
APA properly structured DOI:
APA differentiates between traditional newspapers that are online versus news websites with no daily/weekly/monthly newspaper or magazine edition. Unsure what you’re citing? Follow this decision tree:
- YES –> Cite it as a newspaper article.
- NO –> Cite it as a web page or a news site article.
- NO –> Cite it as a web page or news site article.
Online news article APA example:
News sites with no associated daily/weekly/monthly publication should be cited like a web page. That means the article title is italicized and the publisher/site name is in plan font. This format applies to articles from these sites:
- MSNBC Fox News
Newspaper article online APA example:
Sites associated with a daily/weekly/monthly publication should be cited as a newspaper article. That means the article title is in plain font and the publisher/site name is italicized. This format applies to articles from these sites:
- The New York Times
- The Guardian
- The Times of India
- The Wall Street Journal
- The Washington Post
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Below are various web reference examples to give you a quick visual of how pages are structured and organized. Quick reminder that if you’re trying to create a reference for an e-book found on the web, use the APA book citation page. In addition, if it’s an online article from journal, use our APA journal page.
If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to build your references, EasyBib.com is an APA citation website that does the work for you. Try it out and say hello to stress-free referencing and goodbye to constantly searching for “how to cite a website APA” or “how to cite APA” on search engines. The APA offers more information here .
How to cite a group/organization/company:
How to cite a blog post in apa:.
The structure is the same, but the format is slightly different: The blog article title is in plain text, and the name of the blog is italicized.
APA citation of a web page example for Facebook:
The text of the post is italicized, while the site name (Facebook) is in plain text.
APA citation of a web page example for Twitter:
Cite your source
If the name of the author is unknown, start the APA citation of a web page for Twitter with the username.
Need another set of eyes to check your paper for grammar and spelling edits? Not quite sure if every determiner , preposition , or conjunction is where it belongs? Check out our grammar and plagiarism checker . It’s the answer to all of your grammar questions!
If you’re still confused and typing into the search bar, “how to cite APA” or “how to cite a website APA,” try out EasyBib.com’s reference generator. It’s fast, easy, and allows you to focus on your writing and research, and less on your references. The best part? It creates both types of references. It has an in-text citation website APA generator and also a full reference generator! What are you waiting for? Go see the magic happen!
Here’s a quick video overview of how to cite a website in APA:
Solution #1: Determining the website company, the author, the publisher, or both (APA)
A website citation included in an APA-format bibliography doesn’t need a publisher, so you do not need to worry whether the website company is the publisher of a page you want to cite!
If an author isn’t credited on a given webpage, the website company should be listed as the author. This also goes for online encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc.
Here’s an example for a full bibliography:
Roman empire. (2022, February 6). In Wikipedia . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire
Here is an example for an in-text citation:
(“Roman Empire,” 2022)
Solution #2: How to cite images and videos from social media in APA format
Making a bibliographic citation for a photo or video from social media is similar to making a citation for any website. Examples that fall into this category include photos, videos, or social media-specific mediums like highlights, reels, moments, or lives.
For your full citation in your bibliography, use the caption of the photo or video, up to 20 words, as the title. Denote the style of media in brackets, following the title.
For sources like Instagram Reels, Highlights, and other media whose exact date of posting is hard to discern, include the date you found and cited the photo or video rather than the original date the media was shared.
Here are examples of bibliographic citations:
World Wildlife Foundation [wwf]. (2021, October 20). This year marks our 60 years of action for people and nature. Together, we’ve done so much… [Photo]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CVQQbF_KmA6/
New York Times [nytimes]. (n.d.) NYC Marathon 2021 [Highlight]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17928514339867051/
Here are the corresponding in-text citations:
(World Wildlife Foundation, 2021)
(New York Times, 2021)
Solution #3: How emojis are cited in APA format
If the website or social media post you are citing contains an emoji, keep the emoji in your full bibliographic citation without altering it.
Reference list example:
Grande, A [arianagrande]. (2021, October 18) the final #voicebattles begin tonight @nbcthevoice.🧚🏼♂️ thank you @kchenoweth, i love you. [Photo]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CVLfY_vv_3c/
In-text citation example:
(Grande, 2021)
If you have trouble pasting the emoji into your full citation, put the emoji’s name followed by the word “emoji” all in brackets within your citation instead. Use Unicode’s Emoji Charts to look up the widely accepted, technical name of the emoji you want to cite.
Grande, A [arianagrande]. the final the final #voicebattles begin tonight @nbcthevoice . [woman fairy emoji] thank you @kchenoweth , i love you. [Photo]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CVLfY_vv_3c/
This guide is not officially associated with the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, but it does provide information in line with the manual.
APA Formatting Guide
APA Formatting
- Annotated Bibliography
- Block Quotes
- et al Usage
- In-text Citations
- Multiple Authors
- Paraphrasing
- Page Numbers
- Parenthetical Citations
- Reference Page
- Sample Paper
- APA 7 Updates
- View APA Guide
Citation Examples
- Book Chapter
- Journal Article
- Magazine Article
- Newspaper Article
- Website (no author)
- View all APA Examples
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You will need the webpage’s author’s name, publication date, title of the page, website name, and the URL.
Here is an example with an author:
Geggel, L. (2021, July 6). A brief history of dinosaurs . LiveScience. https://www.livescience.com/3945-history-dinosaurs.html
Usually, if no author is shown the website is assumed to be the author. In these cases, the website name replaces the author name in the beginning of the reference.
For example:
National Park Service. (2018, July 23). Night skies as a cultural-historical resource . https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nightskies/cultural.htm
The URL of a website is mandatory if you cite a website or a webpage. Where you include the URL depends on the type of citation. To cite a website as a general reference without any reference to a specific page or particular details, simply add the name of the website in the text and include the URL in parentheses. There is no need to add a reference list entry. However, to cite a webpage on a website, you need to provide both an in-text citation and a reference list entry. Do not add the URL in the in-text citation. Just add the author’s name and year. The URL is given only in the reference list entry. Templates for in-text citations and reference list entries of a website or webpage along with examples are given below.
Website as a general reference
In-text style:
We took the data from the Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India (https://censusindia.gov.in/).
Webpage of a website
In-text citation templates and examples:
Author Surname (publication year)
Skelton (2017)
Parenthetical:
(Author Surname, publication year)
(Skelton, 2017)
Note that month and day are not mentioned in in-text citations.
Reference list entry template and example:
Author Surname, F. M. (Year, Month Day). Title of the webpage. Name of the Site. URL
Skelton, R. (2017, February 16). Fact check’s return perfect timing in ‘post truth’ age. ABC Opinion. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-16/fact-check-return-perfect-timing-in-post-truth-age/8277268
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- Paper Formats
- How To Cite A Website With No Author In APA 7: Tips And Examples
How to Cite a Website With No Author in APA 7: Tips and Examples
Websites have become popular sources of information for students and researchers by considering the rule of the APA 7th edition format. In this case, websites carry tons of data, including texts, images, and videos that writers can use as evidence. According to academic writing standards, when students gather evidence from websites, they must cite it appropriately not only in the References page but also within in-text citations by considering their essays and research papers. However, some sites lack essential credentials for citation entries for the APA format. In summary, when citing a website with no author in APA 7, a student should write the name of the site and the URL. Moreover, when a site lacks a publication date, scholars should use n.d., and, when there is no known author, they should use a shortened version of the title and enclose it within quotation marks. In turn, if there is no title, authors should use a short description of the article and enclose it within square brackets.
General Guidelines of Citing a Website With No Author in APA 7
The Internet is a platform that allows individuals and organizations to display texts, images, and videos, all of which are popularly known as content. However, to do so, they have to create a website that serves as their online shops. In other words, websites help individuals and organizations to inform others, such as customers and researchers, about what they offer (products, services, and knowledge). For organizations, a website is an online face – the platform that fosters interaction with the entity. Ideally, a website has several online pages known as webpages that carry essential information about an individual or organization. Therefore, a website can be defined as a central, online platform composed of web pages. In turn, a web browser enables an individual to navigate through this platform.
Types of Websites
Given that individuals and organizations use websites to facilitate interaction with the world, the Internet is home to billions of websites today. As a result, these websites fall into different categories, such as:
- E-commerce website.
- Gaming website.
- Business/corporate website.
- Content website.
- Dating website.
- Government websites.
Finding the Needed Citation Information
When writing academic texts in APA 7, such as theses and dissertations, students cite websites in this format to find evidence to back their claims and arguments. Occasionally, it is challenging to find the information they need to enter reference citations in some websites. Basically, one of the reasons for this challenge is that anyone can post content on a website without needing to indicate the date, their name, or even the title of their content. In turn, this information is necessary for an APA website reference citation.
How to Cite a Website Without a Date of Publication
One of the features of citing a website in APA 7 for any web-based content is the date of publication. Basically, the time when it is published allows readers to know how old the content is and whether it passes the test of being the most recent information. In academic writing , instructors insist on using the most recent information as the basis of a writer’s argument. Therefore, if web-based content lacks a date of publication, students should substitute the year with the initials n.d., which indicates “no date.”
An example of such a website citation in APA 7 is as follows:
- Culbertson, H. (n.d.). Conflict management strategies and styles . Southern Nazarene University. Retrieved from http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/conflict.htm
The APA in-text citation for a website without a date of publication should be:
- (Culbertson, n.d.), or
- Culbertson (n.d.) states that conflict management is an essential skill of effective leadership.
How to Cite a Website Without Known Author in APA 7
Sometimes, web-based content may lack an author, whether an individual or corporation. For example, when there is no individual author, a writer uses the name of the organization instead. By considering the APA citation , when both are missing, students should use the title of the content – book, article, or document – as the author.
An example of the APA citation of a web-based article without a known individual author is as follows:
- Science, social science, and sociology . (2015). Open Textbooks for Hong Kong. Retrieved from http://www.opentextbooks.org.hk/ditatopic/28717
The in-text citation for the APA citation of a website with no author should be:
- (“Science, Social Science, and Sociology,” 2015), or
- According to the article “Science, Social Science, and Sociology” (2015), social science…
If there is no known date, the APA citation of a website article with no author should be:
- Bachelor of science in nursing . (n.d.). College of Nursing. Retrieved from https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/nursing/academic_programs/bs_nursing/
Examples of the APA in-text citation with no author and no date are:
- (“Bachelor of Science in Nursing,” n.d.), or
- According to the article “Bachelor of Science in Nursing” (n.d.), pursuing a nursing graduate degree is …
How to Cite a Website Without a Title of an Article
When students cite web-based content as a source of evidence in APA 7, they should use a description of the content – book or article – as the title in italics.
The scheme of an APA reference citation for a website with no title of an article should be:
- Author’s Last Name, First and Middle Names’ initials. (Publication Year, Month Day). Description of document . Website Title. Retrieved from URL.
An example is as follows:
- Worland, J. (2015, July 27). Flood risk in the US . Times. Retrieved from http://time.com/3973256/flooding-risk-coastal-cities/
The APA in-text citation should be:
- The US is experiencing severe weather in recent times, with floods estimated to have cost the country billions in infrastructural damage (Worland, 2015), or
- In a Times news article, Worland (2015) calls on the federal government…
How to Cite a Website Without a Date of Publication and Known Author in APA 7
When a writer uses web-based content with no known author or publication date in APA 7, they should use the format described above for content without a known author and content without a publication date. In short, they should use the title as the author and the initials n.d. for the date.
Scheme sample for the APA website citation with no date and no author:
- Article title . (n.d.). Website Title. Retrieved from URL
An example of citing an organization in the APA website citation is as follows:
APA in-text citation samples of a website with no date and no author are:
- Nursing education is fundamental to quality health care delivery (“Bachelor of Science in Nursing,” n.d.), or
- The article “Bachelor of Science in Nursing” (n.d.) describes nursing education…
How to Cite a Website Without a Date of Publication and Title in APA 7
When students cite web-based content without publication date and title in APA 7, they should use the format of the content without publication date and content without a title, as described above.
Format of the reference citation should is:
- Organization Title/Author names. (n.d.). Description of the article . Website Title. Retrieved from URL.
- US Congress. (n.d.). Health insurance tax relief act of 2018 . TrackBill. Retrieved from https://trackbill.com/bill/us-congress-senate-bill-3063-health-insurance-tax-relief-act-of-2018/1595041/
Example of APA in-text citations for a website with no date and no title should be:
- The 2018 Health Insurance Tax Relief Act has undergone critical stages, indicating that Congress may pass it before the year closes (“US Congress,” n.d.), or
- The article by “US Congress” (n.d.) highlights the progress made in the enactment of a seemingly controversial law.
How to Cite a Website Without a Title and Known Author
When students cite a website content without a known author or title in APA 7, the APA reference citation should capture the content without any author and content without a title.
Structure of the reference citation for APA 7 should be:
- Shortened title . (Year, Month Day). Website Title. Retrieved from URL
Example of a website reference with no title and no author is:
- Legislation . (2019). Gardner Senate. Retrieved from https://www.gardner.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/gardner-shaheen-barrasso-jones-scott-sinema-introduce-legislation-to-delay-obamacare-tax-for-two-years
Examples of in-text should with no title and no author are:
- The political class considers delaying the Obamacare Tax to pave the way for bipartisan consultation (“Legislation,” 2019), or
- In the article “Legislation” (2019), the US Senate…
How to Cite a Website Without a Title, Date of Publication, and Known Author
When scholars cite web-based content without a known author, date of publication, and title in APA 7, they should use entries described above.
The APA reference citation sample for a website with no title, no date, and no author should be:
- Shortened title . (n.d.). Website Title. Retrieved from URL
An example would be:
- Legislation . (n.d.). Garnder Senate. Retrieved from https://www.gardner.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/gardner-shaheen-barrasso-jones-scott-sinema-introduce-legislation-to-delay-obamacare-tax-for-two-years
Note: The above example assumes the content had no date of publication.
The in-text citation should be:
- A lack of bipartisanship in the Senate threatens to derail Obamacare Tax (“Legislation,” n.d.), or
- The article “Legislation” (n.d.) provides the dynamics surrounding the passage of Obamacare Tax.
Summing Up on How to Cite a Website With No Author in APA 7
When writing academic texts, students and researchers rely on web-based content to back up their arguments. Basically, this content includes articles, books, and videos, among others. Hence, some essential tips that students and researchers must master include:
- Put the title of the article in italics.
- Indicate the website name (without italics).
- Put a period after the website name, followed by the phrase “Retrieved from” and URL.
- When there is no date of publication, use the initials “n.d.”
- If there is no known author, use the title of the online article as the author in italics.
- If there is no title, use a short description of the article as the title in italics.
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How To Cite a Website Without an Author: APA, MLA, and Chicago Style
- Posted on April 19, 2022 April 15, 2022
Today, a staggering majority of our information is found online. In fact, it’s rare not to head to the internet when you start researching a topic. This is true even for students who have been well-trained in the use of primary sources and physical references: books, magazines, and newspapers, among others.
Of course, if you have any experience at all with research, you already know how common it is to find online information with no author attributed. This can occur for a variety of reasons, for example, if an article was written by a whole team of employees, or if the work was a combination of both the website staff work and newswire material. When there is absolutely no author name to be found in the content, you still must cite the source accurately.
Similarly, sometimes online information won’t disclose an author’s name but instead lists “anonymous” as the author. Writers occasionally chose to publish anonymously, as it removes their reputation and personal ties from the work. This might be useful if the writer is branching into a new field of study, or if they need to hide their identity for safety reasons. However, as long as the source is reliable and the information is vital to your work it is still seen as appropriate and professional to cite an anonymous source.
Although an article without an author and an article written anonymously may seem similar, they actually have different citation formats across the different styles. The sections below will serve as a guide for properly accrediting the un-named authors in both of these scenarios.
How to Cite a Website Without an Author
Depending on your class subject or industry, you might use APA, MLA or Chicago Styles, all of which differ in what information is necessary for a proper citation. In lieu of the author’s last name, you will need other basic identifiers such as website name, the title of the article, date of publication, access date, and HTML address.
Additionally, depending on your citation style you may require additional information, such as:
- Day month year
- The entire website or specific headings
- Page numbers
Any type of source, including journal article, newspaper article, magazine article, or research paper, may fall under this reference type if there is no author listed on the website. For our purposes, let’s assume you are dealing with a basic website, with no author or an anonymous author, and look at the three basic formatting approaches now.
Named for the American Psychological Association, APA style is commonly used in the social and behavioral sciences, such as psychology, education, and social work. Here is the correct APA citation format for a website without an author. This complete citation is placed at the end of a work, typically in a reference page:
Title. (Year, Month Day). Retrieved from URL of the specific document
An example looks like this:
Chiweenies take over Manhattan for midsummer parade. (2013, October 14). Retrieved from http://www.hellodoggy.com/id/576768/chiweenies-manhattan-midsummer-parade
Note that for an APA reference, there is no period at the end of the citation and no italics are needed. Additionally, and sentence case is used- where only the first word of the title is capitalized. Since the title takes the place of the author’s name, you do not need to list the website separately from the URL.
In-text citations are a shortened version of the above citation placed within the written work to accompany information from the source. APA in-text citations include an abbreviated title, in quotes, followed by the year, in parentheses. An in-text citation for the same example as above is provided here:
(“Chiweenies take over Manhattan,” 2013).
MLA format is another citation style based on a handbook published by Modern Language Association and is most typically used in the humanities. The MLA citation style differs from APA in that it does require the name of the website as well as the organization if there is one. A template for an MLA citation for a website without an author is provided below. This longer citation is placed at the end of the article, on the works cited page:
Name of Organization. Title of Web Document. Title of Website, year if given, URL of specific document. Accessed access date.
Formatted properly, it looks like this:
I Heart Chiweenies. Chiweenies Take Over Manhattan for Midsummer Parade. Hello Doggy, 2013, http://www.hellodoggy.com/id/576768/chiweenies-manhattan-midsummer-parade . Accessed March 2, 2021.
If you do not have a parent organization name that is separate from the website name, you should leave it out and put nothing in the author slot.
For an in-text citation or parenthetical citation, cite only the organization name and page or paragraph number, unless you do not have an organization name, in which case the style requires quotes around the title. Different from APA, MLA uses titlecase for all website citations.
A template for an organization name with paragraph number:
(I Heart Chiweenies, Paragraph 5).
A template for no organization name and no page number:
(“Chiweenies Take Over Manhattan for Midsummer Parade”).
Chicago Style
Chicago Style is another method for citation and is most frequently seen in the history field, but occasionally used by the humanities as well. For a Chicago-style reference list entry, you must differentiate between a footnote and a bibliography entry. A footnote does not require anything in the author slot, and a template looks like:
“Title,” Website Name, accessed date. URL.
For example:
“Chiweenies Take Over Manhattan for Midsummer Parade,” Hello Doggy, accessed March 2, 2021, http://www.hellodoggy.com/id/576768/chiweenies-manhattan-midsummer-parade .
A bibliography citation, on the other hand, does require the name of the website to take the place of an author’s name. An example would look like this:
Hello Doggy. “Chiweenies Take Over Manhattan for Midsummer Parade.” Accessed March 2, 2021, http://www.hellodoggy.com/id/576768/chiweenies-manhattan-midsummer-parade .
In all cases where the title comes first, and the title begins with an article (such as a, an, the), omit the article and begin with the first word. In our example, this is not applicable, but if the correct title began with “The Chiweenies Take Over … ” you would omit the “The.” Additionally, Chicago Style uses title case but does not feature italics or include the parent organization in any citations.
For an in-text citation, the title of the website goes first, followed by a title abbreviation in quotation marks. An example would be:
(Hello Doggy, “Chiweenies Take Over Manhattan”).
Citing a Website with an Anonymous Author
As mentioned previously, sometimes an author may not want their name associated with their work for a variety of reasons. This is common on blogs with guest posters or on forums, where instead of a name in the author slot it simply states “Anonymous”, “Author” or “Unknown Contributor.”
The citation should still include the title of the webpage, date, and so forth. However, some of the citation styles treat this situation differently than an article with no author.
Whether you’re writing a paper for a boss or adhering to the highest Harvard referencing standards, you want to make sure your citation formats are correct. The different citation formats are listed below.
In APA format, citing a website without a specified author but with a placeholder displaying Anonymous is relatively simple. The one adjustment is to switch out the author’s name with the designation found on the webpage, as shown in the template below:
Designation. (Year, Month Date). Title of page. Site name. URL
Again, there is no period at the end of the URL and no access date in the citation. With a designation of simply “Author,” an example would look like this:
Author. (2013, October 14). Chiweenies take over Manhattan for midsummer parade. Hello Doggy. Retrieved from http://www.hellodoggy.com/id/576768/chiweenies-manhattan-midsummer-parade
An in-text citation uses the designation and year, or if there is an applicable page or paragraph number that information should also be included.
(Author, 2013) Or (Author, 2013, p. 120)
MLA style dictates that you do not use Anonymous, Author or any other nonspecific designation in place of an actual author’s name. The style states you should treat these “names” as though they do not exist, and default to the standard referencing guides as listed above. As a reminder, the template for this citation is provided below:
As with MLA format, Chicago Style asks you to omit the anonymous designation and stick to the reference format used for a webpage with no author. A template and example for a footnote are restated below:
As a reminder, the format changes for the bibliography page, as you should use the name of the website in place of the Anonymous distinction. A sample citation is provided here:
Creating Citations for a Website Without an Author
All of the above citation styles can be performed manually by plugging in the correct variables to the specified format for long-form (bibliographies, works cited, footnotes) and short-form (in-text) citations. However, as the number of sources you use grows this can become tedious work.
Plus, it leaves you open to a few dangers. First, if you do not format a citation correctly your grade will suffer as a result. The second, more considerable, hazard is that if you do it incorrectly and no one can find your reference, they might think you are making it up. Or, in the case of a website, when someone does a search for that content and finds it verbatim without a proper citation, they might think you are plagiarizing.
Unfortunately, accidental plagiarism is almost as serious as intentional plagiarism in school. In the business world, there is no difference as both can lead to an equally serious lawsuit.
You can avoid that danger by using Quetext’s citation generator for effortless and perfect citations, created automatically. All you do is plug the webpage into the generator, choose your style and hit go. The citation guide will immediately spit out perfectly formatted references that match your needed format.
Final Steps Before Submitting Your Work
No matter how you create your citations, make sure to check your work in full before submitting it to a teacher or manager. That way, you know exactly what you’re turning in and can stand behind your work with confidence knowing you have not committed plagiarism through poor paraphrasing or citations.
If you’re still not confident, you can use software such as Quetext’s plagiarism checker to ensure you have not unintentionally plagiarized from one of your sources. That way, even if you accidentally left out a reference, the system will spot it for you and make sure you give credit where credit is due.
Sign Up for Quetext Today!
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How to Cite a Web Site in APA With No Author, Date, or Page Number
Last Updated: December 7, 2022 References
This article was co-authored by Diane Stubbs and by wikiHow staff writer, Danielle Blinka, MA, MPA . Diane Stubbs is a Secondary English Teacher with over 22 years of experience teaching all high school grade levels and AP courses. She specializes in secondary education, classroom management, and educational technology. Diane earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Delaware and a Master of Education from Wesley College. There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 264,935 times.
Citing a website that doesn't list an author, date, or page number can be tricky. However, it's easier to do than you might think! You can cite a website using the title name, organization that published the page, or "anonymous," depending on the information available. For the date, you can include "n.d." for "no date." This allows you to create in-text citations and an entry on your References page.
Creating In-Text Citations
- "According to “Robotics for Beginners" (2018), titanium parts will create a sturdier robot."
- "Titanium parts are the best option for building a sturdy robot (“Robotics,” 2018)."
- "According to the American Cancer Society (2018), people undergoing chemotherapy benefit from having complimentary head wraps or wigs available."
- "People who are undergoing chemotherapy treatments have a better experience if complimentary head wraps and wigs are provided to them (American Cancer Society, 2018)."
- For an anonymous author, your citation will look like this: "(Anonymous, 2018)"
- A citation using a title for an author looks like this: "(“Robotics,” n.d.)"
- If you're using an organization name, your citation looks like this: "(National Robotics Society, n.d.)"
- For an anonymous author, your citation would look like this: "(Anonymous, n.d.)"
- For example, let's say you're citing the 4th paragraph of an article called, “Building a Healthy Relationship,” which has no author, page number, or date.
- "According to “Building a Healthy Relationship" (n.d., para. 4), communication is essential for a healthy partnership."
- "Partners must communicate if they want to have a healthy relationship (“Building,” n.d., para. 4)."
- You may have found valuable information on a web page titled “Reducing Congestion in Large Cities,” which has section headings titled “Improving Transit Networks,” “Increasing Highway Capacity,” “Collecting Tolls,” “HOV Lanes,” and “Metered Ramps.” However, there's no date or page number.
- Your citation might look like this: "(“Reducing,” n.d., “HOV”)"
Preparing Your References Page
- Let's say the name of the article you want to cite is “Ecuador: History and Culture.” The beginning of your entry would look like this: "Ecuador: History and culture."
- If the article includes an organization name or an anonymous author, you'll use that instead of the title.
- Your entry would now look like this: "Ecuador: History and culture. (n.d.)."
- This is what your entry should look like now: "Ecuador: History and culture. (n.d.). Select Latin America ."
- Here's how your final entry might look: "Ecuador: History and culture. (n.d.). Select Latin America . Retrieved from http://www.sla.com/ecuador.html/"
- If the website name is the same as the organization name, don't write it again after the page title. You can skip that part of the references entry and go straight to "Retrieved from."
- For example, let's say you're citing an article called “Relaxing with Deep Breathing,” which was published by the American Psychological Foundation. No date is provided.
- Here's what your entry would look like: "American Psychological Foundation. (n.d.). Relaxing with deep breathing. Retrieved from http://www.apf.com/Relaxing_and_deep_breathing/"
- You might be citing a web page titled “Being Mindful During a Dog Walk,” written by an anonymous author. It's posted on a website called Bark Bark Friends, but there isn't a date.
- Here how your entry would look: "Anonymous. (n.d.) Being Mindful During a Dog Walk. Bark Bark Friends . Retrieved from http://www.barkbarkfriends.com/mindful_dog_walks/"
Expert Q&A
Video . by using this service, some information may be shared with youtube..
- You don't have to include a retrieval or access date in your reference entry anymore. In prior editions of the APA style guide, you needed to include the date you accessed the website. [13] X Research source ⧼thumbs_response⧽ Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
- If you're in doubt about how to cite your source, talk to your instructor or your school's writing center. They can help you decide the best way to write your citation. ⧼thumbs_response⧽ Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
- Citing your sources can be frustrating, but don't give up! If you don't cite your source, you'll be plagiarizing the site where you got the information. This can cost you credit for the assignment and can result in other academic consequences. ⧼thumbs_response⧽ Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
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- ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/in_text_citations_author_authors.html
- ↑ https://aus.libguides.com/apa/apa-no-author-date
- ↑ https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/missing-information
- ↑ https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/apaquickguide/intext
- ↑ https://bowvalleycollege.libguides.com/c.php?g=714519&p=5093747
- ↑ https://columbiacollege-ca.libguides.com/apa/booksandebooks
- ↑ https://libguides.jcu.edu.au/apa/dates
- ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_basic_rules.html
- ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_electronic_sources.html
- ↑ https://writingcenter.uagc.edu/format-your-reference-list
- ↑ https://libguides.ggc.edu/apastyle_7th/Authors/MissingorAnonymous
About This Article
Citing information from a website without an author, date, or page number isn’t as complicated as you might think. Try using the title in place of an author for an in-text citation. For example, for a page entitled “Robotics for Beginners,” you could write (“Robotics,” 2018). Alternatively, list the name of the organization that owns the website in your in-text citation, like “According to the American Cancer Society (2018).” If you don’t have a date, add “n.d.” instead. Replace page numbers by mentioning the paragraph your citation comes from. For instance, if it came from the fourth paragraph, add “para 4” to the end of an in-text citation. If you put all of this together, an in-text reference could look like, “According to Robotics for Beginners (n.d., para 4). For tips on how to write a citation for your reference page that doesn’t have an author, date, or page number, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No
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Reference List: Author/Authors
Welcome to the Purdue OWL
This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.
Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.
Note: This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style can be found here .
The following rules for handling works by a single author or multiple authors apply to all APA-style references in your reference list, regardless of the type of work (book, article, electronic resource, etc.).
Note: Because the information on this page pertains to virtually all citations, we've highlighted a few important differences between APA 6 and APA 7 with underlined notes written in red.
Single Author
Last name first, followed by author initials.
Ahmed, S. (2012). On being included: Racism and diversity in institutional life . Duke University Press.
Two Authors
List by their last names and initials. Separate author names with a comma. Use the ampersand instead of "and."
Soto, C. J., & John, O. P. (2017). The next big five inventory (BFI-2): Developing and assessing a hierarchical model with 15 facets to enhance bandwidth, fidelity, and predictive power. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 113 (1), 117-143. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000096
Three to Twenty Authors
List by last names and initials; commas separate author names, while the last author name is preceded again by ampersand. This is a departure from APA 6, which only required listing the first six authors before an ellipsis and the final author's name.
Nguyen, T., Carnevale, J. J., Scholer, A. A., Miele, D. B., & Fujita, K. (2019). Metamotivational knowledge of the role of high-level and low-level construal in goal-relevant task performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 117 (5), 879-899. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000166
More Than Twenty Authors
List by last names and initials; commas separate author names. After the first 19 authors’ names, use an ellipsis in place of the remaining author names. Then, end with the final author's name (do not place an ampersand before it). There should be no more than twenty names in the citation in total.
Pegion, K., Kirtman, B. P., Becker, E., Collins, D. C., LaJoie, E., Burgman, R., Bell, R., DelSole, R., Min, D., Zhu, Y., Li, W., Sinsky, E., Guan, H., Gottschalck, J., Metzger, E. J., Barton, N. P., Achuthavarier, D., Marshak, J., Koster, R., . . . Kim, H. (2019). The subseasonal experiment (SubX): A multimodel subseasonal prediction experiment. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society , 100 (10), 2043-2061. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0270.1
Group Author
Group authors can include corporations, government agencies, organizations, etc; and a group may publish in coordination with individuals. Here, you simply treat the publishing organization the same way you'd treat the author's name and format the rest of the citation as normal. Be sure to give the full name of the group author in your reference list, although abbreviations may be used in your text.
Entries in reference works ( e.g. dictionaries, thesauruses, and encyclopedias) without credited authors are also considered works with group authors.
Merriam-Webster. (2008). Braggadocio. In Merriam-Webster’s Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary . Merriam-Webster.
When a work has multiple layers of group authorship (e.g. The Office of the Historian, which is a part of the Department of State, publishes something), list the most specific agency as the author and the parent agency as the publisher.
Bureau of International Organization Affairs. (2018). U.S. contributions to international organizations, 2017 [Annual report]. U.S. Department of State. https://www.state.gov/u-s-contributions-to-international-organizations/
Unknown Author
When the work does not have an author move the title of the work to the beginning of the references and follow with the date of publication. Only use “Anonymous ” if the author is the work is signed “Anonymous.” This is a new addition to APA 7.
Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (11th ed.). (2003). Merriam-Webster.
NOTE : When your essay includes parenthetical citations of sources with no author named, use a shortened version of the source's title instead of an author's name. Use quotation marks and italics as appropriate. For example, parenthetical citations of the source above would appear as follows: ( Merriam-Webster's , 2003).
Two or More Works by the Same Author
Use the author's name for all entries and list the entries by the year (earliest comes first). List references with no dates before references with dates.
Urcuioli, P. J. (n.d.).
Urcuioli, P. J. (2011).
Urcuioli, P. J. (2015).
When an author appears both as a sole author and, in another citation, as the first author of a group, list the one-author entries first.
Agnew, C. R. (Ed.). (2014). Social influences on romantic relationships: Beyond the dyad . Cambridge University Press.
Agnew, C. R., & South, S. C. (Eds.). (2014). Interpersonal relationships and health: Social and clinical psychological mechanisms. Oxford University Press.
References that have the same first author and different second and/or third authors are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the second author, or the last name of the third if the first and second authors are the same.
Arriaga, X. B., Capezza, N. M., Reed, J. T., Wesselman, E. D., & Williams, K. D. (2014). With partners like you, who needs strangers?: Ostracism involving a romantic partner. Personal Relationships, 21(4) , 557-569.
Arriaga, X. B., Kumashiro, M., Finkel, E. J., VanderDrift, L. E., & Luchies, L. B. (2014). Filling the void: Bolstering attachment security in committed relationships. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5 (4), 398-405.
Two or More Works by the Same Author in the Same Year
If you are using more than one reference by the same author—or the same group of authors listed in the same order—published in the same year, first check to see if they have more specific dates ( this recommendation is new to APA 7) . Works with only a year should be listed before those with a more specific date. List specific dates chronologically. If two works have the same publication date, organize them in the reference list alphabetically by the title of the article or chapter. If references with the same date are identified as parts of a series (e.g. Part 1 and Part 2), list them in order of their place in the series. Then assign letter suffixes to the year. Refer to these sources in your essay as they appear in your reference list, e.g.: "Berndt (2004a) makes similar claims..."
Berndt, T. J. (2004a). Children’s friendships: Shifts over a half-century in perspectives on their development and their effects. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 50 (3) , 206-223.
Berndt, T. J. (2004b). Friendship and three A’s (aggression, adjustment, and attachment). Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 88 (1) , 1-4.
Introductions, Prefaces, Forewords, and Afterwords
Cite the publishing information about a book as usual, but cite Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or Afterword (whatever title is applicable) as the chapter of the book.
Lang, J. M. (2018). Introduction. In Dujardin, G., Lang, J. M., & Staunton, J. A. (Eds.), Teaching the literature survey course (pp. 1-8). West Virginia University Press.
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
Webpage citations in APA Style consist of five components: author, publication date, title, website name, and URL. Unfortunately, some of these components are sometimes missing. For instance, there may be no author or publication date. This article explains how to handle different kinds and combinations of missing information.
APA Citation Style, 7th edition: Web Page with No Author. A guide to help users create citations using APA (American Psychological Association) style, 7th edition. ... unless the site name is the same as the corporate author. For example, a citation of a CDC report would not include the site name. General Format In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):
Cite in text the first few words of the reference list entry (usually the title) and the year. Use double quotation marks around the title or abbreviated title.: ("All 33 Chile Miners," 2010). Note: Use the full title of the web page if it is short for the parenthetical citation. Articles found on the web, like the example above, are not ...
Citing in-text when there are no authors. APA 7th ed. uses the author-date citation system for citing references in-text. In parenthetical citations, this structure includes the author's last name and the publication year (with a comma separating them) in parentheses. In narrative citations, the author's last name is incorporated into the ...
The APA manual recommends the use of the author-date citation structure for in-text citation references. This structure requires that any in-text citation (i.e., within the body of the text) be accompanied by a corresponding reference list entry. In the in-text citation provide the surname of the author but do not include suffixes such as "Jr.".
Reference List: Electronic Sources. Note: This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style can be found here. Important Note: Some electronic citations necessitate the use of brackets. APA style dictates that brackets should ...
Click here for APA 6th edition guidelines. APA website citations usually include the author, the publication date, the title of the page or article, the website name, and the URL. If there is no author, start the citation with the title of the article. If the page is likely to change over time, add a retrieval date.
Resources on writing an APA style reference list, including citation formats. Basic Rules Basic guidelines for formatting the reference list at the end of a standard APA research paper Author/Authors Rules for handling works by a single author or multiple authors that apply to all APA-style references in your reference list, regardless of the ...
If you cite several sources by the same author or group of authors, you'll distinguish between them in your APA in-text citations using the year of publication.. If you cite multiple sources by the same author(s) at the same point, you can just write the author name(s) once and separate the different years with commas, e.g., (Smith, 2020, 2021). To distinguish between sources with the same ...
Here is how to cite a webpage without an author in three of the most popular citation styles: APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago (17th ed.). APA 7. Reference Entry Template: Title of webpage/article. (Year, Month Date of publication). In Website Name. URL. Reference Entry Example: Giant panda. (2022, June 29).
Document from a Web site with no Author (p. 264-265; 350-352) Helpful Tip When citing sources that you find on the Internet you only need to include a retrieval date if the information you viewed is likely to change over time (p. 290).
Citing a general web article without an author APA citation for website structure: Do you need to cite a source with no author in APA? No problem. Wikipedia pages, online dictionary sites, and online encyclopedia sites are just a few examples of sites without an author. When there is no clear individual author, use the website organization ...
To reference a website without an author in APA, the title of the article moves up to the first position in the citation. An example of a no author citation looks like: Title of the article. (year, Month day). Website. URL (no period after the URL)
Indicate the website name (without italics). Put a period after the website name, followed by the phrase "Retrieved from" and URL. When there is no date of publication, use the initials "n.d.". If there is no known author, use the title of the online article as the author in italics.
Provide the name of the news website in the source element of the reference. Link to the comment itself if possible. Otherwise, link to the webpage on which the comment appears. Either a full URL or a short URL is acceptable. 3. Webpage on a website with a government agency group author.
In APA format, citing a website without a specified author but with a placeholder displaying Anonymous is relatively simple. The one adjustment is to switch out the author's name with the designation found on the webpage, as shown in the template below: Designation. (Year, Month Date). Title of page.
The date in the reference list entry for a work with a publication date may be a year only, and month and year, or a specific date (e.g., a month, day, and year); however, in the in-text citation, provide the year only.. For an in-press work, use "in press" for the date in both the reference list entry and in-text citation. For a work with no date, use "n.d." in both the reference list ...
For an anonymous author, your citation will look like this: " (Anonymous, 2018)" 4. Use "n.d." for no date in your citations. APA citations usually include the author and date. However, you can't include a date if one isn't there! Using "n.d." tells the reader that no date is provided on the site.
Because there is no date and no author, your text citation would include the title (or short title) "n.d." for no date, and paragraph number (e.g., "Heuristic," n.d., para. 1). The entry in the reference list might look something like this:
Note: This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style can be found here. The following rules for handling works by a single author or multiple authors apply to all APA-style references in your reference list, regardless of the type of work (book, article, electronic resource, etc.).