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Accessing Resources: Where Do I Start?: Web pages

This guide will teach students how to access information using various library resources and how to insert the information into their research papers.

Website citation tips

Information about citing e-mail messages, websites with no author, entire websites, and more can be found in the APA Style Frequently Asked Questions page under the References section.

The Purdue OWL has a detailed page with examples of electronic resources in APA format.

In Text Citations

Inside your paper, give credit to the works you quote.

See examples of how to tell your readers where facts, paraphrases, or quotes in your paper come from at this site from the Purdue OWL.

The APA Style website provides an overview of information regarding citations in text of electronic material on the APA Frequently Asked Questions page, including:

Nonperiodical Web document, Web page, or report

The general rule for citing Web pages in APA format is to include as much information as possible.

  • If there is no date available, use (n.d.), which stands for "no date".
  • If the website URL you are citing runs onto the next line, be sure to break the address after a "/" (http:// is an exception).
  • Only include a 'retrieved from' date if the webpage is likely to change, for example, a wiki.
  • More information about electronic sources is available on the Purdue OWL site.

Author's Last Name, Author's First Initial. Author's Middle Initial. (Year, Month Day

          of publication). Title of document. Retrieved from http://webpage address

 

Doctorow, C. (2009, August 13). Photos of science fiction writers' nests. Retrieved

          from http://www.boingboing.net/2009/08/13/photos-of-science-fi.html

Web page with no author

When there is no author for a Web page, the title of the page takes the place of the author and is listed first. If there is no date available, use (n.d.), which stands for "no date". If the website URL you are citing runs onto the next line, be sure to break the address after a "/" (http:// is an exception).

Title of document. (Year, Month Day of publication).  Retrieved from

     http://webpage address

 

Tenn. couple accused of assault using Cheetos. (2009, June 27).  Retrieved from

     http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31580100/ns/us_news-weird_news/