When citing an Internet source, include the URL.
In response to the increasing use of online research for academic papers, the latest edition of the APA publication manual (supplemented by the American Psychological Association's website) presents updated instructions for citing any Internet sources, ranging from websites to e-books to Twitter. With these changes and clarifications, the entire Internet is now at your disposal for easy reference and accurate citation.
Instructions
For In-Text (Parenthetical) Citations
1. Cite the source's author, which can be either a person (e.g., A. Smith or P. Brown), a username (e.g., APA_style or seriouswanderer), or a publishing organization (e.g., American Psychological Association or U.S. Department of Health and Human Services).
2. Write the source's date of publication. Sometimes, this is readily apparent; if it is less obvious, then search the webpage to find when it was last updated or copyrighted. Use the most recent date. For most sources, only cite the year. If it is an article in an online magazine, however, then also cite the month; if it is an article in an online newspaper, then cite the year, month, and day.
3. Cite the page or paragraph number of the information you are referencing, if you're discussing something specific in the source (rather than mentioning the work in its entirety) or if you are quoting. If the resource has page numbers (such as in a PDF or in some longer articles), then use page number(s); if the source does not have page numbers, which is the case for many online resources, then you can use paragraph number(s).
4. Place this in-text citation--containing the author, year of publication, and page or paragraph number(s)--at the end of the relevant sentence, before the period. For example, (Smith, 2010, p. 7).
For the Reference List
5. Cite the author--which, as mentioned above, could be a person, organization, or screenname. If it is a person's full name, then cite the author's last name first, followed by a comma; then the initial of the author's first name, followed by a period. Even if the author is an organization or a screenname, place a period at the end of the name.
6. Write the date of publication, in parentheses. After the ending parenthesis, insert a period.
7. Cite the title of the source. Only capitalize the first word, any word immediately after a colon and any proper nouns. In most cases, you should italicize the title. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule: Do not italicize the title if the source is an article in an online magazine or journal, an article in a series, a post or status on a social networking site, a blog post or a post in a forum. Place a period at the end of the title.
8. Write the name of the magazine or journal, italicized, if the source is an article in that type of medium. Also cite the volume and issue numbers of the periodical, if available. If the source is an article in a series or an e-book, then write the name of the series or the e-book, italicized.
9. Include a retrieval statement. First, write "Retrieved," and then note the exact date (month, day, and year). Second--in the same sentence--write the word "from," and then state the title or publisher of the website, if it is relevant. (For example, "Retrieved from eHow website" or "Retrieved from Department of the Treasury website.") If the website publisher is not related to the direct source you are citing but rather is merely a content host, then simply say "from." Third, write a colon, add one space, and then paste the URL. Do not add a period at the end of the URL.
Special Types of Sources
10. Encyclopedias and dictionaries are now easily accessible online (for example, Wikipedia).
Write the title of the entry (not italicized) in place of the author, if your source is an article in an online dictionary or encyclopedia, such as Wikipedia. After writing the publication date (or "n.d." if there is no publication date, which is often the case for these sources), then write "In," and then (in italics) write the title of the dictionary or encyclopedia. Next, write the retrieval statement, without mentioning the publisher or website.
11. In APA style, tweets are simply called "Twitter updates."
Write the year, month, and day for the publication date when you are citing a tweet (a Twitter update). The author is the Twitter user's screenname. Copy the entire message (or tweet) as the title of the source. At the end of the title, before the period, write "Twitter update" in brackets. Don't mention either the date of access or the publisher in the retrieval statement.
12. Facebook statuses can be shortened in a citation.
Title a Facebook status or post by simply copying what the user wrote; if the message is long, then you can use a shortened version. At the end of the title, in brackets, write "[Facebook update]." As when citing a Twitter update, don't mention either the date of access or the publisher in the retrieval statement.
13. Private online messages are considered personal communication.
Cite a private message sent online (whether an email, a Facebook message, a Twitter direct message, or a message sent through a forum) as personal communication: E.g., (B. Jones, personal communication, May 7, 2010). This also applies to Facebook posts or profiles that are private rather than open to the public.
Tags: article online, retrieval statement, source article, paragraph number, personal communication