APA Internet citations and references

Student citations from the web are often inadequate. Here's an all-too-common kind of citation: www.hoovers.com.

　　What's missing? Lots—information about the type of online resource, a specific URL to a particular document, and data on author, title, when online material was posted, and when you retrieved it （that means when you downloaded or printed the information, not when you wrote it into your paper）. It's important to provide dates because the web is a dynamic medium, with content and web sites constantly changing.

　　Citations of online documents follow the same basic format as other APA references: alphabetization by author （or title）, a title, and publication information. One difference: references to online documents typically have two dates, the date the material was posted or updated, and the date it was retrieved. Since the web is a dynamic medium with content and web sites constantly changing, it's important to note retrieval dates.

　　The following style formats are based on the APA's most recent electronic reference formats, which are available online （http://www.apa.org/journals/webref.html）. The online version of Nuts and Bolts will stay current with future updates to APA's guidelines. One distinctive feature of APA's guidelines for electronic references: no period is used after the URL which ends the reference.

　　What are you citing?

　　Not all citations of online material need a reference. If you're citing a whole site but not a particular document within it, don't include a reference. All you need is an in-text citation of the site's URL:

　　Yahoo! is one of the best places to start an online search when you don't know much about a topic （http://www.yahoo.com）.

　　But if the citations are to different documents it's best to put in a separate reference for each, even if they're accessed from the same home page. Keep in mind the underlying rationale: what will make it easier for readers to find your sources for themselves?

WRONG

　　Compared to its chief online competitor, Barnes & Noble, an old company whose history goes back to 1873, Amazon.com is an upstart, having been founded in 1994 （Hoover's Online, 2000）.

　　The bibliographic entry

　　Hoover's Online. （2000）. Company profiles. Hoover's Inc. Retrieved August 23, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.hoovers.com

RIGHT

　　Compared to its chief online competitor, Barnes & Noble, an old company whose history goes back to 1873, Amazon.com is an upstart, having been founded in 1994 （"Barnes & Noble," 2000;"Amazon," 2000）.

　　The bibliographic entries

　　Amazon.com, Inc. （2000）. Hoover's Inc. Retrieved August 23, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.hoovers.com/premium/profile/3/0,2147,51493,00.html

　　Barnes & Noble, Inc. （2000）. Hoover's, Inc. Retrieved August 23, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.hoovers.com/premium/profile/3/0,2147,16513,00.html

　　The page problem

　　One complication of online documents is that they usually lack page numbers, so it's not easy to point readers to particular passages. In order to direct readers as closely as possible to the right source passage, the APA recommends counting by paragraphs using the symbol ?: （Ford, 2000, ? 5）. If this symbol is not available, use the abbreviation"para.": （Ford, 2000, para. 5; Firestone, 2000, paras. 7-9）. It's also useful to look for pointers in the online document like division numbers, section titles or words like Introduction Conclusion.

　　What's your source?

　　Another source of confusion with online documents is the profusion of uncontrolled copies of texts. With the way the web works, anyone can upload any document they want to. In general, make sure that if you're quoting from an article or other text, you try to track down the copyright holder or other responsible organization, rather than taking the text and URL from a personal page or other idiosyncratic source. That increases the chances you'll get a good copy and reassure readers about your scholarly care （for more on online research, see Research and the Internet）.

　　Here are the types of sources detailed below:

1. Private or personal web site
2. Organizational or corporate web site
3. Online book
4. Online book, no author
5. Article in an online journal or magazine
6. Newspaper article
7. Government publication
8. Other web materials
9. Forum or conference posting
10. Email

　　1. Private or personal web site

　　Citation. Name the site and its author; include the URL in a parenthetical.

　　Reference. No reference.

　　2. Organizational or corporate web site

　　Citation. Name the site and its author; include the URL in a parenthetical.

　　Reference. No reference.

　　3. Online book

　　Citation. As usual: author and year of publication.

　　Reference

　　Flanagan, D. （1997）. Java in a Nutshell. Retrieved July 1, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://online-books.ora.com/mod-bin/books.mod/javaref/javanut/index.htm

　　4. Online book or similar independent document, no author

　　Citation. As with other anonymous works: by short title and date: （Electronic reference formats, 2000）.

　　Reference

　　Electronic reference formats recommended by the American Psychological Association. （2000, August 22）. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Retrieved August 29, 2000, from the World Wide Web: http://www.apa.org/journals/webref.html

　　5. Article in an online journal or magazine

　　Citation. As usual.

　　Reference

　　Edelstein, D. （2000, August 18）. Pols on film. Slate Magazine. Retrieved August 21, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://slate.msn.com/MovieReview/00-08-18/MovieReview.asp

　　6. Newspaper article

　　Citation. As usual.

　　Reference

　　Dowd, M. （2000, August 20）. Stop That Canoodling! New York Times on the Web. Retrieved August 21, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.nytimes.com/library/opinion/dowd/082000dowd.html

　　Other types of texts—editorials, letters to the editor, reviews, and so on, parallel the usual APA citation style （see above）, with the use of online information （most importantly retrieval date and URL） instead of page information.

　　7. Government publication

　　Citation. As usual.

　　Reference

　　Securities and Exchange Commission.（1999, December 3）. Commission Staff Issues Accounting Bulletin on Revenue Recognition. Retrieved July 17, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.sec.gov/news/press/99-162.txt

　　8. Other Web materials

　　Citation. As usual—by author or, if necessary, short title, as well as date. If a title is used, make sure to put it in quotation marks: （"Microstrategy," 2000）.

　　Reference. When possible put a descriptive phrase after the title （e.g., chart, MP3, video, photograph, map）.

　　Microstrategy, Inc.（2000, August 20）. [Chart]. Washington Post. Retrieved August. 20, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://financial.washingtonpost.com/graph.asp?ticker=MSTR

　　9. Forum or conference posting

　　Citation. As usual: （Jensen, 2000）.

　　Reference

　　Jensen, William. （2000, April 17）. Re: Question About Grading Essays. Online course posting. Retrieved July 18, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://tychousa.umuc.edu/BMGT110/5218/class.nsf/conference/value.htm

　　10. Email

　　Citation. Email is cited as a form of personal communication: （T. Scout, personal communication, September 21, 2000）.

　　Reference. As with other personal communication citations, no reference is given.

　　In its online document on electronic reference formats, the APA cautions that email poses special problems of verifiability, since it's easy to send email in another's name. Authors should take pains to establish the accuracy of any cited email communication, and bear the responsibility for its accuracy.