Citing online sources APA is still a challenge for you?
Do you hate all those URLs and access dates?
No worries here.
We’ve got you covered.
As always — just choose the exact type of source you need and cite it in the same way your professor wants.
In our citation examples we use the following color coding:
- Red – Author
- Blue – Title of book/article/charter/webpage
- Pink – Date
- Orange – Website/Publisher
- Turquoise – Place of publication
- Green – Title of journal
- Black – Volume/Issue
- Sienna – Pages
- Gray – URL/database/website where the source is retrieved
- Gold – Book, a part/chapter of which is being cited
- Peach – Additional information about the source (i.e. its type, specific features etc.)
Article in an online journal (DOI)
Now
The big question is:
What is DOI?
DOI is a special number or code given to the article when it is registered.
What’s the point of it?
It is used for identification. In other words, this number identifies such information as authors, title etc.
Why are we writing about it?
Because according to the 6th edition of the APA Style Guide, it is advisable to provide a DOI of an article if it is available.
Yes, that’s not great but the fact is fact.
Here’s how you should do it:
Example:
Malizia, A. (2014). Evidence-based pharmacological treatment of anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder: A revision of the 2005 guidelines from the British Association for Psychopharmacology. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 28(5), 403-439. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881114525674
Article in an online journal (without DOI)
Example:
Dave Mckean’s Signal to Noise. International Journal of Comic Art, 15(2), 453-464. Retrieved from http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/26013/
Abstract
Example:
beat: Honey bee foragers communicate via individually calibrated waggle dances [Abstract]. Journal of Experimental Biology, 219(9), 1287-1289.
Newspaper article
Example:
York Times. Retrieved from https://nyti.ms/2kckPuk
Electronic book
When citing an electronic book, keep in mind that it may be retrieved from a personal website, a self-publishing website, or provided in an audio form. If it must be purchased, write “Available from.”
Example:
Schuessler salts (homeopathic cell salts). Available from https://www.bookrix.com/_ebook-robert-kopf-low-blood-pressure-hypotension-treated-with-homeopathy-and-schuessler-salts-homeopathic/
Haggard, H. (2014). The brethren. Retrieved from https://www.bookrix.com/_ebook-h-rider-haggard-the-brethren-20/
Chapter in an online book or web document
Example:
teaching reconsidered: A handbook (Chapter 2). Retrieved from https://www.nap.edu/read/5287/chapter/3
Book review
Example:
hands: A social history of wills, trusts, and inheritance law]. Texas Law Review, 89(2), 1149-1177. Retrieved from http://www.texaslrev.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Ascher-89-TLR-1149.pdf
Dissertation/thesis from a database
Example:
modulate the Wnt signaling pathway. Retrieved from https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/jz288sd3151
Graphic Data
Example:
interactive. Retrieved from http://mapmaker.nationalgeographic.org/
Online lecture notes/presentation slides
Example:
users.math.umn.edu/~arnold/502.s97/functional.pdf
Pomije, B. (2011). Online shopping. [Slideshare presentation]. Retrieved fromhttp://www.slideshare.net/pobr0702/online-shopping-presentation-10492184
Blog
Example:
a video of Sylville Smith’s sister [Blog entry]. Retrieved from http://gawker.com/youll-never-guess-whos-angry-about-cnn-deceptively-ed-1785416442
Entire website
Cite the name of the website and provide a link.
Example:
Page from website
If a document has more than one page, provide a URL that will be linked to the entry page of this document.
Example:
https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/on-writing/why-i-write/2016/john-preston-on-the-thorpe-affair/
Page from website with unknown author
Example:
Jan. 30, 2017, from https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/on-writing/times-and-life/2017/jan/how-sibling-rivalry-made-anne-the-other-bronte/
Personal communication is not included in the reference list. Instead, when citing information from an email, cite the source of information in parentheses.
Example:
Video or film
You may include Producer, Director, Sponsor, etc.
Example:
http://videopodcastnetwork.com/a-todd-glass-halloween/
Podcast/YouTube
Example:
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCON4zfMzjU
Government publication
Example:
21st century: Science, environment, and national security missions: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fourteenth Congress, second session, February 24, 2016. Washington, DC: Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Dissertation
Example:
Arab spring. Retrieved from http://www.openthesis.org/