Citing Electronic Sources: APA Style

Introduction:
APA style is the preferred writing style of The American Psychological Association. It is widely
used by scholars, researchers, and students of Psychology, Sociology, Education, Political Science,
Anthropology, Economics, and Nursing in researching, recording, documenting, and writing
research papers.

The following recommendations for citing electronic resources are based on the 6th edition of
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2010) and selective Web
publications on APA electronic citations. A copy of the manual should be available at the
reference desk of your academic or public library in the United States. For more online
instructions and examples of APA general writing format, parenthetical reference, Reference List
of various sources, and notes, please go to Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University
<https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/>.

General Guidelines for the Reference List

o Center References on the top of a new page at the end of the research paper
o Double space between References and the first citation
o Flush to the left to type each entry and indent five spaces (or Tab) after the first line if an
entry runs more than one line
o Single-space between words/fields
o Double-space between lines throughout the References page
o Spell out only the authors last names and provide the initials of the authors first names
and middle names.
o Reverse all of the authors names (e.g., Haugen, D. M., & Musser, S.)
o Start with the title if there is no author or corporate author
o Place the publication year in parentheses after the author or title entry
o Capitalize the initial letter in the title and subtitle of an article, a chapter from a book, and
a book title
o Capitalize proper nouns and all keywords in a periodical title
o Italicize the titles of books or periodicals (journals, magazines, newspapers), and the
volume number of a periodical
o Place a comma and a space after the periodical title and the issue number [e.g., Nature,
462(7271), 251+]
o Place the issue number in parentheses right after the volume number but do not italicize
the issue number (See the above example)
o Place a plus sign (+) right after the beginning page number if the page number range is
not given (See the above example)
o Place a period at the end of each field except the author field since there is already a
period after the first name or middle name initial
o Alphabetize the citations under References by the authors last names or the beginning of
a title if there is no author

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Cite Articles from Journals or Magazines
If the journal or magazine is available in print format and easily available from a subscription
online database, cite the journal or magazine article as if it is a print source.

If the article has one to five authors, cite all of their names in References. When a work has six or
more authors, cite the first authors name and add et al. If the authors first and middle names
are hyphenated, use hyphenation to link the first name initial and the middle name initial.

If the article is only in electronic format available from a subscription online database, add
Retrieved from Database Name at the end of the citation.

If there is no author listed for the article, start the citation with the article title followed by the
edition information, if any, in parentheses. Place the publication year in parentheses in the
following field.

Cite Journal Articles from Subscription Online Databases:

Author's last name, First name initial, and Middle name initial. (Date of Publication).

Article title. Journal Title, volume number(issue number), the beginning page

number followed by a plus sign if the original publication is of more than 1 page.

Norwood, V. L. (1987). The nature of knowing: Pachel Carson and the American

environment. Signs, 12(4), 740-760.

Allison, P., England, P., & Levanon, A. (2009). Occupational feminization and pay: Assessing

causal dynamics using 1950-2000 U.S. Census data. Social Forces, 88(2), 865+.

Beaulieu, M.-D., et al. (2013). Characteristics of primary care practices associated with

high quality of care. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 185(12),

E590+.

Cite Magazine Articles from Subscription Online Databases:

Author's last name, First name initial, and Middle name initial. (Date of Publication).

Article title. Magazine Title, volume number, page number.

Kaspriske, R. (2008, September). Worst things to drink after a round. Golf Digest, 59, 58.

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 Article title. (Date of Publication). Magazine Title, Volume number, Page number.

Increased stress puts more at risk. (2012, April). USA Today, 140, 1+.

Cite Journal Articles from an Internet-Only Publication:

Author's last name, First name initial, and Middle name initial. (Publication year).

Article title. Journal Title, volume number(issue number), page number.

Retrieved from the URL of the journal home page

Vetter, R. (2001). Kissing bugs and the skin. Dermatology Online Journal, 7(1), 6.

Retrieved from http://dermatology.cdlib.org/issuesindex.html/

Cite E-Books or a Chapter from an E-Book

For books or chapters that are available in print format, cite the electronic version from
subscription online databases as if they were print sources.

Author's last name, First name initial, and Middle name initial. (Date of Publication).

Article title. In Book title, (edition, Volume number, Page number range).

Publication Place: Publisher.

Sullivan, T. (2001). Bankruptcy and credit. In Encyclopedia of sociology, (2nd ed., Vol. 1,

pp. 201-208). New York: Macmillan Reference USA.

For books or chapters available only online, the electronic retrieval statement takes the place of
publisher location and name. If it is from a subscription online database, list the database name.

Author's last name, First name initial, and Middle name initial. (Date of Publication).

Book title. Retrieved from URL.

Austen, J. (1996). Pride and prejudice. Retrieved from

http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/pridprej.html/

Author's last name, First name initial, and Middle name initial. (Date of Publication).

Chapter title. In Book title. Retrieved from Name of the Online Databas.

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 Tran, M., & Odle, T. G. (Jan 1, 2006). Nutrition. In Gale encyclopedia of

medicine. Retrieved from Academic OneFile via Gale.

Chapter title. (Date of Publication). In First name initial and Last name of the editor

(Ed.), Book Title, (Edition, Volume, Pages). Retrieved from Name of the Online

Database.

Bankruptcy. (2006). In J. Wilson (Ed.), Gale encyclopedia of everyday law, (2nd ed., Vol.

1, pp. 283-287). Retrieved from Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Cite Newspaper Articles

Cite Newspaper Articles from a Subscription Online Database:

Author's last name, First name initial, and Middle name initial. (Year, Month Date).

Article title. Newspaper Title. Retrieved from Name of the Database.

Freeman, L. (2010, December 1). Nurses discuss how to improve health care. Naples

Daily News (FL). Retrieved from NewsBank America's Newspapers.

Cite Newspaper Articles from a Website:

Author's last name, First name initial, and Middle name initial. (Year, Month Date).

Article title. Newspaper Title. Retrieved from the main URL

Hatfield, L. D. (2001, November 7). FBI frustrated in pursuit of anthrax perpetrators:

Few answers found in probe of mail terrorism. San Francisco Chronicle.

Retrieved from http://www.sfgate.com/

Cite Articles from Websites

Cite an Article from a Website with an Author:

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 Stewart, M. (2013, December 1). Administration: Obamacare website working

smoothly. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/01/politics/obamacare-

website/

Cite an Article from a Website without an author:

Obama gets a second shot at getting health care reform right. (2013, November 30).

Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/30/obama-health-care-

reform_n_4361679.html/

Cite an Article from a Website with a Corporate Author:

The Vitamins & Nutrition Center. (2010). Vitamin B12. Retrieved from

http://www.vitamins-nutrition.org/vitamins-guide/vitamin-b-12-

cyanocobalamin.htm/

Cit e a Message Post ed t o an E-Mail List :

(E-mail or messages from a discussion groups or electronic mailing list)

Author's last name, First name initial, and Middle name initial. (Year, Month Date).

Title of the e-mail as listed in the subject field [Specific type of message].

Retrieved from the URL

Doe, J. (2010, December 2). How to use Bing: Instructions [Electronic mailing list

message]. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/message/10

For instructions on how to cite books and articles in print format in References and how to
do in-text citations in APA style, please visit Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue
University <https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/>.

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