Documentation:  Print Sources - Electronic Sources - Miscellaneous Research Tips

APA Style for Electronic Sources

In-Text Citations | Explanation of APA Style for Electronic Sources

References List

As in all cases, if you have any questions, ASK YOUR PROFESSOR. Printable versions of the documentation handouts may be viewed by clicking on the .

Library Databases

Web Sites and Other Electronic Sources

Academic Search Complete Academic OneFile African American Experience American Government America's Newspapers AP Multimedia Archive Applied Science Full Text Biography Resource Center Biological & Agricultural Index Plus Business Full Text Business Source Complete CINAHL Plus Full Text Computer Database CQ Global Researcher CQ Researcher Online Coin Career Library Contemporary Middle East Credo Reference Criminal Justice Periodical Index Current History Online eBooks/netLibrary Education Full Text Education Research Complete Encyclopedia Britannica Online ERIC via the Web ERIC via EBSCO ERIC via FirstSearch Expanded Academic ASAP FACTS.com Films On Demand General Business File ASAP General Reference Center Gold General Science Full Text Global Road Warrior GreenFILE Health & Wellness Resource Center Health Source: Consumer Edition Health Source: Nursing Academic History Reference Center Hoover's Premium Hospitality & Tourism Complete InfoTrac Professional Collection Issues & Controversies Issues: Understanding Controversy & Society JSTOR Legal Periodicals Full Text LexisNexis Academic Library Literature & Information Science  Full Text Magill's Medical Guide MAS Ultra School Edition MEDLINE with Full Text (EBSCO) Military & Government Collection netLibrary/eBooks New York Times Historical Edition Newsbank New York Times (via Newsbank) Nursing & Allied Health Source, Proquest OmniFile Full Text Mega Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center The Orlando Sentinel Oxford Reference Online Premium Physician's Desk Reference (PDR) Points of View Reference Center Primary Search PsycArticles Reader's Guide Full Text Regional Business News Science Resource Center SIRS Knowledge Source Social Sciences Full Text Supreme Court Collection Thompson Healthcare Series Today's Science Vault Online Career Library Virtual Reference Library World Book Online World Geography World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras World History: The Modern Era World Folklore and Folklife

Article from a Web Site Audiovisual & Graphical Resources Interviews and Other Personal Communications (E-Mail, Listservs, etc.) Blog Entry YouTube Video Full-Text Book from Google

In-Text Citations

Parenthetical Documentation or Citing Sources in the Text: Use the following examples as a guide for referencing sources in the body of your paper.   APA uses the author(s) and date of the source.  For direct quotations, also site the page number, if available. Note the placement of the period in each example.

Site with one author:

"LifeMap is a guide to help students realize their educational and career goals" (Jones, 2002, p. 22).
OR
Jones (2002, p. 22) stated that "LifeMap is a guide to help students realize their educational and career goals."

Site with two to five authors:

The LRC has electronic resources to support the curriculum (Delisle, Johnson, Smith, and Kimble, 2004).
OR
DeLisle, Johnson, Smith and Kimble (2004) found that the LRC has electronic resources to support the curriculum.

Site with more than five authors:

"Online courses provide a way for students to use their time wisely" (Eger et al., 2004, p. 145).
OR
Eger et al. (2004, p. 145) stated that "online courses provide a way for students to use their time wisely."

Site with no author; use the first two to three words of the title:

Valencia has a vital workforce development program ("More companies," 2003).

Site with a corporate author:

Television habits of young children directly relates to their reading proficiency
(American Psychological Association, 2002).

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Explanation

This handout is based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition, 2001 and on APAStyle.org.

In June, 2007, the American Psychological Association released new rules for documenting electronic resources. A copy of the APA Style Guide to Electronic Resources is available at the Information Desk, or an abridged copy can be accessed at http://apastyle.apa.org/elecmedia.html. All APA Style examples in this guide are being updated to reflect the new standards.

The APA citation for a document obtained over the Internet, whether it is a web site or a document from a library-based electronic resource, will be similar in format to a comparable print source with some elements added and some omitted. You should include as many of the following available elements in the order given. For some web sites you may only have a title, a date of access and an address to cite.

1. The author(s) last name and initials, if available. If not available, start with the title.
2. The date of publication, in parentheses, if available. The date should be expressed as either a year, a year and month, or a year, month and date depending on what information is available from the web site or what type of library-based electronic resource you use and the frequency of publication.
3. The title of the web site, italicized. If the source is a periodical article, include the title of the article in regular type, and then the name of the periodical, italicized, followed by a volume number, also italicized, if available.
4. Pagination information, if available. More often than not, this will not be available for web sites.
5. Retrieval information which includes the date of retrieval as well as the unique URL of a web site. This should be expressed as follows:
   Retrieved February 22, 2004, from http://edie.cprost.sfu.ca/ gcnet/ISS4-21c.html
6. If the source is from a library-based electronic resource the retrieval information will include the date of retrieval and the proper name of the database. This should be expressed as follows:
   Retrieved February 1, 2004, from Academic Search Premier database.

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