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Below, you will find step-by-step instructions for citing websites in the APA citation style.
Here is the basic format for citing a website in APA format:
Author, F. M. (Date). Website title. Web Link.
Let's break the citation down.
The author's name is listed as their last name, first initial, and middle initial (if they have one.) So an author named John Paul Jones would be listed as:
Jones, J. P.
If you have multiple authors, you will need to list them all. Put them in the order that they appear on the website. Separate them with a comma, and put an ampersand (&) before the last one. So a website written by John Paul Jones, John Quincy Adams, and Thomas Paine would look like this:
Jones, J. P., Adams, J. Q., & Paine, T.
Many websites do not list an author. In those situations, put the title of the page in the place of the author, then leave the title off its normal place. The rest of the citation will remain the same.
The year is simply the date of publication for the website. If it is listed, the month and date of publication may be added after the year. Spell out the month. For example, a magazine or newspaper published on January 1, 2019 would be formatted as (2019, January 1). If the date is not listed, simply list the month (2019, January).
Often, a publication date will not appear. In that situation, use the copyright date. It is often at the very bottom of the webpage. If no date whatsoever can be found, cite it as (n.d.). However, only do this as a last resort! The citation will be incorrect if a date can be found.
Type in the entire title of the website, along with the subtitle if there is one. However, whenever you type in the title, you should only capitalize the first letter of the title, the first letter of the subtitle (the part that follows after the colon), and any proper nouns (the names of individual people, places, and organizations.) Italicize the title. So, the website "How To See Giraffes In Kenya" would have its title written like this:
How to see giraffes in Kenya
If you had a website with a subtitle, for example "Riding Horses: Tips For Equestrian Fun In Texas and Oklahoma," it would have its title written like this:
Riding horses: Tips for equestrian fun in Texas and Oklahoma
You will need to add a link to the webpage at the end of your citation. Copy the link from the web browser bar and paste it at the end of your citation. An example would look like this:
http://www.google.com
A website titled "Planting a Garden," written by John Smith and published in 2017, would be cited like this:
Smith, J. (2017). Planting a garden. http://www.plantingagarden.com
Here is the basic format for citing a section of a website in APA format:
Author, F. M. (Date). Webpage title. Website title. Web Link.
Let's break the citation down.
The author's name is listed as their last name, first initial, and middle initial (if they have one.) So an author named John Paul Jones would be listed as:
Jones, J. P.
If you have multiple authors, you will need to list them all. Put them in the order that they appear on the website. Separate them with a comma, and put an ampersand (&) before the last one. So a website written by John Paul Jones, John Quincy Adams, and Thomas Paine would look like this:
Jones, J. P., Adams, J. Q., & Paine, T.
Many websites do not list an author. In those situations, put the title of the page in the place of the author, then leave the title off its normal place. The rest of the citation will remain the same.
The year is simply the date of publication for the website. If it is listed, the month and date of publication may be added after the year. Spell out the month. For example, a magazine or newspaper published on January 1, 2019 would be formatted as (2019, January 1). If the date is not listed, simply list the month (2019, January).
Often, a publication date will not appear. In that situation, use the copyright date. It is often at the very bottom of the webpage. If no date whatsoever can be found, cite it as (n.d.). However, only do this as a last resort! The citation will be incorrect if a date can be found.
Type in the entire title of the section of the website you are using, along with the subtitle if there is one. Italicize the title. However, whenever you type in the title, you should only capitalize the first letter of the title, the first letter of the subtitle (the part that follows after the colon), and any proper nouns (the names of individual people, places, and organizations.) So, the section "How To See Giraffes In Kenya" would have its title written like this:
How to see giraffes in Kenya
If the section has a subtitle, for example "Riding Horses: Tips For Equestrian Fun In Texas and Oklahoma," it would have its title written like this:
Riding horses: Tips for equestrian fun in Texas and Oklahoma
Type in the entire title of the website, along with the subtitle if there is one. However, whenever you type in the title, you should only capitalize the first letter of the title, the first letter of the subtitle (the part that follows after the colon), and any proper nouns (the names of individual people, places, and organizations.) Do not italicize the title. So, the website "Gophers Of The World" would have its title written like this:
Gophers of the world
If you had a website with a subtitle, for example "Kangaroos: Danger From Down Under," it would have its title written like this:
Kangaroos: Danger from down under
You will need to add a link to the webpage at the end of your citation. Copy the link from the web browser bar and paste it at the end of your citation. An example would look like this:
http://www.google.com
A section of a website entitled "Flowers and Shrubs," from a website titled "Planting a Garden," written by John Smith and published in 2017, would be cited like this:
Smith, J. (2017). Flowers and shrubs. Planting a garden. http://www.plantingagarden.com/flowers
