Library West Campus

Documentation:  Print Sources - Electronic Sources - Miscellaneous Research Tips

American Psychological Association Modern Language Association
APA Documentation of Electronic Sources MLA Documentation of Electronic Sources
APA Documentation of Print Sources MLA Documentation of Print Sources
APA Sample Paper MLA Documentation of Reference Sources

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 PDF.

Library Databases Web Sites and Other Electronic Sources
PDF Academic Search Complete
  Academic OneFile
PDF Access Science
  African American Experience
  American Government
PDF AP Multimedia Archive
PDF Applied Science Full Text
PDF Biography Resource Center
PDF Biological & Agricultural Index Plus
PDF Business & Industry
PDF Business Full Text
  Business Source Complete
  CINAHL Plus Full Text
PDF Computer Database
  CQ Global Researcher
  CQ Researcher Online
 

Coin Career Library

  Credo Reference
  Criminal Justice Periodical Index
PDF Current History Online
PDF Custom Newspapers
PDF eBooks/netLibrary
PDF Education Full Text
  Encyclopedia Britannica Online
PDF ERIC
  ERIC via EBSCO
  ERIC via FirstSearch
PDF Expanded Academic ASAP
PDF FACTS.com
  FMG On Demand
PDF General Business File ASAP
PDF General Reference Center Gold
PDF General Science Full Text
PDF Health & Wellness Resource Center
PDF Health Source: Consumer Edition
PDF Health Source: Nursing Academic
  History Reference Center
  Hoover's Premium
  Hospitality & Tourism Complete
PDF InfoTrac One File
PDF InfoTrac Professional Collection
PDF Issues & Controversies
  Issues: Understanding Controversy & Society
PDF JSTOR
PDF Legal Periodicals Full Text
PDF LexisNexis Academic
PDF Library Literature & Information Science  Full Text
  MagillOnHistory
  Magill's Medical Guide
PDF MAS Ultra School Edition
  MEDLINE with Full Text (EBSCO)
PDF Military & Government Collection
PDF netLibrary/eBooks
PDF New York Times Historical Edition
PDF Newsbank
  Nursing & Allied Health Source, Proquest
  Nursing Reference Center
PDF OmniFile Full Text Mega
PDF Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center
PDF The Orlando Sentinel
  Oxford Reference Online Premium
  Physician Desk Reference (PDR)
  Points of View Reference Center
PDF Primary Search
  Project Muse
  PsycArticles
PDF Reader's Guide Full Text
PDF Regional Business News
  Science Resource Center
PDF SIRS Knowledge Source
PDF Social Sciences Full Text
PDF Today's Science
  Virtual Reference Library
  World Book Online

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).

TOP


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.

TOP