APA 7th edition no longer requires the use of “Retrieved [date], from” before URLs. However, you should include a retrieval date when the page's content is likely to change over time (like, for instance, if you're citing a wiki that is publicly edited).
Author
It can sometimes be difficult to find out who the author of a website is. Remember that an author can be a corporation or group, not only a specific person. Author information can sometimes be found under an "About" section on a website.
If there is no known author, start the citation with the title of the website instead.
Date
The best date to use for a website is the date that the content was last updated. Otherwise look for a copyright or original publication date. Unfortunately this information may not be provided or may be hard to find. Often date information is found at the bottom of a webpage.
If you do not know the complete date, put as much information as you can find. For example you may have a year but no month or day.
If there is no date provided, put the letters (n.d.) in round brackets where you'd normally put the date.
Retrieval Date
If the content of a website is likely to change over time (e.g. Wikis), you must provide the date you last visited the website. Use the format "Retrieved [Month Day, Year], from https://xxxxx..."
Long URLs
If a URL is too long to fit onto one line, try to break it at a slash (/).
Note: All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.
A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.
Corporation/Group/Organization's Name. (Year website was last updated/published, Month Day if given). Title of page. Site name. URL
| Reference List Example |
World Health Organization. (2012). Data and statistics. http://apps.who.int/research/en/ Note: Because the organization's name and site name are the same, we omit the site name from the citation. |
| In-Text Paraphrase |
(Corporation/Group's Name, Year) Example: (World Health Organization, 2012) |
| In-Text Quote |
(Corporation/Group's Name, Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section) Example: (World Health Organization, 2012, Prevention section) Note: When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph in that section to identify where your quote came from. In this example there is only one paragraph under the specific heading, so no paragraph number is needed. |
Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year website was updated/published, Month Day if given). Title of page. Site name. URL
| Reference List Example |
Mabillard, A. (2011, December 29). Upcoming performances. Shakespeare online. Retrieved June 19, 2012, from http://www.shakespeare-online.com/ Note: As this content is likely to change over time, the date the website was viewed was included in the retrieval information and the word "from" was added before the URL. |
| In-Text Paraphrase |
(Author's Last Name, Year) Example: (Mabillard, 2011) |
| In-Text Quote |
(Author's Last Name, Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section) Example: (Mabillard, 2011, Elizabethan Fashion Faux Pas section, para. 2) Note: When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph in that section to identify where your quote came from. |
Title of article. (Year, Month Day). In Wikipedia. URL of archived version of page
Note: Wikipedia articles often update frequently. For this reason, the date refers to the date that the cited version of the page was published. Note also that the manual recommends linking to the archived version of the page, rather than the current version of the page on the site, since the latter can change over time. Access the archived version by clicking "View History," then clicking the date/timestamp of the version you'd like to cite.
| Reference List Example |
Veterinary medicine. (2019, June 6). In Wikipedia. Retrieved March 18, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterinary_medicine |
| In-Text Paraphrase |
("Title of entry," Year) Example: ("Veterinary Medicine," 2019) |
| In-Text Quote |
("Title of entry," Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number) Example: ("Veterinary Medicine," 2019, Paraveterinary Workers section, para. 1) Note: If a dictionary or encyclopedia entry has no author, the in-text citation should include the title of the entry. The title of the entry should be in quotation marks, with each word starting with a capital letter. When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph in that section to identify where your quote came from. |
Author's Last Name, First initial. Second Initial if Given. or Username if real name not provided. (Year blog post was published, Month Day). Title of blog post. Publisher. URL
| Reference List Example |
Dobbs, D. (2012, June 13). Fun in cities: Feature, not bug. Wired. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/06/fun-in-cities-feature-not-bug/ Note: If the blog author's real name is not provided, use their username instead. |
| In-Text Paraphrase |
(Author's Last Name, Year) Example: (Dobbs, 2012) |
| In-Text Quote |
(Author's Last Name, Year, Section Heading section if given) Example: (Dobbs, 2012) Note: This blog post has no page numbers, paragraph numbers or section headings so this information is left out of the in-text citation. |
Have a question about citing webpages/websites that isn't answered on this page? Take a look at these webpages, created by authorities on APA style, for more detailed information:
