A Guide to Citing Online Resources

This guide displays the MLA and APA styles for citing material you've found via the Internet, including general web pages and full-text articles found in WilsonWeb or other online periodicals databases.  Though slight variations of style interpretation exist, the general information included is standard, as it is for traditional print materials.  If you cannot find all of the information indicated, cite what is available.  It's also a good idea to print and retain a copy of the page(s) you are citing, so you can verify the information at a later date.

[Go to APA Style] 

MLA Style, format for works-cited page
 

General Web Pages

Basic format:
Author's last name, first name. Title of the Document. Date of publication or latest revision.

     Institution or Organization associated with the site (if applicable). Date of access <full

     http address>.

Sample citation:
Ellair, Jeff. Some Hints to Evaluating Internet Information. 22 May 2000. Battig Memorial

     Library, University of Wisconsin Sheboygan. 20 June 2000

     <http://sheboygan.uwc.edu/library/ineteval.htm>.

Full-text Articles found in online periodicals databases

Basic format:
Author's last name, first name. "Title of the Article." Title of the magazine/journal Date of

     issue: page numbers. Name of database where article was found. Name of the search

     system used. Name and location of subscribing library. Date of access <http address of

     search system's starting page>.

Sample citation for a magazine article, when volume and issue number is not required:
Furger, Roberta. "Is Your Credit Card Safe in Cyberspace?" PC World 3 Feb. 1998: 33+.

     Readers' Guide Abstracts Full Text. WilsonWeb. UW-Sheboygan Library, Sheboygan,

     WI. 20 June 2000 <http://hwwilsonweb.com/>.

Sample citation for a journal article, when volume and issue number is supplied [vol.iss (pub. year)]:
Gardyn, Rebecca. "You Can't Download a Hug." American Demographics 22.4 (2000): 12-

     15. Social Sciences Abstracts Full Text. WilsonWeb. UW-Sheboygan Library,

     Sheboygan, WI. 20 June 2000 <http://hwwilsonweb.com/>.

APA Style, format for works-cited page
 

General Web Pages

Basic format:
Author's last name, first name. (Date of publication or latest revision). Title of the document.

     Retrieved [date of access] from [Institution or Organization associated with the site (if

     applicable)] Web site: full http address

Sample citation:
Ellair, Jeff. (2000, May 22). Some hints to evaluating Internet information. Retrieved June

     20, 2000 from University of Wisconsin Sheboygan, Battig Memorial Library Web site:

     http://sheboygan.uwc.edu/library/ineteval.htm

Full-text Magazine and Journal Articles found in online periodicals databases

Basic format:
Author's last name, first name. (Date of issue). Title of the article. Title of the

     magazine/journal, Volume number, page numbers. Retrieved [date of access] from

     [name of search system] database (Name of database).

Sample citation for an article from a magazine published weekly or monthly:
Furger, Roberta. (1998, February 3). Is your credit card safe in cyberspace? PC World, 16,

     33+. Retrieved June 20, 2000 from WilsonWeb database (Readers' Guide Abstracts Full

     Text).

Sample citation for a journal article, when an issue number is supplied:
Gardyn, Rebecca. (2000). You can't download a hug. American Demographics, 22 (4), 12-

     15. Retrieved June 20, 2000 from WilsonWeb database (Social Sciences Abstracts Full

     Text).

Parenthetical Citations in the Text

Parenthetical references in the text, used in place of footnotes or endnotes in a paper, must clearly point to specific sources in the alphabetically-arranged works-cited list.

MLA Style: Place in parentheses the author's last name and the page number or paragraph number cited, if numbering is provided in the original document. (Ellair, par. 2)  If you have more than one title by the same author in your works-cited list, include a shortened version of the title as well. (Ellair, Some Hints, par. 2)

APA Style: Place in parentheses the author's last name, the year of the publication, and the number of the paragraph(s) cited. (Ellair, 2000, para. 2)

The information on this page is based on MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed., 2003; MLA's How do I document sources from the Web in my works-cited list?, 2005 (available at http://www.mla.org/publications/style/style_faq/style_faq4); Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed., 2001; and APA Style (Electronic References), 2003 (available at http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html), which excerpts information from the 5th edition of APA's Publication Manual.