How to Cite a Website

Anytime you use someone else's information in a college paper you must give them credit. Understanding how to reference websites in the APA style could be the difference between getting a good grade or being accused of plagiarism.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Website being cited

1. Determine the author of the website. This information should be used first in the citation and will be formatted with the authors last name followed by a comma and then the first initial of the authors first name followed by a period. If you can not find an individual author's name, use the author or owner of the website.

2. Determine the year of publication. You can generally find this near the beginning of the article. This information is placed after the authors name and should be within parentheses.

3. Determine the name of the article. This name should be listed after the publication year and should be done with only the first letter of the first word capitalized. All other letters should be lowercase. Follow this with a period.

4. List the date the information was retrieved. This should be listed with the word "Retrieved" followed by a comma and the month, date and year the article was accessed.

5. Follow the date retrieved with the word "from" and then the name of the website. In most cases the name of the site can be found at the top of the page. Follow the title of the page with the words "web site."

6. Complete the citation with the URL of the webpage being used.

Tips & Warnings

• When referencing the URL use the URL that will take the reader directly to the page being referenced.

• Improper citations or failing to use citation can result in plagiarism.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Example of Proper APA Website Citation
• American Psychological Association