APA Citattion Format for Electronic References

Information on how to cite documents retrieved from the World Wide Web follows.

Electronic Mail

First, a cautionary note regarding the citation of E-mail communications: It is possible to send an E-mail note disguised as someone else. Authors—not journal editors or copy editors—are responsible for the accuracy of all references, which includes verifying the source of email communications before citing them as personal communications in manuscripts.

E-mail communications from individuals should be cited as personal communications, as noted in APA's Publication Manual (4th ed., pp. 173–174). The format in text (personal communications are not cited in the reference list) is as follows: L. A. Chafez (personal communication, March 28, 1997).

Web Citation

Here are some examples of how to cite material posted on APA's own Web page. A similar format can be used to cite gopher or ftp sources, as long as the medium and the path are sufficiently identified.

A newsletter:

American Psychological Association. (1995, September 15). APA public policy action alert: Legislation would affect grant recipients [Announcement posted on the World Wide Web]. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved January 25, 1996 from the World Wide Web: http://www.apa.org/ppo/istook.html

A web site that provides content that does not mirror a printed source, corporate author:

Prison Legal News (1996, March). Prison litigation reform act: Update. Seattle, WA: Author. Retrieved July 25, 1996 from the World Wide Web: http://www.prisonlegalnews.org/plra.htm

An article published on the web:

Jacobson, J. W., Mulick, J. A., & Schwartz, A. A. (1995). A history of facilitated communication: Science, pseudoscience, and antiscience: Science working group on facilitated communication. American Psychologist, 50, 750–765. Retrieved January 25, 1996 from the World Wide Web: http://www.apa.org/journals/jacobson.html

A newpaper article:

Sleek, S. (1996, January). Psychologists build a culture of peace. APA Monitor, pp. 1, 33 [Newspaper, selected stories on line]. Retrieved January 25, 1996 from the World Wide Web: http://www.apa.org/monitor/peacea.html

An abstract:

Rosenthal, R. (1995). State of New Jersey v. Margaret Kelly Michaels: An overview [Abstract]. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 1, 247–271. Retrieved January 25, 1996 from the World Wide Web: http://www.apa.org/journals/ab1.html

All references begin with the same information that would be provided for a printed source (or as much of that information as possible). The Web information is then placed at the end of the reference. It is important to use "Retrieved from" and the date because documents on the Web may change in content, move, or be removed from a site altogether. For example, the last two examples above are no longer available on APA's Web site. To cite a Web site in text (but not a specific document), it's sufficient to give the address (e.g., http://www.apa.org) there. No reference entry is needed.

Other Instructions

Electronic Media from page 218 of the APA Publication Manual:

Follow sctions 3.110-3.117 for format of author, date, and title elements.
The date element should indicate the year of publication or, if the source undergoes regular revision, the most recent update; if a date cannot be determined, provide an exact date of your search.
A retrieval statement follows the location and name of a publisher typically provided for text references. Provide publisher's name and city if known and information sufficient to retrieve the material. For example, for material that is widely available on networks, specify the method used to find the material, such as protocol (Telnet, FTP, URL, etc.), the directories and filename.

For example:

Retrieved January 25, 1996 from the World Wide Web: http://www.apa.org/ppo/istook.html Retrieved January 25, 1996 from File Transfer Protocol: 128.112.128.1 Directory: pub/harnad File: psyc.92.3.26.consciousness.11.bridgeman

Do not end a path statement with a period because stray punctuation in a path will hinder retrieval.

If you cannot identify the author of a web page, it may be a sign that you cannot rely on the information contained therein. One way to track down the author or other bibliographic information is to go back to the index page. If you linked directly to the page from another site, try eliminating directories from your current URL. For example, if you are looking for more information on this item:

http://www.apa.org/journals/jacobson.html

start with

http://www.apa.org/journals/

http://www.apa.org/

at dkloper@scs.unt.edu
Please also use this address to report any errors or broken links.

Last Updated: 1/23/2003
Author: This information retrieved 12/2/1997 from the World Wide Web: http://www.apa.org/journals/webref.html
Supplemental Information: provided by Dr. D. Kall Loper on 12/2/1997 with quotations from the APA Publication Manual 4th ed.
Title: APA Citattion Format for Electronic References
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