If you are citing a research paper, you will probably have to do a lot of searching for information on the Internet. With that in mind, if there are some websites that you want to use as search sources for your article, you need to place an entry for those websites in the reference list (also called a bibliography) at the end of the document. You should also include a text quote at the end of any sentence in which you have paraphrased or quoted information that appears on the website in question. While the information you need to provide is typically the same across all methods, the format in which you present it may vary depending on whether you use the Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA) style, or the one in Chicago.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: MLA Style
Step 1. Begin the bibliographic entry with the author's name, if you have one
If only one author appears on the web page you want to cite, write their last name first, followed by a comma, and finally their first name. Put a period at the end.
- Example: Alcazar, Claymore.
- If instead of a particular author, the website is produced by a government agency or company, use that name instead of the author. For example, if you use a CDC website as a source of information, you should include in the author's place "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
Tip:
For full bibliographic reference entry, if an item does not exist or has not been provided, just skip that part and move on to the next one.
Step 2. Provide the page title in double quotes
If the specific web page has a title, write it after the author's name. Capitalize when starting the first word. Put it in double quotes and put a period at the end.
Example: Alcazar, Claymore, Crystal. "Best Kept Secrets for Fabulous Cupcake Frosting"
Step 3. Italicize the website name followed by the publication date
Write the full website name and then put a comma. Use the capitals and spaces used by the website where appropriate (eg, "wikiHow" or "WebMD"). If the web page has a publication date, include it in the format of day, month and year, abbreviating the months to a maximum of 4 letters. Place a comma after the publication date.
Example: Claymore, Crystal. "Best Kept Secrets for Fabulous Cupcake Frosting". Crystal's Cupcakes, Sep 24 2018,
Step 4. Include the URL of the web page
Copy the URL of the web page and paste it into the referential entry, omitting the "http:" part. Put a period at the end of the URL and make sure this is a permanent link to the information you will cite. If the URL is extremely long, talk to your instructor or supervisor about using a shorter one.
Example: Claymore, Crystal. "Best- The best kept secrets for a fabulous cupcake frosting." Crystal's Cupcakes, Sep 24 2018, www.crystalscupcakes.com/amazing-frosting
Step 5. End the appointment with the access date in case the web page does not show a publication date
Generally, a web page will not include a particular publication date. In that case, add the word “Accessed” after the URL and include the date you were last accessed in day, month and year format. Abbreviate every month with names of no more than 4 letters and put a period at the end.
Example: Claymore, Crystal. "Best Kept Secrets for Fabulous Cupcake Frosting". Crystal's Cupcakes, www.crystalscupcakes.com/amazing-frosting. Accessed 14 feb. 2019
MLA style reference format:
Last name, first name of the author. "Title of the web page with initial capital letter". Website name, day, month and year of publication, URL. Accessed the day, month, year.
Step 6. Put a quotation in parentheses after referring to the website in the text
Typically, an MLA-style parenthetical citation includes the author's last name and the page number where the paraphrased or quoted information can be found. Since websites don't have page numbers, just include the author's last name in parentheses or, if it doesn't, the page title. Make sure to place the parentheses within the punctuation of the sentence.
- For example, you might write the following: "The best cupcake frosting techniques are often more less intuitive (Claymore)."
- If you include the author's name in the text, it is not necessary to put a quotation in parentheses. For example, you might write the following: "Award-winning baker Crystal Claymore wasn't afraid to share all her secrets by sharing her favorite frosting techniques on her website."
Method 2 of 3: APA Style
Step 1. Begin the bibliographic entry with the author's name
If only one author is listed, write their last name first followed by a comma and then their first and middle initials (if any). Generally, the author of a website will be the government agency, organization or company that owns the site. In that case, put the name of that entity followed by a period.
Example: Canadian Cancer Society
Step 2. Include the year the website or page was published
If the content you are citing has a publication date, include that year in parentheses after the author's name and then place a period at the end of the parentheses. If the specific content does not have a date, use the abbreviation "n.d." (no date) in parentheses. Avoid using the copyright date for the website itself.
- Example: Canadian Cancer Society. (2017).
- If you are citing multiple pages from the same website that were published in the same year, put a lowercase letter at the end of each year so that you can distinguish the posts in your citations. For example, you can put "2017a" and "2017b".
Step 3. Write the title of the web page with initial capital letters
Leave a space after the period that follows the date and then write the title of the web page, which usually appears as a heading at the top. Start with a capital letter only in the first word and in the proper nouns. Finally, put a period at the end of the title.
- Example: Canadian Cancer Society. (2017). Cancer research.
- If the content you're citing is a separate document, italicize the title. Usually this happens when it comes to a PDF document that appears on a website. When in doubt, use your discretion to decide whether or not the use of italics is appropriate.
Step 4. End the appointment with the direct URL of the web page
Copy the entire direct URL or permalink of the content you want to cite. Type the words "Retrieved from" and then copy the URL into the entry. Don't put any period at the end. If the URL is very long, check with your instructor or supervisor to see if you can use a shortened link.
Example: Canadian Cancer Society. (2017). Cancer research. Retrieved from
APA style bibliographic format:
Author's last name, A. A. (year). Title of the web page only with initial capital letter in the first word. Retrieved from URL
Step 5. Use the author's name and year for citations in parentheses
The APA style uses an author and year format in parentheses at the end of a quoted or paraphrased sentence on the website. This quotation in parentheses goes within the punctuation of that sentence.
- For example, you could write: "Clinical trials are used to test new cancer treatments (Canadian Cancer Society, 2017)."
- If you include the author's name in the text, put the year in parentheses immediately after it. For example, you could write: "The Canadian Cancer Society (2017) noted that Canada is a world leader in clinical trials of cancer treatments."
Method 3 of 3: Chicago Style
Step 1. Begin the bibliographic entry by entering the author's name
If the web page includes only one author, write their last name first, followed by a comma and then their first name. If no specific author is listed, use the name of the organization, company, or government agency that published the content as the author. Put a period at the end of the author's name.
Example: UN Women
Step 2. Enclose the title of the web page in double quotes
After the name of the article, put the title of the specific web page. Capitalize the first sentence, as well as proper nouns. Place a period at the end of the title after the closing of the quotation marks.
Example: UN Women. "Commission of the Juridical and Social Condition of the Woman"
Step 3. Include the name of the website or organization that publishes it in italics
If the website has a distinctive name, include it after the title of the website. Otherwise, use the name of the business, organization, or government agency that produces the website. Put a period at the end.
Example: UN Women. "Commission of the Juridical and Social Condition of the Woman". UN Women
Step 4. Enter the date of publication or access
If the content you cite has a related specific publication date, please provide it in a day, month, and year format. If a publication date is not mentioned, write the word “Accessed” followed by the date you last accessed the content in day, month and year format. Write the full name of the months of the year.
Example: UN Women. "Commission of the Juridical and Social Condition of the Woman". UN Women. Accessed February 14, 2019
Step 5. Finish the entry with a direct URL to the web page
Copy the entire URL for the web page permalink and paste it into the bibliographic entry. Put a period at the end of the URL. If this is too long, talk to your instructor, editor, or supervisor about using a shortened link.
Example: UN Women. "Commission of the Juridical and Social Condition of the Woman". UN Women. Accessed February 14, 2019
Chicago-style bibliographic format:
Last name, first name of the author. "Title of the web page with initial capital letter". Name of the website or organization that publishes it. Accessed the day, month, year. URL.
Step 6. Use commas instead of periods between footer elements
A Chicago-style footnote generally includes all of the same information as the bibliographic entry. However, the footnote is considered a sentence, with elements separated by commas. If the post has a specific author, it should be listed with their first name followed by their last name, just as you would if you wrote it in text.