Official APA Blog Tips
Need more help with using DOIs? Try these posts from our blog:
Websites
For a passing reference to a website in text, the URL is sufficient; no
reference list entry is needed.
Gussie Fink-Nottle has set up a discussion forum
for newt fanciers (http://gfnnfg.livejournal.com/).
However, when you are citing a particular document or piece of information
from a website, include both a reference list entry and an in-text citation.
The key to creating the reference list entry is to determine the type of
content on the web page. Basically, provide the following four pieces of
information:
Author, A. (date). Title of document [Format
description]. Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxxx
The in-text citation includes the author and date (Author, date), as with
any other APA Style citation.
More information
Publication Manual (6th ed., section
6.32, pp. 189–192; Chapter 7, Examples 29, 30, 54, 55, and 76, pp. 198–215)
From the APA Style website:
From the APA Style Blog:
In-Text Citations
In-text citations consist of the surname(s) of the author(s) and the year of
publication.
- If there is no author, use the title (or a short form of the
title, if it is lengthy) and the year. Titles that are italicized in the
reference list are italicized in text; titles that are not italicized in
the reference list appear in quotation marks.
- If there is no date, use “n.d.” (without quotation marks)
instead.
More information
Publication Manual (6th ed., sections
6.01–6.21, pp. 169–179)
From the APA Style website:
From the APA Style Blog:
Interviews
The citation of interviews depends on the
nature of the interview.
- Third-party interviews: If
the interview is in a form that is recoverable (e.g., a recording,
transcript, published Q&A), use the reference format appropriate for
the source in which the interview is available.
- Informational interviews:
If you have interviewed someone for information about your topic and that
person has agreed to be identified as a source, cite the source as a
personal communication (in text only):
(G. Fink-Nottle, personal communication, April 5,
2011)
Personal communications do not have
reference list entries because they cannot be retrieved.
- Interviews of research participants: No citation is needed for remarks made by participants in the
research on which you’re reporting. Do not cite these as personal
communications; this would breach the participants’ guarantee of
confidentiality.
More information
Publication Manual (6th ed., section
1.11, pp. 16--17; section 6.20, p. 179; section 7.10, Examples 69 and 70, p.
214)
From the APA Style Blog:
YouTube
Here’s the general format for creating a reference for a video found on
YouTube and other video-posting websites:
- If both the real name of the person who posted the video and
the screen name are known:
Author, A. A. [Screen name]. (year, month day). Title
of video [Video file]. Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxxx
- If only the screen name of the person who posted the video is
known:
Screen name. (year, month day). Title of
video [Video file]. Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxxx The in-text citations
include the author name outside of brackets (whichever that may be) and the
date.
More information
From the APA Style Blog:
DOIs
When DOIs are available, include them in the reference information. Place
the DOI at the end of the reference, and don’t add a period at the end of it.
Here’s an example:
Author, A. (year). Title of article. Journal
Title, X, xxx–xxx. doi:xxxxxx
More information
Publication Manual (6th ed., sections
6.31–6.32, pp. 187–192)
From the APA Style Blog:
ET AL USE
GOVERNMENT REPORTS
Reference list (recommended format):
National Cancer Institute. (2016).
Taking part in cancer treatment
research studies (Publication No. 16-6249). Retrieved from
https://www.cancer.gov/publications/patient-education/CRS.pdf
In text (recommended format):
(National Cancer Institute, 2016)
