APA Citation Format When Citing a Website: APA 7th Edition
In the realm of academic writing, the foundation of every strong argument or informed point of view rests on the bedrock of research.
Scholars, students, and researchers traverse the vast landscape of knowledge, gathering critical facts, data, and insights to build cases and lend weight to their discourse. This process, integral as it is to intellectual exploration, necessitates the acknowledgement of the sources from which we draw information.
This acknowledgement is achieved through the use of citations. Among the various citation styles available, the APA format stands as one of the most widely used, especially when it comes to citing digital resources like websites.
In this article, we'll show you how to create a citation for a website in APA style and provide a citation generator to use while creating your next references page.
What Are APA Citations?
First things first, let's delve into what APA citations are. APA, or the American Psychological Association, is an organization that has developed a specific format of citation for academic and professional documents, called the APA citation format.
The APA citation style is used primarily in the social sciences, but its reach extends to other disciplines as well, due to its clear and concise nature.
APA citations include a reference list at the end of the document and in-text citations within the body of the work. They offer a way to give credit to the original authors or creators of works which have contributed to your own research.
In essence, they're your way of saying, "Hey, this brilliant idea? It wasn't mine, it came from this source." It's all about acknowledging intellectual debts and maintaining academic integrity.
When Do You Use an APA Citation for a Website?
Websites, being an integral part of the information superhighway, are often sources of information that can support, inform, or enhance your academic or professional work.
The question of when to use an APA citation for a website can be answered simply: Use an APA citation for a website whenever you refer to, paraphrase, or directly quote information from a website in your work.
For instance, let's say you're writing a research paper on the impact of climate change on global food production, and you find a useful article on a government website. If you use any information from that article, you must provide an APA citation to credit the source. This applies whether you're using a direct quote, summarizing the article, or even if you're just using a fact or statistic you found there.
Format for an APA Citation for a Website
The basic format for an APA citation for a website is as follows:
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of web page/article. Site Name. URL
Note that 'Author' refers to the individual or group authoring the content, followed by the date of publication in brackets. The title of the web page or article is then listed, followed by the name of the site. Finally, the URL of the webpage is listed.
However, websites can be tricky because sometimes, certain information like the author or date might be missing. In such cases, here's how you'd go about it:
No Author: Start with the title of the web page, followed by the date.
No Date: Use the abbreviation 'n.d.' for 'no date'.
For example, an APA citation for a website with no author would look like this:
- Title of web page/article. (Year, Month Day). Site Name. URL
And for no date, it would be:
- Author, A. A. (n.d.). Title of web page/article. Site Name. URL
Example APA Citation for a Website
The following example is an APA citation for our article SAT Prep 101: SAT Vocab Flashcards.
Cable, D. (2023, May 24). SAT Vocab. Blaze Today. Retrieved June 14, 2023, from https://blaze.today/blog/sat-vocab/
In this citation:
- "Cable, D." is the author's name.
- "(2023, May 24)" is the date of publication.
- SAT Vocab is the title of the article.
- "Blaze Today" is the name of the website.
- "Retrieved June 14, 2023," is the date you accessed the article.
- The URL is the direct webpage where the article can be found.
APA Citation Generator
Creating citations by hand for an essay or presentation can be incredibly time-consuming, especially if you have a lot of sources to site.
Instead, use a citation generator to help you create citations **(full or in-text) in no time. If you are looking for a citation generator that can help you create correct citations quickly, use Text Blaze.
With Text Blaze's APA citation generator template, you can insert your source's information and generate a correct citation in seconds, saving you tons of time while creating your references page.
Here's why you should use Text Blaze's citation generator:
- It works anywhere online (Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Gmail, Outlook, etc).
- You can generate all the citations (full or in-text) you need for an assignment in minutes.
- Instead of copying and pasting the citations (which breaks the formatting), you can insert them using keyboard shortcuts with Text Blaze.
{note}To create your citation, fill out all required fields (indicated with a *) as well as any additional fields necessary.
Your citation will be created at the bottom of this form. Only the citation will be output by this snippet.
Source
{formmenu: default=website; image; journal article; online video; textbook; website; name=source}
Citation Type
{formmenu: default=Full citation; In-text citation; name=citationtype; multiple=yes}
Selecting both will output both citations at once.
Citation Details
{if: source="book" or source="textbook"}
{if: includes(citationtype, "Full citation")}Year* {formtext: name=year}{if: testregex(year, "[^0-9]")}{error: Enter numbers only}{endif}
Title* {formtext: name=title; cols=50}
Publisher* {formtext: name=publisher; cols=25}
Edition {formtext: name=edition; cols=25}
Include the ordinal indicator, such as "1st", "2nd", "3rd", or "4th"
Page(s){if: includes(citationtype, "In-text citation")}*{endif} {formtext: name=pages; cols=25}
Numbers only for a single page. Multiple pages should be separated with a - such as 10-15.
DOI {formtext: name=doi; cols=25}
ID only. Do not include https://www.doi.org/
URL {formtext: name=url; cols=50}
Include the full URL. If a DOI is included, URL will be ignored.
{elseif: includes(citationtype, "In-text citation") and not includes(citationtype, "Full citation"); trim=right}
Year* {formtext: name=year}{if: testregex(year, "[^0-9]")}{error: Enter numbers only}{endif}
Pages* {formtext: name=pages; cols=25}
Numbers only for a single page. Multiple pages should be separated with a - such as 10-15.{endif}
{elseif: source="journal article"}
{if: includes(citationtype, "Full citation")}Year* {formtext: name=year}{if: testregex(year, "[^0-9]")}{error: Enter numbers only}{endif}
Title* {formtext: name=title; cols=50}
Journal* {formtext: name=journal; cols=50}
DOI {formtext: name=doi; cols=25}
ID only. Do not include https://www.doi.org/
Volume {formtext: name=volume; cols=25}
Issue {formtext: name=issue; cols=25}
Page(s) {formtext: name=pages; cols=25}
Numbers only for a single page. Multiple pages should be separated with a - such as 10-15.
URL {formtext: name=url; cols=50}
Include the full URL. If a DOI is included, URL will be ignored
{elseif: includes(citationtype, "In-text citation") and not includes(citationtype, "Full citation"); trim=right}
Year* {formtext: name=year}{if: testregex(year, "[^0-9]")}{error: Enter numbers only}{endif}{endif}
{elseif: source="website"}
{if: includes(citationtype, "Full citation")}Title* {formtext: name=title; cols=50}
Website Name* {formtext: name=website; cols=25}
URL* {formtext: name=url; cols=50}
Include the full URL
Publishing date: {formdate: YYYY, MMMM D; name=pubdate}
Date accessed: {formdate: MMMM D, YYYY; name=accessdate}
{elseif: includes(citationtype, "In-text citation") and not includes(citationtype, "Full citation"); trim=right}
Year* {formtext: name=year}{if: testregex(year, "[^0-9]")}{error: Enter numbers only}{endif}{endif}
{elseif: source="image"}
{if: includes(citationtype, "Full citation")}Title or Description* {formtext: name=title; cols=50}
If the image has a title, use it. Otherwise, provide a description of the image [in square brackets like this].
Year* {formtext: name=year; cols=25}{if: testregex(year, "[^0-9]")}{error: Enter numbers only}{endif}
Source {formtext: name=imagesource; cols=25}
URL {formtext: name=url; cols=50}
{elseif: includes(citationtype, "In-text citation") and not includes(citationtype, "Full citation"); trim=right}
Title or Description* {formtext: name=title; cols=50}
If the image has a title, use it. Otherwise, provide a description of the image.
Year* {formtext: name=year; cols=25}{if: testregex(year, "[^0-9]")}{error: Enter numbers only}{endif}{endif}
{elseif: source="online video"}
{if: includes(citationtype, "Full citation")}Channel or Username of video publisher* {formtext: name=channel; cols=25}
Publishing date* {formdate: YYYY, MMMM D; name=pubdate}
Title* {formtext: name=title; cols=50}
Website Name* {formtext: name=website; cols=50}
URL* {formtext: name=url; cols=50}{if: includes(citationtype, "Full citation") and includes(citationtype, "In-text citation")}
Timestamp* {formtext: name=timestamp}
Provide as HH:MM:SS{endif}
Note: Listing contributors is not required for online videos. Only add below if you have this information. Check this box if you'd like to include contributors in the citation: {formtoggle: name=Include Contributors in online video citation}
{elseif: includes(citationtype, "In-text citation") and not includes(citationtype, "Full citation"); trim=right}
Channel or Username of video publisher* {formtext: name=channel; cols=25}
Publishing date* {formdate: YYYY, MMMM D; name=pubdate}
Timestamp* {formtext: name=timestamp}
Provide as HH:MM:SS
{endif}{endif}
Contributor Details
{if: (not includes(citationtype, "Full citation")) and (source="online video" or source="image")}Contributor details are not necessary for in-text citations for {=source}.{else}Number of contributors: {formmenu: default=1; 2; 3; 4; 5; name=contributors}
Contributor 1
| First Name{if: includes(citationtype, "Full citation")}*{endif} | Middle Initial | Last Name* | Suffix | Contributor Type* |
| {formtext: name=c1first; cols=15} | {formtext: name=c1mi; cols=3} | {formtext: name=c1last; cols=15} | {formtext: name=c1suff; cols=3} | {c1type="Author"}{=c1type} |
Contributor 2
| First Name{if: includes(citationtype, "Full citation")}*{endif} | Middle Initial | Last Name* | Suffix | Contributor Type* |
| {formtext: name=c2first; cols=15} | {formtext: name=c2mi; cols=3} | {formtext: name=c2last; cols=15} | {formtext: name=c2suff; cols=3} | {if: source="journal article" or source="website" or source="image" or source="online video"}{c2type="Author"}{=c2type}{else}{formmenu: Author; Editor; Translator; name=c2type}{endif} |
Contributor 3
| First Name{if: includes(citationtype, "Full citation")}*{endif} | Middle Initial | Last Name* | Suffix | Contributor Type* |
| {formtext: name=c3first; cols=15} | {formtext: name=c3mi; cols=3} | {formtext: name=c3last; cols=15} | {formtext: name=c3suff; cols=3} | {if: source="journal article" or source="website" or source="image" or source="online video"}{c3type="Author"}{=c3type}{else}{formmenu: Author; Editor; Translator; name=c3type}{endif} |
Contributor 4
| First Name{if: includes(citationtype, "Full citation")}*{endif} | Middle Initial | Last Name* | Suffix | Contributor Type* |
| {formtext: name=c4first; cols=15} | {formtext: name=c4mi; cols=3} | {formtext: name=c4last; cols=15} | {formtext: name=c4suff; cols=3} | {if: source="journal article" or source="website" or source="image" or source="online video"}{c4type="Author"}{=c4type}{else}{formmenu: Author; Editor; Translator; name=c4type}{endif} |
Contributor 5
| First Name{if: includes(citationtype, "Full citation")}*{endif} | Middle Initial | Last Name* | Suffix | Contributor Type* |
| {formtext: name=c5first; cols=15} | {formtext: name=c5mi; cols=3} | {formtext: name=c5last; cols=15} | {formtext: name=c5suff; cols=3} | {if: source="journal article" or source="website" or source="image" or source="online video"}{c5type="Author"}{=c5type}{else}{formmenu: Author; Editor; Translator; name=c5type}{endif} |
Conclusion
APA citation for websites may seem complex at first glance, but it's simpler than you might think. It all comes down to acknowledging the sources of your information, which is a crucial aspect of academic and professional integrity.
Use Text Blaze's APA citation generator to quickly generate citations that you can insert anywhere online with keyboard shortcuts.
What are you waiting for? Give Text Blaze's template a try today!
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