Citation of Electronic Sources (APA Style)

In-text Citations of Electronic Sources and Examples | References for Electronic Sources | Examples of References for BU 113 |
Some Rules for Order of Items in References, Quotations, Punctuation, Capitalization

According to the 6th (2009) edition of the APA Manual, electronic sources include the following: online periodicals, online scholarly journal articles, databases, newspaper articles, electronic books and book chapters, online book reviews, dissertation/thesis from a database, online encyclopedias/dictionaries, online bibliographies, data sets, graphic data (e.g. maps), qualitative data and online interviews, online lecture notes and presentation slides, Web documents/pages/reports, computer software/downloaded software, e-mail, online forum/discussion board posting, blog/vlog post, Wikis, audio/video podcast.

CITATION EXAMPLES: For citation examples (in-text and references) of many different types please refer to

In-text Citations of Electronic Sources -- Examples of the most common occurrences

  1. Author and date known: If possible, cite an electronic document the same as any other document by using the author-date style.

EXAMPLES: Miller (2010) explained...... OR According to Snow (2012), .....  OR Snow (2012) claims that .....
OR As Snow (2012) shows, ...

  1. No Author, No Date: If no author or date is given, use the title in your signal phrase or the first word or two of the title with quotation marks in parentheses, followed by the abbreviation "n.d." (for "no date").

EXAMPLE: Another study of students and research decisions discovered that students succeeded with tutoring ("Tutoring and APA," n.d.).

  1. Quoting Sources without Page Numbers (Web pages): When you are quoting from an electronic source that lacks page numbers, try to include information that will help readers find the passage being cited. When an electronic document has numbered paragraphs, use the
    symbol, or the abbreviation "para." followed by the paragraph number.

EXAMPLES:  Hall (2010) states that " . . . " (¶ 5).  OR Hall (2010) argues that ". . ." (para. 5).

  1. Quoting Sources with Headings but no Page Numbers or Paragraphs (Web pages): If the paragraphs are not numbered and the document includes headings, provide the appropriate heading and specify the paragraph under that heading. Note that in some electronic sources, like Web pages, people can use the Find function in their browser to locate any passages you cite.

EXAMPLE: According to Smith (1997, Mind over Matter section, para. 6), . . . .

References for Electronic Sources

  1. For the purpose of writing the reference list in BU113: Critical Thinking and Communication class, please refer to the specific examples
    of references for electronic sources at the Purdue Online Writing Lab (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/), in particular the examples in the Citation Chart.  See also Citing Internet and Online Sources (SMC Library, maintained by Steve Burks) as well as the resources listed above.

  2. Reference Citation Generator: You may also use RefWorks through the Saint Michael's subscription to help you generate APA references. There are also free citation tools available.

Examples of References for BU 113

 

Using Value Line

Value Line Investment Survey Online
 

Name of Company.  (2011, date).  Valueline Investment Survey: Ratings and reports, Issue number.  Retrieved September X, 2011 from http://www.valueline.com.


Value Line Investment Survey – Paper form
 

Name of Company.  (2011, date).  Valueline Investment Survey: Ratings and reports, Issue number, page number. 

Using Yahoo! Finance <http://finance.yahoo.com/> for company research

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) (2011). Profile, business summary. Yahoo!Finance. Retrieved from  http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=MSFT.
Microsoft Corp (MSFT).  Income statement, June 30, 2010. Yahoo!Finance. Retrieved from http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=MSFT+Income+Statement&annual
Wingfield, Nick (2011, January 11).  Another Microsoft executive to leave. The Wall Street Journal.  Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703779704576073962170078524.html?ru=yahoo&mod=yahoo_hs 

Some Rules for Order of Items in References, Quotations, Punctuation, Capitalization

  1. Order of items in the references: Works cited must be in alphabetical order by the first letter of the source.

  2. Quotations: All quotations need a page number or paragraph number (for Web pages) in in-text citations. Quotations must be short, i.e. about 3 lines or fewer than 40 words. Quotations longer than that must be indented in block format without quotation marks.
     EXAMPLE: “…………..........” (Snow, 2012, para. 17)

  3. Punctuation / fonts

  4. Capitalization in article titles

    • In-text citation: Capitalize all words except proper nouns (names).
      EXAMPLE: According to "TransCanada to Work with Department of State on New Keystone XL Route Options" (2011), . . .

    • References: Only capitalize the first letter of the title and subtitle as well as proper nouns (names).
      EXAMPLES:
      TransCanada to work with Department of State on new Keystone XL route options (2011, Nov. 11). TransCanada.
               Retrieved from http://www.transcanada.com/5893.html
      Daly, Matthew (2011, Nov. 30). GOP bill would force action on Canada oil pipeline. Deseret News. Retrieved from
               http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700202839/GOP-bill-would-force-action-on-Canada-oil-pipeline.html

© Christine Bauer-Ramazani; this page was last updated: March 6, 2012