APA Website Citation
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0 sourcesAPA Website Citation in APA 7th edition follows the pattern: Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of the page. Site Name. URL. The page title is italicised in sentence case, and the URL carries no closing period.
What is the APA format for a website citation?
A basic APA website reference has four elements in a fixed order: author, date, title, and source. The structure is Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of the page. Site Name. URL. The title of a standalone web page is set in italics and sentence case, while the site name stays in plain text.
| Element | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Author | Surname, then initials; or the group/organisation name | Bologna, C. |
| Date | Full publication date in parentheses; use (n.d.) if none |
(2019, October 31). |
| Title | Italic, sentence case, period at end | Why some people love horror movies. |
| Site name | Plain text; omit if it duplicates the author | HuffPost. |
| URL | Full live link, no closing period | https://www.huffpost.com/entry/… |
What does each part of an APA website reference mean?
The five colour-coded parts below map directly onto a real APA reference. Reading them left to right gives you author, publication date, italic page title, the website that hosts it, and the URL that leads a reader back to the exact source.
- Author — surname followed by initials; a comma separates multiple authors, with an ampersand before the last.
- Date — the specific publication date in parentheses, formatted Year, Month Day.
- Title — the page title in italics and sentence case, ending in a period.
- Source — the name of the website or publisher, in plain text.
- URL — the direct web address, hyperlinked, with no period after it.
What are correct APA website citation examples?
Real examples clarify the rules faster than abstract templates. Each reference below is copy-ready; the label shows the scenario it covers, from a named individual author to a group author and an untitled page.
Individual authorBologna, C. (2019, October 31). Why some people with anxiety love watching horror movies. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anxiety-love-watching-horror-movies_l_5d024b7c
Group authorWorld Health Organization. (2018, May 24). The top 10 causes of death. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death
Two authorsNguyen, T., & Okafor, D. (2021, March 9). How remote teams stay connected. Atlassian. https://www.atlassian.com/blog/teamwork/remote-team-communication
News site articleFisher, M. (2020, August 14). Why so many countries struggle with testing. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/world/covid-testing.html
Note the group-author example omits the site name because the author (World Health Organization) and the publisher are the same organisation. Repeating identical information is redundant, so APA drops it.
How do I cite a website with no author or no date?
When a web page lists no author, move the title into the author position; when it shows no date, use (n.d.), meaning “no date.” These substitutions keep every reference in the standard author–date–title–source order so readers can still match it to an in-text citation.
No authorTuscan white bean soup. (2022, January 4). Serious Eats. https://www.seriouseats.com/tuscan-white-bean-soup-recipe
No dateRamirez, L. (n.d.). A beginner’s guide to composting. GardenKnowHow. https://www.gardenknowhow.com/composting/basics/composting-guide.htm
| Missing element | What to do | In-text result |
|---|---|---|
| No author | Start with the italic title | (Tuscan White Bean Soup, 2022) |
| No date | Use n.d. |
(Ramirez, n.d.) |
| No title | Add a bracketed description | (Smith, 2021) |
How do I write an APA in-text citation for a website?
APA uses author–date in-text citations, so a website citation shows the author’s surname and the year: (Bologna, 2019). For a direct quotation you add a locator such as a paragraph number, because most web pages lack stable page numbers: (Bologna, 2019, para. 4).
- Parenthetical: Horror can regulate anxiety for some viewers (Bologna, 2019).
- Narrative: Bologna (2019) explains why anxious viewers seek out horror.
- Group author: First citation (World Health Organization [WHO], 2018); later (WHO, 2018).
- No author: Use a shortened title in quotation marks or italics (“Tuscan White Bean Soup,” 2022).
When does an APA website citation need a retrieval date?
Most web pages do not need a retrieval date. APA 7 requires one only when the content is designed to change over time and is not archived, such as a live dictionary entry, a social media profile, or a continuously updated map or dataset. In those cases the format is Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL.
Changing pageMerriam-Webster. (n.d.). Citation. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved July 18, 2026, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/citation
How accurate is this guide, and what are its limits?
Every format and example here reflects the APA 7th edition manual and matches examples APA publishes on its own style site. Still, edge cases exist. A blog post embedded in a larger blog, a PDF report, or a page within a government portal can each shift which element counts as the “site name.”
Automated generators, including ours, read whatever metadata a page exposes. If a site tags its author or date incorrectly, the output inherits that error. Always confirm the author spelling, the publication date, and the italicisation of the title against the live page before submitting. A citation is only as reliable as the data behind it.
APA website citation FAQ
Do you italicise the website title in APA?
You italicise the title of the specific page or document, not the name of the overall website. The site name that hosts the page stays in plain text. So the page title is italic and the publisher name is roman.
Is “Retrieved from” still used in APA 7?
No. APA 7 removed the words “Retrieved from” before URLs for stable pages. You now list the bare URL. The phrase survives only in the retrieval-date form for content that changes and is not archived.
How do I cite a website with no author in APA?
Move the page title into the author position and keep the rest of the order. In text, cite a shortened version of that title with the year, for example (“Tuscan White Bean Soup,” 2022).
Should the URL end with a period in APA?
No. Never place a period directly after a URL or DOI, because a trailing period can be mistaken as part of the link and break it. The reference simply ends after the address.
What date do I use if a web page has no publication date?
Use (n.d.) in both the reference and the in-text citation. Do not substitute the date you accessed the page unless the content is the changeable, unarchived type that requires a retrieval date.
Do I include the site name if it matches the author?
No. When a group author and the website publisher are identical, such as the World Health Organization, omit the site name to avoid repeating the same organisation twice in one reference.