Q. How do I cite a webpage in APA format?

The APA Manual does not give very clear direction on how to cite a webpage, but does give guidance for some web-based sources. It is important to appreciate the nature of the content.

The basic format for a website reference is:

Author (Date). Title of the website [type of media (Blog Post, Podcast, etc.)]. Retrieved from http://www.DirectURLtoTheWebsite.gov

Examples

Government website

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Services. (2011). Educational vocational counseling. Retrieved from http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/vre/vec.htm

Podcast

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (Producer). (2009, August 25). Protecting the hearing of the young [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://podcast.asha.org/2009/04/06/episode-14-protecting-the-hearing-of-the-young

Blog Entry/Post

Munger, D. (2007, September 20). The curse of knowledge: Mistaking your beliefs for those of others [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2007/09/20/the-curse-of-knowledge-mistaki

Notes: 

• For many websites there will be no person listed as the author. In those cases use the organzation name as a corporate author. Be sure to use the full name of the organization and avoid acronymns unless they are commonly understood.
• If you have a full date for when the webpage was posted, use that. For example, if a webpage is for a news source and includes the day and month of publication you should include that as well, just as you would for a print newspaper source.
• If there is no date use (n.d.). Hint: Look for dates in the footer at the bottom of the webpage.
• After the title you should may include a document description in square brackets so the reader knows what kind of source is being cited.
• Include a URL that goes directly to the webpage being cited. If the entire website is being cited use the homepage URL.
• Do not put a period at the end of a URL

For more on citing websites see the APA Style Blog entry on this topic. The egg diagram is useful for determining how to cite a source. They also have a useful table for figuring out what to include in a Website citation (PDF)..