If you use a website article in your writing, you need to cite it properly. A poorly-cited source can make your paper look unprofessional, and it can lead to mistakes in your argument that may be detrimental to your reputation. Properly citing sources can help you avoid these problems, and it can also save you time in the future.
Web pages and other online content should be cited in APA format, although different citation styles will apply depending on the type of information you are citing. This includes articles that appear in print or online, as well as blog posts and other types of marketing material.
In-text citation: The in-text citation for an online source should contain the author’s name, the date of publication, and the page number of the website you are citing. It should be included after the title of the article or webpage in your reference list. It should be included even if the article or webpage doesn’t have a full-length citation (see below).
Websites, especially those containing academic information, should be cited in MLA style. This includes articles that appear in scholarly journals and websites that are accessible to the general public.
The MLA citation format for a website article is similar to the APA citation format, but with one important difference: it should include the URL. This is because the URL links to the actual website on the Internet, not a document on the computer or a file in your file system.
In MLA citations, the author’s name should be listed twice: once in the text of the paper, and once in the reference list. Often the same person is responsible for both the text and the website, but this is not always the case. When a single person is the only author, it is acceptable to omit this name.
If there is more than one person responsible for the website, the citation should include all of them. This can be done in APA style by including the name of the publisher or editor of the site, and a compiler’s name when available.
Date: The APA style experts recommend using the most specific date that is provided when citing a web page. Often, this is the copyright or publication date, but if not, use the most recent revision date that is available.
Other citation elements that are required for most online sources include the date of last access, date of publication, and retrieval date. The retrieval date is required for information that is likely to change over time, such as social media profiles or maps generated by Google Maps.
Retrieval dates are not needed for most other kinds of online content. If you accessed an online website, you can omit the retrieval date if it is not readily available.
It’s best to cite an entire website in the same way you would cite an article, and to add other information that may be unique to your specific type of online content. For example, if you’re citing an infographic, it is important to include the URL of the source so that your readers can follow the link back to the original web page.
