Website Reference APA 7th Edition Guide
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Lucas Harrington
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Contents
- When the Author Is an Organisation
- When There Is No Author
- When There Is No Date
- Webpages That Are Part of a Larger Website Versus Entire Websites
- Government Website Format
- How to Handle URLs That Redirect or Break
- News Articles from Websites
- In-Text Citations for Web Sources
- A Worked Reference List Example
APA 7th edition changed the format for web references from APA 6th. If you're still using an older guide, your format will be wrong. Here's the new format clearly stated.
The format is:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year, Month Day). Title of webpage in sentence case. Website Name. URL
Let's work through a real example:
American Psychological Association. (2019, July 1). APA style. American Psychological Association. https://apastyle.apa.org/
The American Psychological Association is the author (an organisation). 2019, July 1 is the publication date. "APA style" is the webpage title in sentence case. "American Psychological Association" is the website name. The URL is https://apastyle.apa.org/
Notice there's no "Retrieved from" in APA 7th edition. That's been removed. You just provide the URL. The date is optional in APA 7th for webpages that don't change. Many websites don't have a specific publication date. In that case, omit the date.
When the Author Is an Organisation
Many government, charity, and institutional websites have an organisation as the author rather than an individual person.
UK National Health Service. (2023). Anxiety disorders. NHS. https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/anxiety-disorders/
Office for National Statistics. (2022, November 15). Labour force survey. ONS. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandselfemployment/bulletins/labourforce/latest
The organisation name is the author. Everything else follows the same format.
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When There Is No Author
If the webpage has no author and no organisational author, move the title to the author position and include [Web page] in square brackets after the title.
[Web page]. (2021). How to write a dissertation introduction. Dissertation Homework. https://www.dissertationhomework.com/guides/
This format is used rarely, usually only for pages where no author or organisation is identified.
When There Is No Date
If the webpage has no publication date or last updated date, use "n.d." in place of the year.
Author, A. A. (n.d.). Title of webpage. Website Name. URL
This is common for pages that don't change or pages where the date is unclear. If you can find a date, use it. If you can't, use n.d.
Webpages That Are Part of a Larger Website Versus Entire Websites
If you're citing a specific webpage (like a blog post or an article on a news website), use the format above.
If you're citing an entire website as a resource, you can cite it in the text but usually don't include it in the reference list. In text: "The NHS website (https://www.nhs.uk/) provides information on...". Check your programme's guidance on this.
Government Website Format
UK government websites have a specific format in APA 7th.
Department of Work and Pensions. (2023, March). Welfare to Work: Policies and outcomes. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/welfare-to-work
NHS guidance specifically:
NHS England. (2022). Mental health services. NHS. https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/
Office for National Statistics:
Office for National Statistics. (2023). Labour market statistics. ONS. https://www.ons.gov.uk/
The key is to identify the specific department or organisation responsible for the page. If the author isn't clear from the page itself, look for a contact or organisational information, often at the bottom of the page.
How to Handle URLs That Redirect or Break
URLs sometimes redirect or break over time. If a URL is likely to change, use a permalink if available or the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) if available.
Author, A. A. (2020). Title of webpage. Website Name. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx
If neither is available and you're concerned the URL might break, you can archive the page using the Wayback Machine (archive.org). The Wayback Machine creates a permanent archived version of web pages.
You can cite the archived version:
Author, A. A. (2020). Title of webpage. Website Name. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20200101000000/https://www.example.com/
This tells readers exactly which version you accessed and when.
News Articles from Websites
News articles from websites are formatted slightly differently from general webpages.
Author, A. A. (2023, March 15). Title of news article. News Publication. https://www.example.com/news-article
The format is the same as for webpages. Include the author if named. Include the date. Provide the URL.
If no author is given, begin with the article title:
[Web article]. (2023, March 15). Welfare reform affects disabled workers. BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
In-Text Citations for Web Sources
The in-text citation format for web sources follows the same rules as all other APA sources. You cite the author and year.
(Author, Year)
Multiple citations: (Author1, Year; Author2, Year)
Smith (2021) found that disability benefit recipients...
Some research suggests that welfare policy affects employment outcomes (Office for National Statistics, 2022).
If you're citing a specific page within a webpage, you can add a paragraph number:
(Author, Year, para. 5)
A Worked Reference List Example
Here's what a reference list with website citations looks like in APA 7th:
American Psychological Association. (2019). Anxiety and depression. APA. https://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety-depression
Dissertation Homework. (2023, March 1). How to write a dissertation literature review. Dissertation Homework. https://www.dissertationhomework.com/guides/literature-review
NHS England. (2023). Mental health support. NHS. https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/
Office for National Statistics. (2022, November). Labour market overview. ONS. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/
Smith, J. (2021, July 15). Welfare policy and employment. Government Analysis. https://www.example.com/analysis/welfare
Notice that all websites are listed alphabetically by author. URLs are provided without "Retrieved from". Dates are included where available. Sentence case is used for webpage titles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Should I include "www" in the URL or just the domain name? A: Include the full URL as it appears in your browser. If the page URL is https://www.example.com/article, include https://www.example.com/article. If the page is accessed at https://example.com/article, include that version. Consistency matters so readers can find the page.
Q: What if the website uses a very long URL with lots of parameters? A: Use the full URL as it appears in your browser. If it's extremely long and complicated, you can use a URL shortener like Bitly to create a shorter version, but this is only necessary if the URL is genuinely too long to be practical. Most URLs are fine as they're.
Q: Do I need to include the date accessed? A: Not in APA 7th edition. You include the publication date or last update date if available. You don't include the date you accessed it. This is one of the changes from APA 6th edition. APA 7th assumes that the URL will take readers to the content, so access date is unnecessary.
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