theguide11e

Other Electronic Sources

For more information on finding sources, see Chapter 21.

A rule of thumb for citing electronic sources not covered in one of the preceding sections is to include enough information to allow readers to access and retrieve the source. For most online sources, provide as much of the following as you can:

Name of author
Date of publication or most recent update (in parentheses; if unavailable, use the abbreviation n.d.)
Title of document (such as a Web page)
Title of Web site
Any special retrieval information, such as a URL; include the date you last accessed the source only when the content is likely to change or be updated (as on a wiki, for example)

Web site The APA does not require an entry in the list of references for entire Web sites. Instead, give the name of the site in your text with its Web address in parentheses.

Web page or document on a Web site

Discussion list and newsgroup postings Include online postings in your list of references only if you can provide data that would allow others to retrieve the source.

Blog post

Wiki entry Start with the article title and include the post date (or n.d., if there is no date), since wikis may be updated frequently, as well as the retrieval date.

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E-mail message Personal correspondence, including e-mail, should not be included in your reference list. Instead, cite the person’s name in your text, and in parentheses give the notation personal communication (in regular type, not italicized) and the date.

Computer software If an individual has proprietary rights to the software, cite that person’s name as you would for a print text. Otherwise, cite as you would for an anonymous print text.