If you're doing research for a scientific article or project, there's a good chance you'll use online sources. Some sites do not display the author's name on most of their content. Usually, you can include the name of the organization or institution that maintains the source website as the author's name. However, if using the name of the organization or institution as the author's name doesn't make sense, create a citation entry for the source site, without the author's name. Specifically, the format to follow depends on the citation style you use, such as the Modern Language Association (MLA), the American Psychological Association (APA), or Chicago.
Step
Method 1 of 3: For MLA Style
Step 1. Include the site name in italics
If you want to cite the website as a whole and can't find the name of the author of the source article, start the reference or bibliography entry with the name of the site. Use a capital letter as the first letter of the first word and all nouns, pronouns, verbs, and adverbs (including other words that have more than 4 letters for entries in English). Place a period at the end of the site name.
For example: The Purdue OWL Family of Sites
Step 2. Enter the name of the institution or affiliated organization
The name of the institution or organization that sponsors or maintains the website may appear at the head of the main page or on the " About " page. Type in the full name of the institution and capitalize the first letter of each word, then insert a comma.
For example: The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U,
Step 3. Include site creation date if available
On the “About” page, you may be able to find information on the creation date of the site. You can also use the first year in the copyright information at the bottom of the page if the year range is displayed. Insert a comma after the date.
For example: The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008,
Step 4. Add the URL and date of access to the site
Copy the URL of the website's main page without the "http:" element. Place a period after the URL, then type in the word “Accessed on” (or “Accessed” in English), followed by the last date of access to the site in date-month-year format. Shorten the names of months with more than 4 letters to the first 3 letters.
- For example: The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008, owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html. Accessed 29 Oct. 2018.
- Example in Indonesian: The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008, owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html. Accessed Oct. 29. 2018.
Reference Entry Format in MLA Citation Style
Website Name. Site Sponsor Name, Date Month Year source creation, URL. Accessed/Accessed on Date Month Year.
Step 5. Use a shortened version of the site name for in-text citations
Whenever you want to add a reference to a website in a post, you need an in-text citation. For websites, the best option that can be done is to mention the name of the site in your own writing. If you can name the site in a sentence, you don't need an in-text citation at all.
For example, you might create a sentence like: "Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) offers some of the most comprehensive information on research and scientific writing." Since the site name is already mentioned in the sentence, you don't need an in-text citation
Method 2 of 3: For WHAT Style
Step 1. Include the site address in the text to cite the website as a whole
The APA style does not require citations or full reference entries if you want to cite the website as a whole. Just state the name of the site in writing, then put the site address (in brackets) at the end of the sentence, before the closing punctuation mark.
- For example, you might write: "Kids Psych is an interactive website designed to teach children about psychology (https://www.kidspsych.org).
- Cite the first main page of the site, not the second page. Usually, the URL for the main page will not be long. However, if the URL turns out to be quite long and looks messy when added to your post, discuss with your instructor, teacher or lecturer about creating and using a shortened version of the address.
Step 2. Create a reference entry to cite a specific page from the source website
To cite a specific web page that does not contain the author's name, list the page title first. Type a title with a capital letter as the first letter of the first word and only your own name. Insert a period at the end of the page title.
For example: Canada: Education structure
Step 3. Include the date the page was published in parentheses
The publishing date is usually the last update date or the copyright date. If you can't find a usable date on the site, enter the abbreviation "n.d." (" no date ") or the phrase "no date" (for Indonesian) in brackets. Place a period after the closing parenthesis.
For example: Canada: Education structure. (2018)
Step 4. Enter the website title in italic text
Type in the word " In " or "In", followed by the title of the site. Use capital letters as the first letter of the first word and only your own name when typing the site title. Insert a period after the title.
- For example: Canada: Education structure. (2018). In Global road warrior.
- Example in Indonesian: Canada: Education structure. (2018). In Global road warrior.
Step 5. Include the access date and URL
Type in the word "Retrieved" or the phrase "Accessed on", followed by the date of access to the source in month-date-year format (or month-month-year in Indonesian). Access dates are not really needed, unless you feel that the page content changes periodically. If you include an access date, type a comma at the end of the date. After that, enter the word “from” or “from”, followed by the full URL of the web page. Do not place a period at the end of the URL.
- For example: Canada: Education structure. (2018). In Global road warrior. Retrieved February 17, 2018, from
Example in Indonesian: Canada: Education structure. (2018). In Global road warrior. Retrieved 17 February 2018, from
Reference Entry Format in APA Citation Style
Page title (capital letters as the first letter of the first word and name only). (Year). In The title of the website with the same writing system. Retrieved Month Date, Year from URL
Format in Indonesian
Page title (capital letters as the first letter of the first word and name only). (Year). In the Title of the website with the same writing system. Accessed on Date Month Year from URL
Step 6. Use a shortened version of the title for in-text citations
The APA style typically uses in-text citations in an author-date format. Since there is no author's name, use 1-2 keywords from the title and enclose it in quotation marks. Insert a comma before the closing quotation mark, then add the year of publication. If a date is not available, use the abbreviation "n.d.," or the phrase “no year”).
For example, you might write: "Canada's student grading scale is different for each province, making it difficult for students who have to change schools in the middle of the semester ("Canada," 2018)."
Method 3 of 3: For Chicago Style
Step 1. Type the title of the website in italic text
Since you don't have author information, the first element in the reference entry is the site title. Use a capital letter as the first letter of all nouns, pronouns, verbs, and adverbs in titles. Place the dot after it.
For example: Financial Accounting Standards Board
Step 2. Include the name of the website sponsor and the original publishing date
Enter the name of the institution or organization that administers the website, followed by a comma and a space. After that, type the date of publication if available in month-date-year format, followed by a period. If a publishing date is not available, place a period after the sponsor's name.
For example: Financial Accounting Standards Board. Financial Accounting Foundation
Step 3. Enter the URL and site access date
Copy the full URL of the site into the quote entry, followed by a period. After that, add the word “Accessed” or the phrase “Accessed on”, followed by the last access date in month-date-year format (for Indonesian, just follow the usual date-month-year format). Put these two pieces of information in parentheses, then insert a period outside the closing brackets.
- For example: Financial Accounting Standards Board. Financial Accounting Foundation. https://www.fasb.org/home. (Accessed October 29, 2018).
- Example in Indonesian: Financial Accounting Standards Board. Financial Accounting Foundation. https://www.fasb.org/home. (Accessed 29 October 2018).
Reference Entry Format in Chicago Citation Style
Website Title. Site Sponsor, Source creation date in Month Date, Year format. URLs. (Accessed Month, Date, Year).
For Indonesian
Website Title. Site Sponsor, Source creation date in Month Date, Year format. URLs. (Accessed on Date Month Year).
Step 4. Use commas instead of periods in footnotes
Use small numbers (superscripts) at the end of sentences that mention the source website. Footnotes must include the same information as the information in the reference entry. The difference is that each entry element is separated by a comma, and not a period. Only insert a period at the end of the footnote entry.
- For example: Financial Accounting Standards Board, Financial Accounting Foundation, https://www.fasb.org/home, (accessed October 29, 2018).
- Example in Indonesian: Financial Accounting Standards Board, Financial Accounting Foundation, https://www.fasb.org/home, (accessed 29 October 2018).
Tips
- The " About " page on a website is usually a great place to look for the author's name. In addition, there may be a web form that can be used to contact the site owner and ask individuals or organizations that can be listed as authors of the source text.
- Distinguish between a web page and a website. The website is the overall "home" of information. Meanwhile, a web page is a separate part or “room” of a website.
