This guide tries to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about citing Web resources, including how to cite articles from databases. If you need more assistance, contact the Reference Desk. For information on creating parenthetical notes for Web resources, see the separate Skillman reference guide.

Components
The components listed below represent the minimum requirements for citing a Web resource.

Other components, such as accompanying print publication information, names of editors and translators, and names of sponsoring organizations can be added for clarification.

Author

• If author information is not listed at the top of a document, check the bottom or follow any links to the Web site's home page to search for author information.
• Try to distinguish the author of the content from the page designer and avoid listing the designer as an author.
• Remember that organizations or government agencies can be authors.
• If no author is listed, begin the reference with the title.

Title

• If there is both an individual document title and a publication title, such as the title of an online journal or the title of the Web site itself, include the publication title following the document title.
• If you have trouble identifying the title, check the top left corner of your Web browser. The title of the document should appear there, above the File menu. It also may appear in the top left corner of a printout from your Web browser.

Date of publication or date of last revision

• The date a Web document was created or last updated is frequently listed at the bottom.
• If a document includes both a date of creation and a date it was last updated, use only the latter.
• Include a day and month in addition to a year if they are included on the document.
• If the Web site does not include a date of publication or a date that the resource was last updated, use the abbreviation n.d. (for no date) just as you would for a book or article with no date.

URL

• This is the most critical element of your citation since it is the primary way that someone else can locate your document. Be sure to check your spelling.
• The URL or address of a Web document is located near the top of the screen in the box often labeled "Location" or "Address"
• The URL may appear in the upper right corner of a printout from your Web browser.

Date accessed

• Because Web documents can change or disappear at any time, your reference must include the last date that you viewed the document.
• The date of use usually appears in the bottom right corner of a printout from your Web browser.

Formats
In MLA style, the components are arranged this way:
Author. "Document Title." Publication or Web Site Title. Date of publication. Name of sponsoring organization. Date of access <URL>.

Example of MLA style:

Raman, Manjari. “Putting Inner Cities To Work.” Economic Development America. Fall 2005. International Economic Development Council. 24 February 2006 <http://www.iedconline.org/EDAmerica/Fall2005/inner_cities.html>.

In APA style, the components are arranged this way:
Author. (Date of publication). Document title. Publication or Web site title. Retrieved date of access, from URL.

Example of APA style:

Raman, M. (2005, Fall). Putting inner cities to work. Economic Development America. Retrieved February 24, 2006, from http://www.iedconline.org/EDAmerica/Fall2005/inner_cities.html.

In Chicago's Notes & Bibliography style, the components are arranged this way:
Author. "Document title." Web site title. URL (accessed date of access).

Example:

Raman, Manjari. "Putting Inner Cities to Work." Economic Development America. http://www.iedconline.org/EDAmerica/Fall2005/inner_cities.html (accessed February 24, 2006).

In Chicago's Author-Date system, the components are arranged this way:
Author. Year of publication. Document title. Title or owner of the site, month of publication. URL (accessed date of access).

Example:

Raman, Manjari. 2006. Putting inner cities to work. Economic Development America, Fall. http://www.iedconline.org/EDAmerica/Fall2005/inner_cities.html (accessed February 24, 2006).

Articles from databases
What about full-text articles found in databases like Academic OneFile? Cite the articles as you would an article from a print journal but include additional information about the electronic source.

MLA style for journal articles from databases
Author. “Article Title.” Journal Title volume number.issue number (publication year): page numbers. Database name. Database producer. Name of library, city of library, state. Date of access <URL for database home page>.

Examples in MLA style:

Cohn, Jeffrey P. “Understanding Sea Otters.” Bioscience 48 (1998): 151- . Academic OneFile. Thomson Gale. Lafayette College Libraries, Easton, PA. 24 February 2006 <http://www.gale.cengage.com/>.

APA style for journal articles from databases
Author (date of publication). Title of article. Journal title, volume number (issue number), page numbers when available. Retrieved date of access, from name of database.

Example in APA style:

Cohn, J. P. (1998). Understanding sea otters. Bioscience, 48. Retrieved 24 February 2006, from Academic OneFile.

Chicago's Notes & Bibliography style for journal articles from databases
Author. “Article Title.” Journal title volume number, no. issue number (date of publication). URL for database home page.

Example:

Thomas, Trevor M. “Wales: Land of Mines and Quarries.” Geographical Review 46, no. 1 (1956). http://0-www.jstor.org.www.library.lafayette.edu/ (accessed May 15, 2008).

Chicago's Author-Date system for journal articles from databases
Author. Article title. Year of publication. .Journal title volume number, no. issue number (month of publication), URL (accessed date of access)

Example:

Warr, M., and C. G. Ellison. 2000. Rethinking social reactions to crime: Personal and altruistic fear in family households. American Journal of Sociology 106, no. 3 (November), http://0-www.journals.uchicago.edu.www.library.lafayette.edu:80/AJS/journal/issues/v106n3/050125/050125.html (accessed May 15, 2008).

A note about page numbers
Academic OneFile provides only the first page number of an article followed by the length of the article in parentheses--e.g., p. 151(5). For articles longer than one page, do not try to guess the page numbers for the remainder of the article because it may not appear on continuous pages. Instead, for references in MLA style, provide the initial page number followed by a hyphen, a space, and a period (- .). For references in APA and Chicago style, omit the page numbers when you do not know the numbers for all pages of the article.

For more information
For more detailed information and examples or for information on citing blogs, wikis, e-mail messages, and other forms of electronic information, consult the sources listed below.

Online! Citation styles from Online! A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources by Andrew Harnack and Eugene Kleppinger.

Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor.
Skillman Ref PN171 .F56 W35
Excerpts are available on the Web.

MLA Style
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed.), pp. 207ff. Skillman Ref Desk LB 2639 .G53 2003

MLA Style: How Do I Document Sources from the Web...? from the Modern Lanugage Association.

APA Style
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.), pp. 268-281. Skillman Ref Desk BF 76.7 .P83 2001

APA Style: Electronic References from the American Psychological Association.

Chicago Style
Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide from the Chicago Manual of Style Online.

Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed.), chapter 17, various pages. Skillman Ref Desk Z253 .U69 2003