Documents on a Web Site

According to the APA Web site, a paragraph indent or a hanging indent is appropriate for references. The writer must be consistent with either style for the paper. For Web documents, references contain the same information that would be included for a print source. The Web information (URL) or path is placed at the end of the reference. This information is necessary to allow those reading the paper to be able to access the sources that are documented.

The format for these documents is as follows:

1. The author of the document
2. The date of publication
3. The title of the document
4. The name of the journal or website (if the document is contained within a larger site).
5. The date of access by the author as well as the medium from which it was accessed on the Internet
(World Wide Web, Gopher, etc.) (The date is important as the Internet is a medium in a constant
state of flux. Electronic documents have the ability to change or even disappear with a much greater
frequency than print sources.)
6. The Internet address of the document or URL.

World Wide Web Examples

Kumar, D. (1996, March). Computers and assessment in science education. Eric Digest.
Retrieved September 6, 1999 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_ Digests/ed395770.html.

Copyright Clearance Center. (1995-1999). Guidelines for creating a policy for copyright
compliance. Retrieved October 19, 1999 from the World Wide Web: http://www.copyright.com
/News/Viewguidelines.html.

Articles For Electronic Databases at the University of Scranton

APA (http://www.apa.org/journals/webref.html) now states that material obtained from an
electronic database should be documented in the following way. The intention is the same as for print sources. The information regarding each citation should contain the author, title and other material necessary to enable the reader to find the sourced material. Unlike the Web resources, documents retrieved from a database (i.e. Lexis-Nexis, FirstSearch, Infotrac, etc.) do not need to contain the URL since these databases are on-line rather than Web databases. Despite the fact that these databases use a Web platform (i.e. Netscape) to permit navigation in searching for information, they are subscription databases and are found in the Electronic Indexes. These databases are cited differently than those sites or databases found on the Web.

1. The author of the document
2. Date of the document
3. The title of the document
4. The name of the journal that contains the article or document.
5. The volume, issue, and pagination information regarding the electronic document.
6. A statement detailing the retrieval date and the database used as well as any other
information needed to locate the document that is referenced (such as the accession or
document number).

On-Line Database Examples

Aghababian, V. & Nazir, T. (2000). Developing normal reading skills: Aspects of the visual
processes underlying word recognition. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 76, 2, 123-150. Retrieved May 9, 2000 from Ideal database.

Dinham, S. (1998). A three domain model of teacher and school executive career satisfaction.
Journal of Education Administration, 36, , 362-378. Retrieved September 6, 1999 from Emerald Intelligence + Fulltext database.

O'Neil, R. M. (1998). Academic freedom: Revolutionary change or business as usual? The Review of Higher Education, 21, 257-265. Retrieved September 6, 1999 from Project Muse database.

Sanchez, R. (1998, December 21). College, cheaters, computers coincide. Seattle Times,
p. B1. Retrieved October 19, 1999 from Newsbank database.

Stipek, D., Givvin, K. B., Salmon, J. M., & MacGyvers, C. L. (1998). Can a teacher intervention
improve classroom practices and student motivation in mathematics? The Journal of Experimental Education, 66, 319). Retrieved September 6, 1999 from InfoTrac database (Expanded Academic ASAP, Article A21004408).

Timm, J. T. (1999). Selecting computer programs and interactive multimedia for culturally
diverse students. Multicultural Education, 6 (4), 30-31. Retrieved September 6, 1999 from Firstsearch database (WilsonSelect).

Wingert, Pat, & Pan, E. (1999, October 4). Uniforms rule. Newsweek, 72. Retrieved January
28, 2000 from Lexis-Nexis (Academic Universe).

Web Citations in Text:

Follow the author/date format described on pages 168-174 in the Publications Manual, 4th edition.To cite specific parts of a Web document, indicate the chapter, figure, table, or equation as appropriate.For quotations, give page numbers (or paragraph numbers) if they are available. If page or paragraph number are not available (i.e., they are not visible to every reader), they can be omitted from the in-text citation. With most browsers, readers will still be able to saerch for the quoted material. To cite an entire Web site (but not a specific document on the site), the address of the site in the text is sufficient. No reference entry is needed, but the title of the site and the URL address in parentheses.