APA Style Guide: Webpage or download
Find how to reference a webpage, download, blog comment, wiki page and more using the American Psychological Association (APA) style.
Information sources found on the internet can sometimes be difficult to acknowledge and create entries for. In the guidelines we’ve provided you may find an example that matches what you are trying to acknowledge. You can also build a hybrid entry by combining the guidelines for books and other sources with the guidelines for web sources. For more information about hybrid entries and an example of one, see Section 8 in our downloadable APA Style Guide document.
Here’s how to reference a webpage, download, blog comment, wiki page and more.
APA 6th edition style guidelines
Webpage or document
Direct quote
Page numbers must be included.
Previous research has indicated that "the early experiences of students entering tertiary education are integral to the development of positive attitudes towards further study" (Hillman, 2005, p. 9).
Paraphrasing
Page numbers may be required.
Many students in their first year of tertiary study have issues with keeping a balance between work, study and relationships (Hillman, 2005).
Reference list entry
Date of retrieval may be required after title, e.g. Retrieved May 16, 2009, from...
Hillman, K. (2005). The first year experience: The transition from secondary school to university and TAFE in Australia. Retrieved from http://www.acer.edu.au/documents/LSAY_lsay40.pdf
Direct quote
Page numbers must be included. If not available, indicate the paragraph number.
The theory of constructivism argues that "...learning is an active, constructive process" (Bruinsma & Berghuis, n.d., para. 3).
Paraphrasing
Page numbers may be required. If not available, indicate the paragraph number.
Constructivism as a theory argues that the learner builds their own interpretation of new knowledge by linking it to their prior knowledge (Bruinsma & Berghuis, n.d., para. 3).
Reference list entry
Date of retrieval may be required after the title, e.g. Retrieved May 16, 2009, from...
Bruinsma, B., & Berghuis, W. (n.d.). Perspectives on learning: Consequences on instructional design: Perspectives. Retrieved from http://www.geocities.com/learningenvironments/
Other types
Direct quote
Page numbers must be included unless there are no page numbers, in which case use the chapter and section details (chapter is abbreviated as ‘ch.’).
Tanaka (2012, p. 19) notes this shift in law as being due to offshore exploration and drilling: “After World War II, however, coastal states increasingly extended their jurisdiction toward the high seas in order to control offshore resources”.
Paraphrasing
Page numbers must be included if available.
Tanaka (2012) asserts that coastal nations, wanting to obtain and secure offshore deposits of natural resources for their own use, expanded their jurisdictional reach into the high seas.
Reference list entry
If no digital object identifier (DOI) is assigned to the content, include the homepage URL.
Tanaka, Y. (2012). The International Law of the Sea, Cambridge University Press. EBL Ebook Library. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/
You can also refer to the Books quick guide.
Direct quote
Page numbers must be included.
A student engaged in deep learning "focuses on what is intended or signified by the author of the text" (Bond, 2000, p. 78).
Paraphrasing
Page numbers may be required.
An example of a deep approach to learning is when a student strives to understand what the author's intention is within the text (Bond, 2000).
Reference list entry
If no digital object identifier (DOI) is assigned to the content, include details of online access. See APA 6th manual for specific guidelines, Section 7.05 pp.207–208. You also don’t need to repeat the city of the location if it is part of the University’s name.
Bond, C. (2000). The development of students' experiences of learning in higher education (Doctoral dissertation, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia). Retrieved from http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/public/adt-QGU20051214.111201/index.html
Check the Images or Figures quick guide for information on captioning.
Direct quote
You may also be required to include captioning information.
In the middle of the model we can see overlap is "learning as becoming a new person" (Learning in a community of practice, n.d.).
Paraphrasing
You may also be required to include captioning information.
The model shows that when a student succeeds at learning within a disciplinary community ultimately they change their conception of the world and therefore change themselves (Learning in a community of practice, n.d.).
Reference list entry
The date of retrieval may be required after the title, eg. Retrieved May 16, 2009, from...
Learning in a community of practice [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://daugherity.com/blogfiles/CoPVenn.jpg
Check the Images or Figures quick guide for information on captioning.
Direct quote
You may also be required to include captioning information.
Walter Burley and Marion Mahoney Griffin’s ceiling in the Capitol Theatre, Melbourne 1975
Paraphrasing
You may also be required to include captioning information.
(Seivers 1975)
Reference entry list
Seivers, W. (1975). Walter Burley and Marion Mahoney Griffin’s ceiling in the Capitol Theatre, Melbourne 1975 [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic=an12752342-2.
Direct quote
Stephens (2008, September 14) emphasises that in order to maintain an interesting blog "I try to read many blogs in my blogosphere; those that I aspire to be like, and those that are more my direct competitors".
Paraphrasing
Creating a valuable blog involves researching what other bloggers are doing (Stephens, 2008).
Reference list entry
Do not italicise the title of a blogpost in the reference list.
Stephens, R. (2008, September 14). Re: 50 ways to take your blog to the next level [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.chrisbrogan.com/50-ways-to-take-your-blog-to-the-next-level/
Direct quote
Page numbers must be included. If not present, give paragraph numbers.
Mader (2008, para. 4) points to the essential difference between a blog and a wiki: "A blog is very much an online journal, and a wiki is similar to a whiteboard, except that it records everything that's written on it, and lets you see the history of revisions".
Paraphrasing
Page numbers may be required. If not present, give paragraph numbers.
A blog is like a personal online diary with sequential entries going back in time, whereas a wiki is produced and edited by more than one person and you are able to view any changes made (Mader, 2008).
Reference list entry
Mader, S. (2008, April 10). Interview: The state of wikis in education [Wiki]. Retrieved from Grow Your Wiki: http://www.ikiw.org/2008/04/10/interview-the-state-of-wikis-in-education/
Direct quote
When people think about their health and life expectancy they often believe this is primarily effected by medical factors, however "it's the social and economic circumstances that we live in which seem to be the most powerful determinants of how healthy we are" (Seega, 2008).
Paraphrasing
Many people do not realise that the main factors that determine their health and life expectancy are the economic and social situations they live in (Seega, 2008).
Reference list entry
Seega, B. (Producer), & Swan, N. (Presenter). (2008, September 15). Closing the gap in a generation [Radio program]. Sydney, Australia: ABC Radio National. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/rn/healthreport/
You can also refer to the Film, TV or Radio quick guide.
Using a different source type?
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