Citing Online

How do I cite online information in my bibliography?
Where can I go to get help citing online resources?

Consider these questions as you review the examples below. Try the quiz from the left menu: What Have You Learned? after you’ve spent some time with this section.

Index Card by Reeding Lessons.

Photo copyright Reeding Lessons, Flickr

Citing online resources can be confusing, especially if you’re not used to doing it. However, it’s important that you do it correctly! Here’s some general advice about citations for this kind of resource:

First, find out which citation style your subject uses. For example, Psychology uses APA, while English uses MLA. The different formats have many similarities, but the information is arranged in a different manner. Ask your prof or TA if you’re not sure.
No matter which style you have to use, the same basic information about the resource is required:
- Title of article
- Author’s name(s) if possible
- Exact URL – permanent if possible (web address isn’t a random sequence of letters and numbers)
- Date of access
Check out Online!’s Citation Styles page for more detailed advice and examples of citations for online resources. For example, to cite an scholarly article that you accessed through one of the Library’s online databases, you follow the same format for an article you found in a journal in person, but you must also document the database you used, the Library and the date of access.