Websites are probably the most common source you'll need to cite — and the most inconsistent. Unlike journal articles or books, web pages vary wildly in how they present authorship, dates, and titles. Some have everything you need front and center; others make you hunt for a publication date buried in the page source.
The good news is that APA 7th edition simplified web citations significantly. The old "Retrieved from" formula is mostly gone, and the rules are more intuitive than they used to be. Let's walk through every scenario you're likely to encounter.
The Basic Format
Every website citation follows APA's universal four-part structure:
Author. (Date). Title of page. Site Name. URL
Here's a real-looking example:
Thompson, R. A. (2024, June 15). How early attachment shapes adult relationships. Greater Good Magazine. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how-early-attachment-shapes-adult-relationships
What to notice: The author's name is inverted (last name first). The date includes the year, month, and day when available. The page title is italicized and in sentence case. The site name follows in plain text. The URL sits at the end with no period after it.
Web Page With an Individual Author
This is the most straightforward case — a web page where a specific person is credited as the author.
Reference list:
Martinez, L. (2025, January 8). The hidden costs of multitasking in remote work. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2025/01/the-hidden-costs-of-multitasking
In-text citations:
Parenthetical:(Martinez, 2025)
Narrative:Martinez (2025) argues that…
If the page shows the author's full name, invert it to last-name-first format. Use initials for first and middle names, just like any other APA reference.
Web Page With a Group or Organizational Author
Many web pages — especially from government agencies, nonprofits, and universities — list an organization as the author rather than a person.
Reference list:
National Institute of Mental Health. (2024, April). Anxiety disorders. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders
In-text citations:
Parenthetical (first use):(National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2024)
Parenthetical (subsequent):(NIMH, 2024)
Narrative:The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, 2024) notes that…
Write out the full organization name the first time. If the organization has a well-known abbreviation, introduce it in brackets on the first citation and use the abbreviation after that.
When the Author and Site Name Are the Same
This happens often with organizational authors. If the author's name and the site name are identical, omit the site name to avoid redundancy:
World Health Organization. (2024, March 1). Mental health: Strengthening our response. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response
Notice there's no "World Health Organization" repeated as the site name — it goes straight from the title to the URL.
Web Page With No Author
Sometimes you simply can't identify who wrote a page. When that happens, move the title into the author position:
Reference list:
Understanding climate change adaptation strategies. (2023, October 20). Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/climate-change-adaptation
In-text citations:
Parenthetical:("Understanding Climate Change," 2023)
Narrative:The article "Understanding Climate Change Adaptation Strategies" (2023) outlines…
A few important details:
- In the reference list, the title stays italicized (because it's a standalone web page).
- In the in-text citation, use quotation marks around a shortened version of the title and switch to title case.
- Shorten long titles to the first few words — enough to clearly identify the source.
Don't confuse "no author" with "organization author."If a web page is published by an organization and no individual name appears, the organization is usually the author — not "no author." Only use the title-as-author approach when you genuinely cannot identify any responsible party.
Web Page With No Date
If the page doesn't show a publication date (and you can't find one in the page metadata or source code), use n.d. (no date):
Reference list:
Chen, W. (n.d.). Principles of sustainable urban design. Urban Planning Institute. https://www.urbanplanning.org/sustainable-design-principles
In-text citations:
Parenthetical:(Chen, n.d.)
Narrative:Chen (n.d.) describes…
No Author and No Date
When both are missing, combine the two rules:
Reference list:
Water conservation tips for homeowners. (n.d.). Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/watersense/tips
In-text citations:
("Water Conservation Tips," n.d.)
Blog Posts
Blog posts follow the same basic format as web pages. The key difference is that a blog post is typically part of a larger blog — so the blog name serves as the site name:
Reference list:
Rivera, K. (2025, February 3). Why spaced repetition works better than cramming. The Learning Scientists Blog. https://www.learningscientists.org/blog/why-spaced-repetition-works
In-text citations:
(Rivera, 2025)
If the blog post has no identified author and the blog is maintained by an organization, use the organization as the author:
The Learning Scientists. (2025, February 3). Why spaced repetition works better than cramming. https://www.learningscientists.org/blog/why-spaced-repetition-works
Notice that when the author and the site name are the same, the site name is omitted — the same rule as with organizational authors above.
When to Include a Retrieval Date
For most web pages, you do not include a retrieval date. APA dropped the "Retrieved from" requirement in the 7th edition for sources with stable content.
However, you do need a retrieval date when the content is designed to change over time and there's no archived version. The most common examples:
- Wikipedia articles — they're continuously edited
- Social media profiles — the bio can change at any time
- Dictionary or encyclopedia entries without a fixed publication date
- Data dashboards that update regularly (like COVID trackers)
Format:
Cognitive load theory. (2025, January 10). In Wikipedia. Retrieved February 15, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_load_theory
The retrieval date goes before the URL, introduced by "Retrieved [date], from."
Wikipedia and Wiki Articles
Wikipedia is a special case worth highlighting. Many instructors discourage citing Wikipedia directly, but APA does have an official format for it:
Reference list:
Cognitive load theory. (2025, January 10). In Wikipedia. Retrieved February 15, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_load_theory
In-text citations:
("Cognitive Load Theory," 2025)
Key details:
- The article title goes in the author position (no author for wiki articles).
- The date is the date of the version you used — click "View history" on Wikipedia to find it.
- "In Wikipedia" is the source, italicized because it's a reference work.
- A retrieval date is required because the content can change at any time.
- Link to the specific archived version if your instructor requires it — Wikipedia provides permanent links to each revision.
Online News Articles
News articles from websites like CNN, BBC, or The New York Times follow the same format as web pages, with the publication date:
Reference list:
Park, J. (2025, January 22). Universities rethink AI policies as students embrace new tools. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/22/education/universities-ai-policies
In-text citations:
(Park, 2025)
If the article has no individual byline, use the news organization as the author and omit the site name (since they'd be the same).
Quick-Reference Table
Here's a summary of every scenario covered on this page:
| Scenario | Author Position | Date | Example In-Text |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual author | Last, F. M. | (Year, Month Day). | (Martinez, 2025) |
| Group author | Organization Name. | (Year, Month). | (NIMH, 2024) |
| Author = Site name | Organization Name. | (Year, Month Day). | (WHO, 2024) |
| No author | Title of Page. | (Year). | ("Title of Page," 2023) |
| No date | Last, F. M. | (n.d.). | (Chen, n.d.) |
| No author + no date | Title of Page. | (n.d.). | ("Title of Page," n.d.) |
| Blog post | Last, F. M. | (Year, Month Day). | (Rivera, 2025) |
| Wikipedia | Article Title. | (Year, Month Day). | ("Article Title," 2025) |
| News article | Last, F. M. | (Year, Month Day). | (Park, 2025) |
Common Mistakes
These are the errors we see most often with website citations:
- Using the URL as the author. The URL is never the author — if you can't find an author, use the title.
- Forgetting to italicize the page title. Standalone web pages get italicized titles in the reference list.
- Putting a period after the URL. Don't — it could break the link and confuse readers.
- Listing "Google" or the search engine as the source. Cite the actual website you landed on, not how you found it.
- Adding "Retrieved from" when you don't need to. Only use retrieval dates for content that's designed to change (like Wikipedia).
- Citing the homepage instead of the specific page. Link to the exact page where the information appears, not the site's front page.
What's Next
Now that you know how to cite websites, you might want to explore:
- How to cite a source with no author — deeper coverage of the no-author scenario for all source types
- APA Reference List — the complete guide to formatting your reference list
If you're tired of formatting citations by hand, Archivero can automatically generate APA reference entries for any web page — just save the page to your library and the citation is ready to copy.
