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LRSN : APA Referencing: Electronic Sources

What are Electronic Sources?

Electronic Sources consists of any type of online material. In other words, anything you view on the computer which requires an internet connection is considered an electronic source. Common types of electronic sources you would come across are:

Clip Art sourced from Microsoft.

How to reference an Online Journal Article (from a Library Database)

The general sequence for In-text citation/referencing a Print Journal Article is as follows: 

Online Database Journal Article
Follow the same rules and format as for citing a print journal article in an in-text reference.

View example below: Hold down "Ctrl" and  "+" keys together to view larger image.  

 

 

 

 

 

The general sequence for End-text referencing a Print Journal Article in a Reference List is as follows:

Online Database Journal Article

For online journal articles you may include the following in sequence:

  • Author's surname and initials
  • Year of publication
  • Article Title
  • Journal Title (in italics)
  • Volume Number (in italics)
  • Issue Number (in brackets)
  • Page Numbers
  • URL or DOI (Digital Object Identifier)

For example:

Knezev, M. (2009). Estimating the long-term costs of diabetic kidney disease: An sssseconomic approach. Applied Economic Letters, 16(10), 1059-1064.
          http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504850701335301

Online Database Journal Article (without an author)

Follow the same rules when citing a print journal article in an in-text reference. If there is no author, use the title of the article.

 ("Lung Disease", 2010, p.1059)...
 

Online Database Journal Article (without an author)

If there is no author, use the title of the article. For example:

Lung disease. (2010). Applied Economic Letters, 16(10), 1059-1064. Retrieved from iiiii    http://web.ebscohost.com 
 

 Online Database Journal Article with DOI

 (Saunders, 2009, p.56) ...


 

 Online Database Journal Article with DOI

Smith, F.P., Arts, H.W. & Thomas, C.R. (2003). The influence of individual beliefs
      and values in financial decision making process, The Journal of Finance, 15
      (4), 47- 58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0022109011000123

 Online Database Journal Article without DOI (URL available)

(Saunders, 2009, p.258)

 Online Database Journal Article without DOI (URL available)

 Use Retrieved from followed by URL if no DOI

Saunders, A. (2009). Lessons learned: Planning for post-disaster recovery and
reconstruction.The Australasian Journal of Trauma Studies, 2 (4), 245-263.
Retrieved from http://www.ajts.org.au/~trauma/2009/saunders.htm

How to reference an E-book (Electronic book)

In-text example

Reference list / end-text example

 E-book

 

Follow the same rules and format as for citing a book. For example:

 

 

(Faull, Carter & Daniels, 2005)

 

 

 

When quoting or paraphrasing a sentence or paragraph from the book, a page number is required. However, if summarising the book as a whole, there is no need to place a page number.

E-book

 

Follow the same rules and format for citing a book and then include the URL or DOI in the retrieval statement. For example:

 

Faull, C., Carter, Y.H., & Daniels, L. (2005). Handbook of palliative care (2nd ed.).       Retrieved from http://www.wactafe.eblib.com.au

 

 
For books available only online, the electronic retrieval statement takes the place of publisher location and name.  

 

 

How to reference a website or web document

In-text example

Reference list / end-text example

 
When citing information from the World Wide Web in an end-text reference,
the information required is:
  • author's surname and initials (or sponsor)
  • year of creation (or update year)
  • title of website/web document 
  • retrieved from name of URL (web address).
 
 
Web Document (with Author)
 
Web documents may be in the form of PDFs or individual webpages within a website. For example:
 
The Commission for Occupational Safety and Health (2000) defines manual handling as “..."         
            
 
 
 
Web Document (with Author)

Commission for Occupational Safety and Health. (2000). Code of practice manual
         handling. Retrieved from http://www.docep.wa.gov.au/WorkSafe/PDF/
         Codes_of_Practice/Code_manual_handling.pdf
 
 

  • Italicise titles of standalone documents such as reports, pdf documents, powerpoint presentations.

  • See "To Italicise or Not to Italicise " titles for more information.
Website

When referencing a website such as Edith Cowan OSH homepage http://www.hr.ecu.edu.au/osh/html/
 

For example:
Edith Cowan University (2008) is a good source of information regarding…
Website
 
Edith Cowan University. (2008). Occupational safety and health homepage.
Retrieved from http://www.hr.ecu.edu.au/osh/html
 
Webpage (no date)
Follow the same rules and format as for citing print sources that do not have a date.  Use the abbreviation n.d. where the date would normally be.
 
For example:
 
 
(WA Deaf Society, n.d.)
 
Webpage (no date)
 
 
For example:
 
WA Deaf Society. (n.d.). You have rights! Retrieved from
http://www.wadeaf.org.au/index.php?id=45
 
 
  • Use the abbreviation n.d. after the author or title if there is no author.
  • Title is not italicised.
  • See "To Italicise or Not to Italicise " online titles for more information.
Webpage (without an author)                         
 
("How to Create," 2011)
 
 
 
  • Works with no identified author, cite in-text the first few words of the reference list entry (usually the title) and the year.
  • Title is not italicised but placed in double quotation marks.

Webpage (without an author)

How to create a clear project plan. (2011). Retrieved from
 
 

How to reference Australian Bureau of Statistics

 In-text example

Reference list / end-text reference example

ABS

(Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011)

ABS

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2011). Childhood education and care (No. 4402.0).
Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au

How to reference an online newspaper

 In-text example

Reference List/end-text reference example

Online newspaper

(Bullimer, 2011)

 Online newspaper
 
Bullimer, E. (2011, November 13). Costly aircraft suggests cuts won't be easy. New
York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

How to reference an image from a website

In-text example 

Reference List/end-text example 

Image from a website

 

(Heart, n.d.)

 

Note: The title is italicised (as in the reference list)
Image from a website

Place the word "Image" in brackets after the title. "(n.d)" stands for "No Date". For example:

Heart [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.wpclipart.com/medical/
anatomy/heart/heart_medical_diagram_3.png
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

How to reference a video on YouTube with an author/producer

 In-text example

 Reference List/end-text example

YouTube video

 

 

 

(Joslin Diabetes Center, 2007)

 

 

YouTube video

The sequence is as follows:

Screen name. (year, month day). Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved
     from http://xxxxx

For example:

Joslin Diabetes Center. (2007, Nov 27). Diabetes and blood pressure [Video file].
Retrieved from http://uk.youtube.com/ watch?v=hBEuGPveOuc
 

 

How to reference a powerpoint on blackboard

In-text example

 Reference List/end-text example

Powerpoint on Blackboard

 (Cross, 2008)
Powerpoint on Blackboard
 
Cross, E. (2008). Week three: The urinary system [PowerPoint slides].              
 

How to reference a blog post

In-text example

 Reference List/end-text example

Blog

(Smith, 2007)

 Blog
 
Smith, S. (2007, January 22). The unfortunate prerequisites and consequences
of partitioning your mind [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/01/the_unfortunate_prerequisites.php

 

Title is not italicised.  

See "To Italicise or Not to Italicise " online titles for more information.

Rules on citing references

 

 
In this version of APA, the following rules apply for In-text citations/ references:
 
 
In this version of APA, the following rules apply for End-text references in a Reference List:

 Page number

 

When quoting or paraphrasing a sentence or paragraph, a page number is required. However, if summarising the source as a whole, there is no need to place a page number.

 
 Date

  • Date of retrieval will not be required for internet websites (unless they are likely to change over time eg. wikis)

  • If there is no publication date, use the copyright date of the work.

  • When a work is not dated it is noted as n.d. (no date).
 

Double quotation marks vs italics for works with no author

Works with no identified author, cite in-text the first few words of the reference list entry (usually the title) and the year.

  • When to italicise in-text?

Italicise the title if it is italicised in the reference list (eg. magazine, journal, book, etc).

  • When to use double quotation marks in-text?

Use double quotation marks around titles (eg. chapter of a book, newspaper article, journal article) or any work that is part of a greater whole).

 
 

Title : To italicise or not to italicise?

Italicise the title of a (book, report, entire blog etc.), but do not italicize the title if it is part of a greater whole (book chapter, journal article, blog post etc).

  • When to italicise?

    Italicise titles of information that "stand-alone": 

    (e.g. journal, book, newspaper, pdf document, powerpoint presentation, e-book, report [technical, government, etc.], dissertation, thesis, film, video, television series, podcast, artwork, image, music album, unpublished manuscript, entire blog)

  • When not to italicise?

    Do not italicise Works that are part of a greater Whole :

    (e.g. journal article, book chapter, e-book chapter, newspaper article, magazine article, television episode, webisode, tweet, Facebook update, encyclopedia entry, wikipedia entry, dictionary entry, song in a CD, post in a blog)

 

 

To italicise or not to italicise? - this applies to both Print and Electronic Sources of information

 

More on referencing Electronic Sources

 

Sea of online information Examples of format descriptions

Formats of information in the “sea” area may look difficult to cite, but the 4 main elements you will need for all references are the same : author (who), date (when), title(what) and source(where).

For example:

Author. (date). Title of document [Format description]. Retrieved from http://URLxx

Reproduced and made available for copying and communication by WA Training Providers for its educational purposes with the permission of
[Open ClipArt Library].

Any information that is “important for identification and retrieval” may be included in brackets.

The format description in brackets is used when the format is something out of the ordinary for example:

 

[Audio file]                                             

[Brochure]

[Motion picture]

[Lecture notes]

[Computer software]

[DVD]

[CD]

[Video file]

[PowerPoint slides]

[Blog post]

[Television broadcast]

[Image]

[Painting]

[Photograph]