Formatting a Webpage Reference

One thing that’s different about webpages in APA 7 is that the webpage reference type should only be used for content that doesn’t qualify as any other reference type & it was originally published as a webpage. For instance, if you’re reading a journal article in a web-browser, that reference was a journal article first, so it would need to be cited as a Journal Article (even though you’re viewing it on the web).

OK, now let’s look at creating webpage references.

Step-by-Step Breakdown

For webpages, we should try to find the following information:

• Webpage author
• Publication date
• Webpage title
• Website name
• URL

For our fictional webpage, we found the following information:

Author: Jane Y. Lin
Date: July 12, 2022
Title: Exploring cryptid migration patterns
Website: National Institute for Cryptozoological Studies
URL: https://www.nics.org/articles/cryptid-migration

1. Author’s Name

Like all reference types, we’ll start with the author’s last name, followed by their initials:

Lin, J. Y.

Use a period after each initial, and a space between initials. End the author part with a period and a space.

If the author uses a screen name instead of a real name, use it. But only include the @ symbol if it is listed that way on the webpage. 

If both a name and a username are listed, include the username in brackets after the inverted name:

‍Doe, J. [@cryptidtracker].

We’ll cover what to do if no author is listed at all in a bit.

2. Publication Date

Add the date the page was published (or last updated), inside parentheses:

(2022, July 12)

Use the full date if it’s available. If not, just use the year. If there’s no date at all, write:

‍(n.d.)

End with a period and a space.

3. Title of the Webpage

If you’re citing a webpage, the title should be:

• Italicized (this is the opposite of journal articles)
• In sentence case (only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized)
  

Example: Exploring cryptid migration patterns.

End the title with a period and a space.

4. Name of the Website

Next, we need to include the name of the Website where the page is hosted. This is the name of the organization or site, not necessarily the text in the URL. You can usually find the website’s name at the top of the page or in the copyright footer at the bottom.

• Not italicized (this is the opposite of journal articles)
• In title case (capitalize all major words)
  

Example: National Institute for Cryptozoological Studies

End the website title with a period and add a space after the period.

5. Retrieval Info & URL

Now, add the URL – where the page can be accessed.

URLs should be presented as active hyperlinks when possible – underlined or not, it’s up to you. Just don’t add a period at the end, even if it feels wrong.

If the content is likely to stay the same over time, you don’t need to include the retrieval text and date. Just include the URL.

https://www.nics.org/articles/cryptid-migration

If the content changes often (like a wiki page or something frequently updated), include the retrieval text and date:

Retrieved July 17, 2025, from https://...

Use month-day-year format for the retrieval date. Still no period at the end.

No Author?

If no author is listed, there are two options.

First, the author could be the organization that published the website. In this case, the organizational author and the website name are often the same. In that case, you would omit the website name from the middle of the reference and only include it at the beginning.

If there is no author at all, then the title moves to the beginning of the reference – before the date. We format everything the same way, just in a different order:

Exploring cryptid migration patterns. (2022, July 12). https://...

Final Result

Lin, J. Y. (2022, July 12). Exploring cryptid migration patterns. National Institute for Cryptozoological Studies. https://www.nics.org/articles/cryptid-migration

And that’s it – you’ve referenced a website!

Remember, the more often a source changes or updates, the more important it is to include a retrieval date. If you’re ever unsure, it’s better to include it.