Formatting a Webpage Reference in APA 7

First: is it really a webpage?

One thing is different about webpages in APA 7. Use the webpage reference type only for content that doesn't fit any other reference type and was originally published as a webpage.

For instance, if you read a journal article in your web browser, it was a journal article first, so you cite it as a journal article, even though you're reading it on the web.

Now, let's create a webpage reference.

What to find first

For a webpage, try to find:

• The author
• The publication date
• The title of the page
• The website's name
• The URL

For our made-up webpage, we found:

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

Step by step

1. Author's name

As with every reference type, start with the author's last name, followed by their initials:

Lin, J. Y.

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

If the author goes by a screen name instead of a real name, use it, and include the @ symbol only if the page shows it that way. If the page lists both a name and a username, put the username in square brackets after the inverted name:

Doe, J. [@cryptidtracker].

What to do when no author is listed comes a little further down.

2. Publication date

Add the date the page was published, or last updated, in parentheses:

(2022, July 12).

Use the full date if the page gives it. If not, use the year alone. If there's no date at all, write (n.d.) End with a period and a space.

3. Title of the webpage

The title of a webpage is:

• Italicized, the opposite of a journal article's title
• In sentence case: only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized

Exploring cryptid migration patterns.

End the title with a period and a space.

4. Name of the website

Next comes the name of the website where the page lives. That's the name of the organization or site, which isn't always the text in the URL. You'll usually find it at the top of the page or in the copyright line at the bottom. It's:

• Not italicized, the opposite of a journal's name
• In Title Case: capitalize every major word

National Institute for Cryptozoological Studies.

End the website name with a period and a space.

5. Retrieval date and URL

Last, add the URL where the page can be found. Make it an active link when you can; underlined or not is up to you. Don't put a period after it, even if that feels wrong.

If the page is likely to stay the same over time, you don't need a retrieval date. Just give the URL:

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

If the content changes often, like a wiki or a page that's updated all the time, add the retrieval date, written Month Day, Year, before the URL. Still no period at the end:

Retrieved July 17, 2025, from https://www.nics.org/articles/cryptid-migration

No author?

If no person is listed as the author, there are two possibilities.

First, the author may be the organization that published the website. Then the author and the website name are often the same. When they are, leave the website name out of the middle of the reference and give it only once, as the author at the beginning.

If there's no author at all, the title moves to the front of the reference, before the date. Everything is formatted the same way, just in a different order:

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

The finished reference

1. AuthorLast name, then initials.
2. DateYear, month, and day, as specific as the page allows.
3. Page titleItalic, sentence case.
4. Website nameNot italic, Title Case.
5. URLAn active link, with no period after it.

And that's it: you've referenced a webpage. Remember, the more often a page changes, the more a retrieval date matters.

Quick checklist

• It's really a webpage, and not an article or report you happen to be reading online
• Author inverted, or the organization as the author
• Date as specific as the page gives it, or (n.d.)
• Page title italicized, in sentence case
• Website name in Title Case, left out when it matches the author
• URL at the end with no period, and a retrieval date only for content that changes

How PERRLA handles webpages

PERRLA can build a webpage reference from its link. Paste the URL and PERRLA looks the page up and fills in the reference, organization authors included.

Related APA 101 lessons

• Formatting a journal article reference: volume, issue, page range, and the DOI.
• Formatting a book reference: author, year, italic title, and publisher.
• In-text citations: author, year, and page, and when et al. applies.
• Adding references to your paper: the three common reference types, and alphabetical order.
• All 18 lessons in APA 101