PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/Webpage

How to Cite a Webpage in APA 7

An APA 7 webpage reference lists the author, the date in parentheses (as specific as the page gives it), the page title in italics and sentence case, the name of the website, and the URL. When the author and the site name are the same, leave the site name out. The in-text citation is the author's last name and the year: (Galewitz, 2024).

The format

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of the webpage. Site Name. https://www.example.com/page

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 21, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Paste the page's URL into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA reads the page and fills in the authors, the date, the title in sentence case, and the site name, then puts the finished reference on your references page in order, hanging indent and all. For pages known to change by the minute, like the U.S. Census Bureau's population clock, it adds the retrieval date for you. Give the date a quick look against the page before you move on: sites label their dates in different ways, and only you can see which one belongs to the content you read.

Adding one by hand? Choose Webpage, then fill in the authors (or a group author), the date, the page title in sentence case, the website name, and the URL. PERRLA puts every part in order, italicizes the title, leaves out the site name when it matches the group author, and writes the "Retrieved ... from" wording when you add a retrieval date.

Look up
Paste a URL, get the reference

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/08/25/americans-want-transparency-when-ai-is-used-in-their-healthcare/

Yam, E., Pasquini, G., & Kikuchi, E. (2026, August 25). Americans want transparency when AI is used in their healthcare. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/08/25/americans-want-transparency-when-ai-is-used-in-their-healthcare/

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Author

Start with the person or people who wrote the page: last name, a comma, and initials. Separate authors with commas and put an ampersand (&) before the last one. List up to 20.

Yam, E., Pasquini, G., & Kikuchi, E.

No person named? The organization that published the page is the author, written out in full: World Health Organization. Only when no person and no organization stands behind the page does the title move to the front. See the guide to webpages with no author.

2. Date

Give the date in parentheses, as specific as the page gives it: year, month, and day for most articles and news stories, then a period.

(2026, August 25).

If the page shows an updated date that clearly belongs to the content you read, use that one. Ignore "Last reviewed" dates: a page that was reviewed wasn't necessarily changed. Skip the copyright year in the site's footer too, since it covers the whole site, not the page. No date at all? Write (n.d.) for "no date."

3. Page title

Write the title of the page in italics and sentence case: capitalize the first word, the first word after a colon or a period, and proper nouns. Use the headline printed on the page, not the browser tab title, which often adds the site name or a different wording.

Americans want transparency when AI is used in their healthcare.

4. Site name

Name the website in plain text, written the way the site writes it, followed by a period.

Pew Research Center.

When the site name is the author, leave it out. A World Health Organization fact sheet on who.int already names the organization once in the author spot, so the reference goes straight from the title to the URL.

5. Retrieval date (only for pages that change)

Most webpages don't get a retrieval date. Add one only when the page is designed to change and doesn't keep its old versions, such as a live counter, a dashboard, or a statistics page that's overwritten with each update. Write "Retrieved," the date you viewed it, a comma, and "from" before the URL.

Retrieved October 21, 2026, from https://www.census.gov/popclock/

6. URL

End with the full URL of the exact page you cited, not the site's home page. Don't put a period after it. The link can be live in a paper that will be read online.

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hypertension

Examples

A webpage with individual authors

A Pew Research Center short read with three authors. Every author goes in the reference, and the site name follows the title. The in-text citation uses the first author and et al., starting with the first citation.

  • Parenthetical citation(Yam et al., 2026)
  • Narrative citationYam et al. (2026)

A story on a news website

A KFF Health News story by one reporter. APA treats stories on news websites like this one (and CNN, BBC News, or Reuters) as webpages, with the news site as the site name. Stories from newspapers' sites, like The New York Times, use the newspaper article format instead. The title here is two sentences, so the second one starts with a capital.

  • Parenthetical citation(Galewitz, 2024, para. 4)
  • Narrative citationGalewitz (2024, para. 4)

When the organization is the author and the site

The World Health Organization's fact sheet on hypertension, dated September 25, 2025. The organization is the author and also runs the site, so the site name drops out. If you'll cite WHO several times, define the abbreviation in your first citation and use WHO after that.

  • Parenthetical citation(World Health Organization [WHO], 2025)
  • Narrative citationWorld Health Organization (WHO, 2025)
  • Later citations(WHO, 2025)

A page that changes, with a retrieval date

The U.S. Census Bureau's population clock updates its numbers constantly and keeps no dated versions, so it gets n.d. and a retrieval date. The Census Bureau is the author. Its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Commerce, isn't in the author spot, so it goes where the site name usually goes.

  • Parenthetical citation(U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.)
  • Narrative citationU.S. Census Bureau (n.d.)

In-text citations

An APA 7 in-text citation for a webpage gives the author and the year, even when the reference has a full date. Webpages rarely have page numbers, so when you quote one, point to the paragraph number or the section heading instead.

  • One author: (Galewitz, 2024) or Galewitz (2024)
  • Two authors: both names every time, joined by & inside parentheses and by and in your sentence
  • Three or more authors: the first author and et al., starting with the first citation: (Yam et al., 2026)
  • A group author with an abbreviation: spell out the name and give the abbreviation the first time, then use the abbreviation: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2025), then (WHO, 2025)
  • No date: (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.)
  • A quote: add the paragraph number: (Galewitz, 2024, para. 4)

A narrative citation puts the author in your sentence and the year right after it: Yam et al. (2026) found that most adults want to know when a provider uses AI in their care.

Common mistakes

  • Retrieved October 21, 2026, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hypertensionhttps://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hypertensionA dated fact sheet isn't designed to change from minute to minute, so it doesn't need a retrieval date. Save retrieval dates for live pages like dashboards and counters.
  • Hypertension. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hypertensionHypertension. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hypertensionWhen the author and the site name are the same, APA leaves the site name out so the reference doesn't repeat itself.
  • Americans Want Transparency When AI Is Used in Their Healthcare.Americans want transparency when AI is used in their healthcare.Webpage titles are italic and in sentence case in the reference, even when the site prints them in title case.
  • KFF Health News. (2024, May 8).Galewitz, P. (2024, May 8).When a person is credited on the page, that person is the author. The site name goes after the title.
  • American Heart Association. (2025, August 14).American Heart Association. (n.d.).August 14, 2025, is the "Last Reviewed" date on the American Heart Association's blood pressure readings page, and it's the page's only date. A review says someone checked the page, not that it changed, so the date is n.d.
  • https://www.pewresearch.orghttps://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/08/25/americans-want-transparency-when-ai-is-used-in-their-healthcare/Link to the exact page you read, so your reader lands on the same content.

Quick checklist

  • The person who wrote the page, or the organization when no person is named
  • The most specific date the page gives, never a review date or the footer's copyright year
  • Title in italics and sentence case, taken from the headline on the page
  • Site name after the title, left out when it matches the author
  • A retrieval date only for pages designed to change
  • The full URL of the exact page, with no period after it

Questions students ask

Do I need a retrieval date for a website in APA 7?

Usually not. Add one only when the page is designed to change over time and doesn't archive its old versions, like a live data dashboard or the Census Bureau's population clock. There's a full post on retrieval dates if you want the details.

What if the webpage has no author?

First check whether an organization stands behind the page. If it does, the organization is the author. If no person or group is responsible, move the title to the front of the reference and cite the title in the text. The no-author guide walks through it.

What if the webpage has no date?

Write (n.d.) where the date goes, and use n.d. in the in-text citation too: (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.). Don't fill the gap with the copyright year at the bottom of the site.

Is an article on CNN or BBC News a webpage or a newspaper article?

A webpage. APA uses the webpage format for news websites that don't have a daily or weekly newspaper behind them. APA names CNN, BBC News, HuffPost, and Reuters, and online-only sites like KFF Health News work the same way. Articles from newspapers' websites, like The Washington Post, use the newspaper format, with the newspaper's name in italics.

How do I cite a whole website instead of one page?

APA doesn't use a reference entry for a whole website. Name the site in your sentence and give its URL in parentheses. If you're pointing to specific information, cite the page it's on instead.

Should the URL in my reference be a live link?

It can be. APA allows live links in papers that will be read online, and plain URLs are fine for print. Either way, copy the full URL and don't add a period after it.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 8.17, 8.21, 8.28, 9.7–9.8, 9.11, 9.14–9.17, 9.19, 9.34–9.36, and 10.16, and the APA Style website's webpage reference examples. Example sources verified on each page itself, including every author, date, and title.

PERRLA builds the webpage reference from its URL, with the right date, the italics, and the site name only when it belongs.

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