PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/Webpage by an organization

How to Cite a Webpage by an Organization in APA 7

When an organization publishes a webpage with no person's name on it, the organization is the author. The APA 7 reference gives the organization's full name, the date in parentheses (or n.d.), the page title in italics and sentence case, the site name, and the URL. Leave the site name out when it's the same as the author. The in-text citation is the organization's name and the year: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2026) the first time, then (WHO, 2026).

The format

Organization Name. (Year, Month Day). Title of the page. Site Name. https://xxxx

PERRLA APA Experts ยท 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. For organizations PERRLA knows, like the World Health Organization, the American Nurses Association, and the Mayo Clinic, it fills in the organization as the group author (with its abbreviation, when it has one), the title in sentence case, the date, and the URL. When the site name matches the author, PERRLA leaves it out of the reference.

Then check the result against the page. If the page has a byline, the person is the author: change the group author to an Author with their name. If the site's name came in as the author (HealthyChildren.org instead of the American Academy of Pediatrics), put the organization's name in its place. Make sure the date is the one the page shows for its content, and if the only date is a "Last reviewed" date, clear Publication Date so PERRLA prints n.d. Citing two groups with the same abbreviation, like the two AACNs? Clear the Abbrev. field on both, and PERRLA spells each name out every time.

Adding one by hand? Choose Webpage, add a Group Author (Organization), and type the organization's full name. Put its abbreviation in the Abbrev. field if you want to use it in your paper, and PERRLA spells the name out in your first citation and uses the abbreviation after that. Type the page title in sentence case (PERRLA flags a title typed in title case and offers to fix it). Fill in Website Name either way: when it's the same as the author, PERRLA leaves it out of the reference for you.

Look up
Paste a URL, get the reference

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/nursing-and-midwifery

World Health Organization. (2026, August 11). Nursing and midwifery. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/nursing-and-midwifery

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

The parts of the reference

1. Author: the organization

On an organization's website, the organization itself is the author unless the page names a person. Write its full name exactly as the organization writes it, followed by a period. Don't abbreviate it in the reference, even if everyone knows it by its initials.

World Health Organization.

Look for a byline first. A page that says "By Rachel Y. Moon, MD, FAAP" has a person as its author, and the organization moves to the site name. Leave degrees and credentials like MD, RN, or FAAP out of the reference.

For a government agency, use the most specific agency that made the page, like the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and put its parent agencies in the site name spot. The CDC and NIH guides walk through that pattern.

2. Date

Use the most specific date the page gives for its content: year, month, and day if it's there, in that order. A fact sheet dated 11 August 2026 becomes (2026, August 11).

(2026, August 11).

A "Last updated" or "Updated" date that belongs to this page counts. A "Last reviewed" date doesn't, because content that was reviewed wasn't necessarily changed. The copyright year in the footer doesn't count either: it covers the whole website, not this page. If there's no date for the page, write (n.d.).

3. Page title

Italicize the page title and write it in sentence case: capitalize the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns. Organizations usually capitalize every word in their headings, so you'll lowercase most of it. Names and abbreviations stay capitalized.

How to keep your sleeping baby safe: AAP policy explained

4. Site name, or nothing

Give the website's name, not italicized, followed by a period. When the site name is the same as the author, leave it out, so the organization's name doesn't print twice.

World Health Organization. (2026, August 11). Nursing and midwifery. https://www.who.int/...

When the site has its own name, keep it. The American Academy of Pediatrics publishes its pages for parents on a site called HealthyChildren.org, so that name goes in the source.

HealthyChildren.org.

5. URL

End with the full URL of the page you read, not the organization's home page. Don't put a period after it.

https://www.aacnnursing.org/news-data/fact-sheets/nursing-shortage

Examples

An organization's page where the author and site name match

The World Health Organization's fact sheet on the global nursing workforce. WHO wrote it and WHO runs the site, so the site name drops out, and the date is the one printed under the title.

  • Parenthetical citation(World Health Organization [WHO], 2026)
  • Narrative citationWorld Health Organization (WHO, 2026)
  • Later citations(WHO, 2026)

An organization's page on a site with its own name

A page on fever in babies from the American Academy of Pediatrics. It has no byline, so the AAP is the author, and it lives on the AAP's parent site, HealthyChildren.org, so the site name stays. The page shows "Last Updated 9/23/2025." This citation points to the section a quote came from.

  • Parenthetical citation(American Academy of Pediatrics [AAP], 2025, What's considered a fever? section)
  • Narrative citationAmerican Academy of Pediatrics (AAP, 2025)
  • Later citations(AAP, 2025, What's considered a fever? section)

A page on an organization's site with a person's byline

Another HealthyChildren.org page, but this one opens with "By: Rachel Y. Moon, MD, FAAP." A named person makes her the author. The site name stays, and her credentials don't go in the reference.

  • Parenthetical citation(Moon, 2026)
  • Narrative citationMoon (2026)

Two organizations with the same abbreviation, part 1

Nursing has a famous pair of AACNs: the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. If your paper cites both, APA says to spell both names out in every citation, so the Abbreviation field stays empty. This fact sheet ends with "Updated: October 2026."

  • Parenthetical citation(American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2026)
  • Narrative citationAmerican Association of Colleges of Nursing (2026)

Two organizations with the same abbreviation, part 2

The other AACN's page on healthy work environments. It shows no date for its content, so it takes n.d. Spelled out in full, the two citations can never be confused.

  • Parenthetical citation(American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, n.d.)
  • Narrative citationAmerican Association of Critical-Care Nurses (n.d.)

In-text citations

Cite an organization's page by the organization's name and the year, the same way you'd cite a person. Long names can be abbreviated in your text, never in the reference list.

  • First parenthetical citation, with an abbreviation: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2026). The abbreviation goes in square brackets.
  • After that: (WHO, 2026)
  • First narrative citation: World Health Organization (WHO, 2026) estimated ... and after that, WHO (2026) reported ...
  • No abbreviation: (American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, n.d.), the full name every time.
  • A quote with no page numbers: name the heading the quote sits under, followed by the word section, or count the paragraphs: (AAP, 2025, What's considered a fever? section) or (AAP, 2025, para. 2). A full heading takes no quotation marks, and you can shorten a long one.
  • A page with a byline: the person, not the organization: (Moon, 2026).

When to abbreviate: APA leaves it up to you. Do it when the abbreviation is well known or you'll cite the group at least three times. Introduce it only once in the whole paper, even if you cite several pages by the same group. And if two groups you cite share an abbreviation, like the two AACNs, spell both out every time.

Common mistakes

  • World Health Organization. (2026, August 11). Nursing and midwifery. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/...World Health Organization. (2026, August 11). Nursing and midwifery. https://www.who.int/...When the author and the site name are the same, APA leaves the site name out so the reference doesn't repeat itself.
  • WHO. (2026, August 11). Nursing and midwifery. or World Health Organization (WHO). (2026, August 11).World Health Organization. (2026, August 11). Nursing and midwifery.Abbreviations belong in your in-text citations only. The reference list always spells the organization's name out, with nothing after it.
  • HealthyChildren.org. (2025, September 23). Fever and your baby.American Academy of Pediatrics. (2025, September 23). Fever and your baby. HealthyChildren.org.The website isn't the author. The organization behind it is. The page's Source line and its copyright notice both name the American Academy of Pediatrics.
  • American Academy of Pediatrics. (2026, September 11). How to keep your sleeping baby safe: AAP policy explained.Moon, R. Y. (2026, September 11). How to keep your sleeping baby safe: AAP policy explained. HealthyChildren.org.When a page names its writer, the writer is the author, even on an organization's website. The organization's site becomes the source.
  • (AACN, 2026) and (AACN, n.d.) in the same paper(American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2026) and (American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, n.d.)Two groups with the same abbreviation would leave your reader guessing. APA says to spell each name out every time.
  • American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. (2026). Healthy work environments.American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. (n.d.). Healthy work environments.The copyright year in a site's footer isn't the date of the page. A page with no date of its own takes n.d.

Quick checklist

  • Check for a byline: a named person is the author, not the organization
  • The organization's full name, never its abbreviation, in the reference
  • The page's own date or update date, or n.d.
  • Page title in italics and sentence case
  • Site name only when it's different from the author
  • The page's full URL, no period after it
  • In text: full name with [ABBR] the first time, then the abbreviation

Questions students ask

Who is the author of a webpage with no author listed?

On an organization's or agency's website, the organization is the author unless the page names a person. Check the top and bottom of the page for a byline, and the "About" page if you're unsure who runs the site. A page with truly no responsible person or group moves its title into the author spot.

Do I include the website name if it's the same as the author?

No. When the organization and the site have the same name, leave the site name out and go straight from the title to the URL. Keep it when the site has its own name, like HealthyChildren.org for the American Academy of Pediatrics.

How do I abbreviate an organization's name in APA?

Spell the name out the first time you cite it and add the abbreviation: in square brackets in a parenthetical citation, (World Health Organization [WHO], 2026), or in the parentheses with the year in a narrative one, World Health Organization (WHO, 2026). Then use the abbreviation alone. The reference list never uses it.

Do I have to abbreviate the organization's name?

No, it's optional. Abbreviate when the abbreviation is well known, saves clumsy repetition, or will appear at least three times in your paper. For a group you cite only once or twice, the full name is usually simpler.

What if two organizations have the same abbreviation?

Spell both names out in every citation. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses are both AACN, and so are the American Heart Association and the American Hospital Association (AHA). If you cite only one of a pair, you can abbreviate it.

Should I use the organization's "How to cite this page" box?

Check it against APA first. Many organizations' suggested citations follow another style, add the access date, or put the site name in twice. Use the parts it gives you, and build the reference in the order shown on this page.

What if the organization's page is a PDF?

A PDF that stands on its own, like a report, a guideline, or a policy brief with its own title, is cited as a report, not a webpage. The organization is still the author, and when it's also the publisher, its name appears only once. Link straight to the PDF.

Is a page by a hospital or health system cited the same way?

Yes. A page from a health system's patient library, with no byline, has the health system as its author, and the site name usually drops out because it matches. Watch for "Last reviewed" dates on those pages: they don't count, so a page with only a review date takes n.d.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 8.13, 8.21, 8.28, 9.8, 9.11, 9.15, 9.17, 9.33, and 10.16, and the APA Style website's webpage examples, group author abbreviation guidance, and guidance on quoting material without page numbers. Each example page was opened on October 21, 2026, to confirm its author or byline, title, URL, site name, and the exact date it shows.

PERRLA builds an organization's webpage reference from the URL, drops the site name when it matches, and switches to the abbreviation after your first citation.

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