Recommendation: If the webpage is also available as an online document/report (for example in PDF), please download that report and provide that URL. Use the online report format examples on this Guide listed under the Books & Reports section, and cite in-text appropriately.
APA states to "use the approach that will best help readers find the quotation" [Manual, p. 273].
U.S. Government webpage
Author is parent agency. Archived date listed as "Last updated". Provide full date, not just year of publication. Also do not forget to italicize title.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2019, July 30). Health effects of ozone pollution. https://www.epa.gov/ground-level-ozone-pollution/health-effects-ozone-pollution
How to cite this work in-text:
Parenthetical: (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2019)
Narrative: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2019)
Direct quote: (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2019, Who is at Risk? section, para. 2)
U.S. Government webpage
When author (agency) & parent agency are different and appear on page. 7th ed. rule is to provide parent agency & subagency in site name position. Archived date listed as "Last updated". Provide full date, not just year of publication. Also do not forget to italicize title.
Head Start example:
Office of Head Start, Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center. (2020, May 12). Engaging community partners to strengthen family services. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/community-engagement/article/engaging-community-partners-strengthen-family-services
How to cite this work in-text:
Parenthetical first time cited: (Office of Head Start, Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center [ECLKC], 2020)
Parenthetical subsequent times cited: (ECLKC, 2020)
Narrative: first time cited: Office of Head Start, Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center (ECLKC, 2020)
Narrative subsequent times cited: ECLKC (2020)
Direct quote first time: (Office of Head Start, Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center [ECLKC], 2020, para. 1)
Direct quote subsequent times: (ECLKC, 2020, para. 2)
In this example, entire title is name of a place (proper noun):
National Park Service. (2019, November 19). Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. U.S. Department of the Interior. https://www.nps.gov/piro/index.htm
How to cite this work in-text:
Parenthetical: (National Park Service, 2019)
Narrative: National Park Service (2019)
Direct quote: (National Park Service, 2019, para. 1)
Government Agency as author, parent agency appears on page, does not indicate content date (therefore, indicate publication date of n.d.). Include parent agency in site name position.
This first entry is the initial webpage providing information about the Affordable Care Act. Note that titles of acts are proper nouns, and therefore always capitalized. However, do not use this example when providing the legal citation to the Act itself; instead look at the Legal Section on this guide.
U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Affordable Care Act (ACA). U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/affordable-care-act/
How to cite this work in-text:
Parenthetical: (U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, n.d.)
Narrative: U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (n.d.)
Direct quote. This page does not have section names, so only include paragraph number:
(U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, n.d., para. 1)
This second entry is citing Healthy People 2020:
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (n.d.). Healthy people 2020: Global health. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/global-health
How to cite this work in-text, assume citing work more than once, so include acronym for subsequent cite:
Parenthetical: (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion [ODPHP], n.d.)
Narrative: Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP, n.d.)
Direct quote with full name of section:
(Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion [ODPHP], n.d., Why is Global Health Important section, para. 1)
U.S. Government webpage with Government Agency as author, parent agency appears on page, shows "Page last reviewed" date (therefore, indicate publication date of n.d.). Include parent agency in site name position. Also do not forget to italicize title.
In-text citation examples for this entry are for one-time only, not subsequent (see webpages examples above for initial with agency acronym & subsequent entries).
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Healthier holidays in 1 – 2 – 3! U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/features/stay-active/index.html
How to cite this work in-text:
Parenthetical: (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.)
Narrative: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.)
Direct quote with only abbreviated name of section:
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d., "Plan Activities" section)
Direct quote including abbreviated section and paragraph number:
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d., "Plan Activities" section, para. 3)
State of Michigan government webpage, agency author, parent agency does not appear on webpage. This example is of an online form, no date provided for content (just in webpage footer), has site name. Do not forget to italicize title. In-text cite of quotation section heading shortened, so use quotation marks.
Michigan Department of Attorney General. (n.d.). Consumer complaint/inquiry form.https://secure.ag.state.mi.us/complaints/consumer.aspx
How to cite this work in-text:
Parenthetical: (Michigan Department of Attorney General, n.d.)
Narrative: Michigan Department of Attorney General (n.d.)
Direct quote: (Michigan Department of Attorney General, n.d., "Please Be Aware" section, para. 1)
Notes: Not all U.S. government reports & documents are published by GPO.
When the author(s) and publisher agency/agencies are the same, omit publisher from source element.
U.S. Government Report, no report/publication number indicated.
7th ed. lists parent agency & subagency in publisher position.
Army Recruiting Command. (2019). Family strong resource guide. U.S. Department of Defense. https://recruiting.army.mil/Portals/15/USAREC_Resource_Guide_2019_web.pdf
How to cite this work in-text:
Parenthetical: (Army Recruiting Command, 2019)
Narrative: Army Recruiting Command (2019)
Direct quote: (Army Recruiting Command, 2019, p. 13)
U.S. Government Report, authored by two parent agencies, no publication date appears on the report, and no report number indicated. Since author agencies do not have parent agencies, nothing is indicated in publisher position.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, & U.S. Department of Education. (n.d.). Policy statement on expulsion and suspension policies in early childhood settings. https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/school-discipline/policy-statement-ece-expulsions-suspensions.pdf
How to cite this work in-text:
Parenthetical: (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, & U.S. Department of
Education, n.d.)
Narrative: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and U.S. Department of Education (n.d.)
Direct quote: (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, & U.S. Department of
Education, n.d., Overview section, para. 2)
Statistical Brief authored by individual(s)--not agency, has publication date & report number.
Weiss, A. J., McDermott, K. W., & Heslin, K. C. (2019). Opioid-Related hospital stays among women, 2016 (HCUP Statistical Brief No. 247). U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. https://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb247-Opioid-Hospital-Stays-Women.pdf
How to cite this work in-text:
Parenthetical: (Weiss et al., 2019)
Narrative: Weiss et al. (2019)
Direct quote: (Weiss et al., 2019, p. 6)
U.S. Government document, no publication number, retrieved print format
Baker, R. A. (2006). 200 notable days: Senate stories, 1787 to 2002. U.S. Government Printing Office.
How to cite this work in-text:
Parenthetical: (Baker, 2006)
Narrative: Baker (2006)
Direct quote: In November 1922, Rebecca Felton was appointed the "first woman to a Senate vacancy" (Baker, 2006, p. 128).
U.S. Government document with publication number, retrieved print format
Note that the agency publication number may appear on the document or in the online catalog.
Olson, T. A., & Odlaug, T. O. (1972). Lake Superior periphyton in relation to water quality (EPA Publication No. 18050-DBM-02-72). U.S. Government Printing Office.
How to cite this work in-text:
Parenthetical: (Olson & Odlaug, 1972)
Narrative: Olson and Odlaug (1972)
Direct quote: (Olson & Odlaug, 1972, p. 8)
State of Michigan Government document without publication number. APA 7th ed. places parent agency in publisher position.
Michigan Civil Rights Commission. (2017). The Flint water crisis: Systemic racism through the lens of Flint: Report of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, February 17, 2017. Michigan Department of Civil Rights. https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdcr/VFlintCrisisRep-F-Edited3-13-17_554317_7.pdf
How to cite this work in-text:
Parenthetical: (Michigan Civil Rights Commission, 2017)
Narrative: Michigan Civil Rights Commission (2017)
Direct quote: (Michigan Civil Rights Commission, 2017, p. 33)
State of Michigan Government document without publication number. APA 7th ed. places overall agency and parent agency in publisher/website name position.
Workforce/Access & Grants Management Section. (2020). Michigan 2020 primary care needs assessment. Michigan Department of Health & Human Services, Policy and Planning Administration. https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/-/media/Project/Websites/mdhhs/Folder4/Folder27/Folder3/Folder127/Folder2/Folder227/Folder1/Folder327/Michigan_
Primary_Care_Needs_Assessment.pdf
How to cite this work in-text:
Parenthetical: (Workforce/Access & Grants Management Section, 2020)
Narrative: Workforce/Access & Grants Management Section (2020)
Direct quote: (Workforce/Access & Grants Management Section, 2020, p. 72)
State of Michigan Government document without publication number. Retrieved print format. When author and publisher are same, omit publisher name.
Michigan Department of Community Health, & Michigan Dementia Coalition. (2003). Michigan dementia plan summary: Reducing the burden of dementia in Michigan.
How to cite this work in-text:
Parenthetical: (Michigan Department of Community Health, & Michigan Dementia Coalition, 2003)
Narrative: Michigan Department of Community Health, & Michigan Dementia Coalition (2003)
Direct quote: (Michigan Department of Community Health, & Michigan Dementia Coalition, 2003, p. 9)
Since webpages and documents are similar to print, references to them include the same elements such as author, date, title, publisher, etc.
Proper names are always capitalized, and both acronyms and abbreviations are in all caps.
New for 7th ed.
1. For date of publication, only provide full date if it appears within and pertains to the content.
Use "last updated" or "revised" date if it applies to content, and is not part of website footer (APA Manual, Section 9.13).
"Do not use a copyright date from a webpage or website footer" (APA Manual, Section 9.13).
Also, do not use "Page last reviewed" or date of last review, because content reviewed does not imply that the content was changed (APA Manual, Section 9.15).
As a result, some webpages references will not have a date, so indicate (n.d.).
2. Title of webpage is now italicized.
3. The phrases "Retrieved from" or "Access from" or the word "website" are no longer included in references. Instead, provide only the URL. (APA Manual, Section 9.35)
4. Date of retrieval is included ONLY when "citing an unarchived (i.e., not stable) work that is likely or meant to change" (APA Manual, Section 9.16).
Examples of works which are "inherently designed to change" include webpage versions of dictionaries/encyclopedias, Twitter, and Facebook. See examples in further sections of this Guide.
5. For government webpages authored by an agency, place agency name in the author position, and if a parent agency also appears then place that name in the publisher/site position. However, if the parent agency does not appear on the page, do not include it in the reference--even if it is known.
6. URLs are presented as hyperlinks beginning with either protocol of "http://" or "https://" (APA Manual, Section 9.35).
It is highly recommended researchers copy & paste the URL exactly as it appears, including the protocol. For example, do not convert protocol http:// to https:// as the source may not be designed as a secure website.
7. Utilize default display settings of word processing programs as either underlined in blue text, or plain text as the 6th ed. used. Also, links should be live if it is expected to be published or read online (APA Manual, Section 9.35).
Instructors often refer to this format as an "active link."
8. Do not worry about forcing a split of URLs between lines. In the 7th edition, it is acceptable to allow word processing software to automatically split the URL between multiple lines, or move the URL to begin on the next line (APA Manual, Section 9.35).
Recommendation: If the webpage is also available as an online document/report (for example in PDF), please download that report and provide that URL. Use the online report format examples on this Guide listed under the Books & Reports section, and cite in-text appropriately.
9. For direct quotation from a webpage, because source does not contain page numbers, there are multiple options for verbiage at the end of in-text citation:
section name followed by the word section
abbreviated section name within quotation marks with word section
para. followed by the paragraph number
section name followed by the word section, followed by para. and paragraph number
APA states to "use the approach that will best help readers find the quotation" [Manual, p. 273].