APA style and citations for dummies - Joe Giampalmi 2021

Citing electronic sources: websites, periodicals, software, and visuals
Gaining insight: to cite or not to cite
Practicing safe cites: writing and citing sources

Citing online sources is like putting together a puzzle after your dog ate some of the tastiest pieces. You can’t get angry at your dog, and APA expects the same love. Electronic sources (including websites, webpages, podcasts, databases, and YouTube) follow the same pattern as print sources, but they frequently lack elements such as page numbers and complete date information. Also, the last elements of electronic sources in the reference list include a URL and sometimes a DOI. But again, APA has you covered. Although the complexity of electronic sources is reserved for the reference list (see Chapter 12), the simplicity of electronic sources is reserved for general references — as simple as feeding your dog a snack.

APA allows you to generally reference an electronic app with language as simple as the following:

Infographic was created at Graphics To Go (Graphicstogo.com).

As a general rule, electronic sources are cited similarly to print sources. Cite the author’s last name followed by the date of publication:

(Jung, 2020)

Similar to print citations, when the author’s name is unavailable, use the sponsoring organization or the first few words of the title of the article or page:

· (Citizens for Citizens, 2019)

· (Secrets of Successful Socialization, 2020)

Citations for quotations from an e-book or other electronic document without a page number are identified with available information:

· (Degrees Without Fees, 2020, para. 12)

· (Degrees Without Fees, 2020, “Costs of College”)

· (Degrees Without Fees, 2020, Part 4)

TED Talks, television shows, audiobooks, podcasts, and similar audiovisual works require a time stamp following the author and date:

(Riviello, 2015, 3:06)

The citation format of the author (creator) followed by the date also applies for visuals such as photographs, clip art, images, charts, tables, graphs, and maps. If the author is unknown, use the name of the object. Here’s what citations of visuals look like:

· (Scoops Clip Art, 2020)

· (Universal Photographs, 2019)

· (Academic Images, 2020)

What is a DOI? A Digital Object Identifier is a unique alphanumeric string that helps identify online documents similar to a URL (uniform resource locator). A DOI, located near the source’s copyright notice, identifies content and provides a link to sources. A publisher assigns a DOI to almost all digital documents.