It depends what it is – not just that you got it via the internet. Look closely at your source to figure out if you are using the whole website, a single document from a website, an article from an online magazine, or even a blog post. Not sure? The library can help you figure it out, don’t hesitate to ask.
An Entire Website:
If you are just mentioning the website as a whole, you can give the site’s name and url in your essay, without doing a full reference entry.
- In-text example: CUE Library has a great website (http://concordia.ab.ca/library/).
A Specific Webpage or Website Document:
If you are citing a specific page from that website, or a document that is not the entire website, you need to create an entry for your reference list and include an in-text citation in your essay.
- References List example: Author, A. (date). Title of document [Format description]. Retrieved from http://URL
Freakonomics. (2010, October 29). E-ZPass is a life-saver (literally) [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/29/e-zpass-is-a-life-saver-literally/
Kraizer, S. (2011). Preventing bullying. Retrieved from http://safechild.org/categoryparents/preventing-bullying/
- In-text example: (Author, year)
(Freakonomics, 2010)
(Kraizer, 2011)
Often, you can skip the part about the format description. The APA’s FAQ answer to this question tells us: “That format description in brackets is used only when the format is something out of the ordinary, such as a blog post or lecture notes; otherwise, it’s not necessary. Some other example format descriptions are listed on page 186 of the Publication Manual.”
You may have to hunt around the website to find the information you need: author, date, and title of the document.
If you can’t find all this information, take a look at that APA FAQ answer page to see how to create your citation with what you do have. If you need help with citations contact CUE Library here.