NOTE: When citing a document from the Internet, do not put a period at the end of the citation when the last element of the citation is a URL or digital object identifier (DOI).
| Author. (date). Title. Website name. http://... |
The author refers broadly to the person(s) or group responsible for a work. If you are not sure who is taking responsibility for the information, look for an About Us link or who is copyrighting the material.
Beware: many websites include a current date feature, which dates the page with today’s date. This is not the date upon which the information was written, it is the date you are viewing it. In your citation, you need to include the date the information was written.
Look for what's actually written on the page itself (probably in the upper left corner) rather than in the address bar for the website's name. Every website has to be Something.com or Whatever.org or RandomExamples.net; that doesn't mean the website organizers consider the domain ending (.com, .net, etc) to be part of the website's official name.
To get an idea of who the publisher is, look towards the very bottom of the page for the copyright notice or for an About page.
Beaven, Brad. (2020, January 20). The modern phenomenon of the weekend. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200117-the-modern-phenomenon-of-the-weekend
Bologna, C. (2018, June 27). What happens to your mind and body when you feel homesick? HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-happens-mind-body-homesick_n_5b201ebde4b09d7a3d77eee1
Herrera, Tim. (2020, January 19). What to do with a day off. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/19/smarter-living/what-to-do-with-a-day-off.html
McGonigal, Kelly. (2020, January 21). Here's how exercise reduces anxiety and makes you feel more connected. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/01/21/heres-how-exercise-reduces-anxiety-makes-you-feel-more-connected/
Two years on, the Kuiper Belt is in sight. (2017, September 16). The Economist. https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2017/09/16/two-years-on-the-kuiper-belt-is-in-sight
American Heart Association. (2015, January 12). Good vs bad cholesterol. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Cholesterol/AboutCholesterol/Good-vs-Bad-Cholesterol_UCM_
305561_Article.jsp
Health Central Network. (2009). Heart attack symptoms and warning signs. http://www.healthcentral.com/heart-disease/patient-guide-44510-6.html
A blog post will basically be like a regular web article citation, though you might not have a person's real name to use.
Be very cautious if you're referencing a blog or comment in your paper. These aren't generally the best sources to use.
Klymkowsky, M. (2018, September 15). Can we talk scientifically about free will? Scie-Ed. https://blogs.plus.org/scied/
2018/09/15/can-we-talk-scientifically-about-free-will
If you're referring to a comment on a blog post:
KS in NJ. (2019, January 15). From this article, it sounds like men are figuring something out that women have known forever. I know of many [Comment on the article "How workout buddies can help stave off loneliness"]. The Washington Post. http://wapo.st/2HDToGJ
Vedantam, S. (Host). (2015-present). Hidden brain [Audio podcast]. NPR. https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain
Van Nuys, D. (Producer). (2007, December 19). Shrink rap radio [Audio podcast]. http://www.shrinkrapradio.com/
To cite a podcast episode:
Glass, I. (Host). (2011, August 12). Amusement park (No. 443) [Audio podcast episode]. In This American life. WBEZ Chicago. https://thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/443/amusement-park
Rousseau, H. (1896). The ship in the storm [Painting]. http://www.uwm.edu/~wash/rousseau.jpg
If you are mentioning a website in your paper and not indicating a specific idea, fact or document, it is acceptable to simply include the URL of the website in parentheses within your writing. For example:
The MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia allows users to browse for topics and find information on a variety of health topics and medical procedures (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encyclopedia.html).
However, if you are referring to a specific piece of information or directly quoting information on the website, you will need to create both a text and reference citation for that material. If you're using multiple pages/articles from the same website, each one counts as its own source.
The LSC-CyFair Library building is closed until further notice.
Online References Services are available while we're closed.
Harris County Public Library
Lone Star College-CyFair Branch
9191 Barker Cypress Road
Cypress, TX 77433
281.290.3214 - Reference Desk, 1st floor
281.290.3219 - Reference Desk, 2nd floor
CyFairLibrary@LoneStar.edu
LoneStar.edu/library/cyfair.htm
