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Referencing in APA Style: Websites and Digital Media

How to reference online and electronic sources

Websites and digital media

This section is about how to reference websites and digital media. You must include an in-text citation and an entry in your list of references for all sources you use in your work.

Web pages


You must include an in-text citation. See the in-text citation section for more information about how to do this.

Format

 

Author, N. (Date). Title of the specific webpage. Website Name. www.website.com/page
Components
  • Author's name and initials (or the name of the website if a person is not named as the author)
  • Date the page was published - this could be (Year), (Year, Month) or (Year, Month Day) depending on the information available - followed by a full stop
  • Title of the specific web page in italics, followed by a full stop
  • Name of the website, if you gave a named person as the author (if you used the website name as the author, miss this out)
  • Web address of the specific web page

Examples

 

Example 1 (Author and website name are the same)
Health and Care Professions Council. (2018). Standards of proficiency. https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/standards-of-proficiency/


Because we have used the website name as the author, there is no need to repeat it after the title.

Example 2 (Author and website name are different)
Burton, H. (2020, March 11). Coventry’s Coundon Court school wins inaugural V&A Innovate National Schools Challenge. Victoria and Albert                Museum. https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/museum-life/coventrys-coundon-court-school-wins-inaugural-va-innovate-national-schools-                      challenge

 

Example 3 and 4 (Website is designed to change regularly) 

Normally it is not necessary to state when you accessed a website. The only exception is when a website is designed to change regularly, e.g. a data dashboard that is updated daily. In this case, give a retrieval date before the web address, in the following format:

 

Our World in Data. (2021, October 21). Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations. Global Change Data Lab. Retrieved October 22, 2021, from                  https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

 

In this example, the page gave an exact date that the information had been updated, so this has been provided in full. If there is no update date given, use n.d. as in the example below:

 

Fame. (n.d.). [Telecommunications companies in the West Midlands]. Retrieved December 14, 2020, from https://fame4.bvdinfo.com/version-              20201210/fame/1/Companies/Search

 

Because this was an extract of data from a financial database, there was no obvious title. In this case, give a description of the web page in square brackets and do not use italics. 

Social media and videos


You must include an in-text citation. See the in-text citation section for more information about how to do this.

Format

 
Author, N. [Username]. (Year, Month Day). Title or first 20 words of post [Type of post]. Social Media Site. www.socialmeda.com/user/post
Components
  • Author's surname and initial(s) or name of the group
    • (For YouTube videos or similar, use the name of the uploader as the author - this makes it easier to find the video. If someone else appears in the video and you want to talk about them, you can include their name in your sentence.)
  • Username in square brackets, if relevant
  • A full stop
  • The full date the post or video was uploaded in brackets, followed by a full stop
  • The title or up to the first 20 words of the post in italics
  • The type of post in square brackets, followed by a full stop
  • The name of the site, followed by a full stop
  • The direct link to the post or video if possible, or as close as you can get

Examples

 
Example 1 (A YouTube video)
 TED. (2009, October 7). The danger of a single story | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg 

Example 2 (A Tweet)
European Space Agency [@esa]. (2020, April 8). Astronomers have assumed for decades that the Universe is expanding at the same rate in all directions. A new study based [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/esa/status/1247932437478420481?s=20

Films


You must include an in-text citation. See the in-text citation section for more information about how to do this.

Format

 
Director, N. (Director). (Year). Film title [Film]. Production Company.
Components
  • Surname and initial(s) of the director of the film
  • Director in brackets, followed by a full stop
  • The year the film was released in brackets, followed by a full stop
  • The title of the film in italics
  • Film in square brackets, followed by a full stop
  • Production company, followed by a full stop

Example

 

 Bong, J.-H. (Director). (2019). Parasite [Film]. Barunson E&A.

TV Shows


You must include an in-text citation. See the in-text citation section for more information about how to do this.

Format

 
Format 1 (A whole TV series)
Producer, N. (Executive Producer). (Year-Year). Title of series [TV series]. Production Company.
Components
  • Surname and initial(s) of the executive producer of the show
  • Executive Producer in brackets, followed by a full stop
  • Year or years the series aired for in brackets, followed by a full stop
  • Title of the series in italics
  • TV series in square brackets, followed by a full stop
  • Production company, followed by a full stop

 

Format 2 (A specific episode)
Writer, N. (Writer & Director). (Year, Month Day). Title of episode (Season 1, Episode 1) [TV series episode]. In N. Producer (Executive Producers), Title of series. Production Company.
Components
  • Surname and initial(s) of the writer and director of the episode
  • Writer & Director in brackets, followed by a full stop
  • Date the episode aired in brackets, followed by a full stop
  • Title of the episode
  • Season and episode numbers in brackets
  • TV series episode in square brackets, followed by a full stop
  • In
  • Initial(s) and surname of the executive producers of the whole series
  • Executive Producers in brackets, followed by a comma
  • Title of the series in italics, followed by a full stop
  • Production company, followed by a full stop

Examples

 
Example 1 (A whole TV series)
Schur, M., Miner, D., Sackett, M., & Goddard, D. (Executive Producers). (2016-2020). The good place [TV series]. Fremulon; 3 Arts Entrtainment; Universal Television.

 

When there are multiple production companies, list them all and separate them with a semicolon.

Example 2 (A single TV episode)
Wainwright, S. (Writer), & Perrot, J. (Director). (2019, June 16). Let's have another look at your past perfect (Season 1, Episode 5) [TV             series episode]. In S. Wainwright, F. Penhale, & L. Lankester (Executive Producers), Gentleman Jack. Lookout Point.

Music

 

You must include an in-text citation. See the in-text citation section for more information about how to do this.

Format

 
Format 1 (An album)
Artist, N. (Year). Album title [Album]. Production Company.
Components
  • Surname and initial(s) of the recording artist or composer, or their stage name
  • Year the album was released in brackets, followed by a full stop
  • Title of the album in italics
  • Album in square brackets, followed by a full stop 
  • Production company, followed by a full stop
Format 2 (A song)
Artist, N. (Year). Song title [Song]. On Album title. Production Company.
Components
  • Surname and initial(s) of the recording artist or composer, or their stage name
  • Year the song was released in brackets, followed by a full stop
  • Title of the song
  • Song in square brackets, followed by a full stop
  • On
  • Title of the album in italics, followed by a full stop
  • Production company, followed by a full stop

Examples

 
Example 1 (An album)
Lizzo. (2019). Cuz I love you [Album]. Nice Life; Atlantic.

 

If there are multiple production companies, separate them with a semicolon.

Example 2 (A song)
Williams, P. (2013). Happy [Song]. On Girl. Columbia; I Am Other.

Software and apps


You must include an in-text citation. See the in-text citation section for more information about how to do this.

 

When to reference software

You do not need to reference software if it is commonly used in your field (e.g. Microsoft Word, Facebook, or SPSS), unless you have quoted or paraphrased from the software. You also do not need to reference programming languages. Instead, you can simply mention the name of the software or programming language in your assignment. If a piece of software is not commonly recognisable, or if you have quoted or paraphrased from it, you should include a reference.

 

Console games

APA 7th edition gives guidance about how to reference computer software and mobile apps, but does not cover console games. If you need to reference a video game, particularly if it is available across multiple consoles, you may need to adapt the format below to make it clear which version you have used.

Format

 
Example
Author, N. (Year). Title of software (Version 1.0) [Type of software]. Publisher. www.website.com/app
Components
  • Surname and initial(s) of the author of the software
  • Year of release for the version you used, in brackets, followed by a full stop
  • Title of the software in italics
  • Version in brackets
  • Type of software, e.g. computer software or mobile app, in square brackets, followed by a full stop
  • Publisher of the software, followed by a full stop
  • Web address where the software can be downloaded, if applicable

Examples

 
Example 1 (Computer software)
Kadokawa Corporation. (2019). RPG maker MV (Version 1.6.2) [Computer software]. Degica. https://www.rpgmakerweb.com/products/programs/rpg-maker-mv

 

Example 2 (Mobile app) 
Nintendo. (2020). Animal crossing: Pocket camp (Version 3.2.0) [Mobile app]. Play Store. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nintendo.zaca&hl=en_GB