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APA Referencing 7th Edition

Main elements - webpage

APA 7 webpage - group author

Webpages and online documents

Webpages and websites [9.2; 9.33]: Cite individual webpages rather than a whole website. If you refer to a website in general, only note it in-text and provide the URL in brackets - do not add to the reference list.

When the author of the website is the same as the website name, omit the name a second time (i.e. where you would list the website) to avoid repetition. Note: this is why the individual author examples used below have the corporate author/website name listed after the webpage title, but the group author examples do not.

Provide the most specific date possible, for example, a year, month, and day; year and month; or year only, depending on the information available.


Webpage - group author [10.16]

In-text

(Red Cross, 2020) OR Red Cross (2020)

Reference list

Red Cross. (2020). Volunteer with Red Cross. https://www.redcross.org.au/get-involved/connect/volunteer

Webpage - individual author [10.16]

In-text

(O'Hara, 2019) OR O'Hara (2019)

Reference list

O'Hara, J. (2019, June 13). The role of kindness in cancer care. Mayo Clinic. https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/the-role-of-kindness-in-cancer-care

Titles of "standalone" documents (e.g. PDF, Word, PowerPoint, or other document formats ) on a website are italicised. Standalone documents in this context are resources that do not fall into standard categories, including reports, presentations, white papers and other grey literature.

PDF (or standalone document) found on website [10.4]:

In-text

(Government of Western Australia, Department of Health, 2020) OR Government of Western Australia, Department of Health (2020)

Reference list

Government of Western Australia, Department of Health. (2020, 25 November). COVID-19 public information campaign. https://www.health.wa.gov.au/Articles/A_E/Campaign-COVID-19​

Powerpoint slides or lecture notes [10.14]: When the slides are available online to anyone, use the site name, followed by the URL. If the slides come from a learning management system (e.g. Blackboard) and the audience you are writing for has access to that resource, provide the name of the site and its main URL. If the audience for which are you writing does not have access to the slides, cite them as a personal communication.


PowerPoint slides - online [10.14]:

In-text

(Winkelman, 2019) OR Winkelman (2019)

Reference list

Winkelman, N. (2019). The language of coaching - a story about learning [PowerPoint slides]. Slideshare. https://www.slideshare.net/nwinkelman/the-language-of-coaching-a-story-about-learning

When the author of the report is the same as the website name, omit the name a second time (i.e. where you would list the website) to avoid repetition. 


Government document found on website [10.4]:

In-text

(Government of Western Australia, Department of Education, 2019)

OR 

Government of Western Australia,Department of Education (2019)

Reference list

Government of Western Australia, Department of Education. (2019). Curriculum assessment and reporting in public schools, policy and procedures. http://det.wa.edu.au/policies/detcms/policy-planning-and-accountability/policies-framework/policies/curriculum-assessment-and-reporting-for-public-schools-policy-and-procedures.en?cat-id=3457121

Look at the report carefully to determine the author. Reports are often written by organisations or corporate authors. When the author of the report is the same as the website name, omit the name a second time (i.e. where you would list the website) to avoid repetition. 

Report - online [10.4]

In-text

(Westpac, 2019) OR Westpac (2019)

Reference List

Westpac. (2019). 2019 annual review & sustainability report. https://www.westpac.com.au/content/dam/public/wbc/documents/pdf/aw/ic/2019_Westpac_Annual_Review_and_Sustainability_Report.pdf

Organisation or corporate author [9.11]: If an organisation (i.e. company, institution, government body, religious organisation, or other type of organisation) is the author, use the organisation’s name in place of an individual's name. If the organisation’s name is commonly abbreviated, use the full name in the first reference together with the abbreviation. In subsequent references, only the abbreviated form should be used.

Organisation or corporate author [9.11]:

In-text

(World Health Organization [WHO], 2020) OR World Health Organization (WHO, 2020)

Reference list

World Health Organization. (2020). Ebola virus disease. https://www.who.int/health-topics/ebola#tab=tab_1

Social media

Unlike other social media types, blog posts are formatted similarly to periodicals.

 

Blog post [10.1]:

In-text

(Hubbard, 2019) OR Hubbard (2019)

Reference list

Hubbard, M. (2019, July 19). Top 5 architecture job interview questions. The Architect's Guide. https://www.thearchitectsguide.com/blog/2015/7/15/top-5-architecture-job-interview-questions
 

When referencing a comment on a blog post, provide an abbreviated version of the post to serve as the title for the reference (up to 20 words).

 

Blog comment [10.1]:

In-text 

(Chinedu, 2019) OR Chinedu (2019)

Reference list

Chinedu, E. (2019). Thankyou so much! [Comment on the article "Top 5 architecture job interview questions"]. The Architect's Guide. https://www.thearchitectsguide.com/blog/2015/7/15/top-5-architecture-job-interview-questions

Social media posts may contain nonstandard elements such as  different spelling, hashtags and emojis. Do not alter these. Retain hashtags and links and replicate emojis if possible. If you cannot, describe the emoji in square brackets e.g. [upside-down face]. 

 

Authors: If the post's author is an individual, provide the name in the usual format (last name followed by initials). If the post was written by an organisation, use the organisation's name.
Titles: Provide an abbreviated version of the post to serve as the title for the reference (up to 20 words). Italicise.
Dates: Provide the full date in the reference list (year, month, day). Provide the only the year in the in-text citation.

Facebook post [10.15]:

In-text

(Headspace Fremantle, 2020) OR Headspace Fremantle (2020)

Reference list

Headspace Fremantle (2020, March 3). Let everyone know! [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/freoheadspace/posts/3047001318668148

Social media posts may contain nonstandard elements such as  different spelling, hashtags and emojis. Do not alter these. Retain hashtags and links and replicate emojis if possible. If you cannot, describe the emoji in square brackets e.g. [upside-down face].

 

Authors: If the post's author is an individual, provide the name in the usual format (last name followed by initials). If the post was written by an organisation, use the organisation's name. The user's real name, if known, is provided, followed by the screen name in brackets. If only the screen name is known, provide the screen name without brackets.
Titles: Provide an abbreviated version of the post to serve as the title for the reference (up to 20 words). Italicise.
Dates: Provide the full date in the reference list (year, month, day). Provide the only the year in the in-text citation.

Photo or Video [10.15]:

In-text

(British Museum, 2020) OR British Museum (2020)

Reference list

British Museum [@britishmuseum]. (2020, March 27). Look closely at this rich blue porcelain pot [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/B-PdnRrokOA/?igshid=1md0eon6v96bf 

Social media posts may contain nonstandard elements such as  different spelling, hashtags and emojis. Do not alter these. Retain hashtags and links and replicate emojis if possible. If you cannot, describe the emoji in square brackets e.g. [upside-down face].

 

Authors: If the post's author is an individual, provide the name in the usual format (last name followed by initials). If the post was written by an organisation, use the organisation's name. The user's real name, if known, is provided, followed by the screen name in brackets. If only the screen name is known, provide the screen name without brackets.
Titles: Provide an abbreviated version of the post to serve as the title for the reference (up to 20 words). Italicise.
Dates: Provide the full date in the reference list (year, month, day). Provide the only the year in the in-text citation.


X post (formerly a tweet) [10.15]:

In-text

(White, 2020) OR White (2020)

Reference list

White, B [@BettyMWhite]. (2020, January 29). The world is out of sorts, but maybe it just needs a snickers [Post]. X. https://twitter.com/BettyMWhite

Authors: If the post's author is an individual, provide the name in the usual format (last name followed by initials). If the post was written by an organisation, use the organisation's name. The user's real name, if known, is provided, followed by the screen name in brackets. If only the screen name is known, provide the screen name without brackets.
Titles: Provide an abbreviated version of the post to serve as the title for the reference (up to 20 words). Italicise.
Dates: Provide the full date in the reference list (year, month, day). Provide the only the year in the in-text citation.


YouTube video - group author [10.12]

In-text

(TED, 2019) OR TED (2019)

Reference list

TED. (2019, June 3). Sleep is your superpower [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MuIMqhT8DM

YouTube video - individual author ​[10.12]

In-text

(Neill, 2012) OR Neil (2012)

Reference list

Neill, C. (2012, March 12). How to start a speech [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/w82a1FT5o88

Generative AI

You must confirm whether the use of generative artificial intelligence (Gen-AI) has been explicitly allowed or is required in your assessment task. Otherwise, using Gen-AI to complete your assessment is a form of plagiarism and may also be a form of contract cheating under University policy.

The following text has been extracted from the APA Style Blog Post: 

https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt and serves as interim guidance.

How to quote or reproduce the text created by generative predictive tools such as ChatGPT in your assessments

If you have used ChatGPT or other AI tools in your research, describe how you used the tool in your Method section or in a comparable section of your paper. For literature reviews or other types of essays or response or reaction papers, you might describe how you used the tool in your introduction. In your text, provide the prompt you used and then any portion of the relevant text that was generated in response. (APA Style Blog, 2023)

You may also put the full text of long responses from ChatGPT in an appendix of your paper or in online supplemental materials, so readers have access to the exact text that was generated. It is particularly important to document the exact text created because ChatGPT will generate a unique response in each chat session, even if given the same prompt. If you create appendices or supplemental materials, remember that each should be called out at least once in the body of your APA Style paper. (APA Style Blog, 2023)

How to cite generative predictive text tools, for example ChatGPT

In-text

(OpenAI, 2023) OR OpenAI (2023)

Example:

When prompted with "Is the left brain right brain divide real or a metaphor?" the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that although the two brain hemispheres are somewhat specialized, "the notation that people can be characterized as 'left-brained' or 'right-brained' is considered to be an oversimplification and a popular myth" (OpenAI, 2023).

If you put the full text of long responses from ChatGPT in an appendix or in online supplemental materials, the in-text citation would resemble this:

(OpenAI, 2023; see Appendix A for the full transcript).

Reference list

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

This example comes from the APA Style Blog and is adapted from the reference template for software in Section 10.10 of the Publication Manual (American Psychological Association, 2020, Chapter 10).

At present there are no specific APA guidelines on acknowledging generative AI in appendices. In the interim use the following:

Appendix

In an online chat with ChatGPT (April 06, 2023) ...

In response to the question ..., ChatGPT (April 06, 2023) gave the following response ...

Include a record of each question / prompt, the date  and the response

Missing information

No author: If there is no author listed, put the title of the document in place of the author (note: always question the validity of web resources that have no author). Use the first few words of the title for the in-text citation, enclosed in quote marks, and the year.

Webpage - no author [9.12]

In-text

("Six Secrets", 2019) OR "Six Secrets" (2019)

Reference list

Six secrets to buying lamb. (2019). https://www.australianlamb.com.au/know-your-meat/six-secrets-to-buying-lamb/#

No date: If there is no date, include the abbreviation (n.d.). If content is published regularly (for example, social media posts) provide the full date. If not, provide the year only.

Webpage - no date [9.17]

In-text

(Drug Aware, n.d.) OR Drug Aware (n.d.)

Reference list

Drug Aware. (n.d.). Amphetamines. https://drugaware.com.au/getting-the-facts/drug-types/amphetamines/

Using a direct quote from a site with no page numbers [8.28]: If no page numbers are present, you can use paragraph numbers (counted by you from the beginning of the document) or the name of the heading or sub-heading (e.g. "Conclusion"). Enclose the name of the heading in quote marks. Leave the page numbers out of the reference list entry.


In-text (direct quote)

It is important to remember not to "let the data on your mobile stop you from recycling or rehoming your mobile phone" (Ridley, 2020, para. 5).

Reference list

Ridley, R. (2020, March 27). What are you doing with your old mobile phone? Recycling Near You. https://recyclingnearyou.com.au/news/display/4941