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E-mail, web, blogs, Facebook, etc. - APA Style (6th ed.) -- Library Guide - Library Guides at Nova Southeastern University

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APA Style (6th ed.) -- Library Guide

Tags: apa, apa en espanol, citations, endnote, how do i cite, reference list, retrieval statements

This library guides provides help using the APA Style (6th ed.). The guide provides detailed in-depth help appropriate for graduate students, including links to Links and the APA Style Blog and video tutorials.
Last Updated: Mar 5, 2013 APA Quick Examples URL: http://nova.cam pusguides.com /apa Citing in Text How Do I Cite... Print Guide I Can't Find It RSS Updates Video Tutorials Em ail Alerts Citation Tools

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Online Forums, Discussion/News Groups, and Individual E-Mail Online communities include a variety of options for people on the Internet to communicate on a variety of topics of interest. This may include blogs, newsgroups, online forums, and discussion groups.

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E-mail, web, blogs, Facebook, etc. - APA Style (6th ed.) -- Library Guide - Library Guides at Nova Southeastern University
- Web sites and pages - Blogs - Facebook - Twitter - Wikis
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Ex. 1: Message posted to a newsgroup, online forum, or discussion group. APA does not recommend including personal communications in a reference list, and this includes private email messages because of the difficulty of recovering them at a later time. However, see APA manual (6th ed.), pp. 214-215 or APA Style Guide for Electronic References (2012), pp. 31-33 for the format for messages posted to a newsgroup, online forum, or discussion group. Author or screen name. (Year, Month day). Title of message [Any identifier]. Retrieved from [URL]

Johnson, D. F. (2012, April 3). Problems accessing information [Online forum comment]. Retrieved from http://groups/google.com/group/sci.psyc.hyposis/ Provide author(s) last name followed by initials or screen name if that is all that is available. Use the exact date that the message was posted. The subject line of the message should not be italicized. Any description goes in brackets after the title. The URL used should be the address for the archived version of the message. Include the name of the list to which the message was posted, if this information is not part of the URL. Ex. 2: Message posted to an electronic mailing list. See APA manual (6th ed.), p. 215 #75. "Electronic mailing list" is the appropriate generic term for LISTSERVS since this is a trademarked name for a particular software application. Josie. (2010, May 30). Best practices for using LibGuides [Electronic mailing list message]. Retrieved from http://libref.ala.org/online/dils/ When the author's name is provided, use the format with last name and initials. If only a screen name is provided, use that followed by a period. Once you decide on the format, be sure to be consistent in using the same format for the name throughout your document. Ex. 3: Individual e-mail See APA Style FAQ and APA Style Guide to Electronic References (2012), pp. 31-32. E-mail by private individuals are not recoverable and are treated as personal communications by APA. Thus, there is no reference citation provided. In the body of the paper, the author's last name and initials plus the date are included in parentheses. For example, (A. C. Schaefer, personal communication, June 3, 2012) or A. C. Schaefer (personal communication, June 3, 2012). No reference citation is included in the reference list.

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Ask by Chat See this video (4 min. 45 sec.) on how to format a webpage or web site and the APA Blog posting on web citations Ask by Text

Ex. 1: Entire website See the APA Style FAQ on citing entire websites. The APA manual (6th ed.) says that you do not need to cite entire websites in the reference list. In the body of the paper, provide the name of the site and URL. For example: The Department of Health has just released a new site called HealthCare.gov at http://www.healthcare.gov/ to help people identify and compare health care programs available in their area. However, entire websites like HealthCare.gov would not be included in the reference list. The APA Style website provides information about using this formatting style (http://www.apastyle.org). Ex. 2: Web page with no author See the APA Style FAQ on citing a web page with no author. Tesla coils: How they work. (2009). Retrieved June 4, 2010, from http://www.pupman .com/teslacoils.htm The title of the webpage is formatted like a newspaper article and should not be italicized in the reference citation or the text citation. Include the first couple of words in quotes. For example, ("Tesla Coils", 2009). In contrast, a report located on the web would be formatted like a book and have the title italicized in the reference and text citations. Ex. 3: Web material with no author, no date, and no page numbers. See the APA Style FAQ on citing web material with no author, no date, and no page numbers. Survey: More Americans get news from the Internet than newspapers or radio. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2010, from http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/03/01/social.network.news/index.html Citing a webpage with no author, date, and page numbers can be problematic in the body of the paper. According to the APA Style FAQ, you can use: A paragraph number, if provided or count paragraphs down from the beginning of the document. For example, (para. 4) An overarching heading plus a paragraph number within that section. (Methods, para. 3) A short title in quotation marks, in cases in which the heading is too unwieldy to cite in full. ("Survey: More Americans Get News") The article claimed that more Americans get news from the Internet than newspapers or radio ("Survey: More American get news", n.d., para. 4). Ex. 4: Web page archived on a company site, two authors: Barbell, K., & Freundlich, M. (2001). Foster care today. Retrieved from Casey Family Programs National Center for Resource Family Support website: http://www.casey.org /Resources/Archive/Publications/FosterCareToday.htm Ex. 5: Report on web with six authors. See the APA manual, pp. 205-206, #31-33. Wirl, J., Chou, S., Provasnik, S., Rooney, P., Sen, A., & Tabin, R.(2003). The condition of education: 2003 (Report No. NCES 2003-067). Retrieved from the National Center for Educational Statistics website: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/2003067.pdf

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Some General Formatting Details - APA (6th ed.) uses hanging indentations to format reference citations in the reference list. In Microsoft Word, you can use the formatting feature in Paragraph > Indents and Spacing > Special > Hanging to provide a clean and consistent format for the reference citations. Using this formatting option ensures that the first line of each reference citation "hangs" out to the left one half inch. - Double spacing: The spacing of the reference citations in this APA Style Library Guide are not to scale. APA states that the reference citations in the reference list should be double spaced, but many institutions of higher education permit students to single space inside the citations and double space between citations. So, check with your academic program. - Information included for resources retrieved online: The formatting for a resource

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E-mail, web, blogs, Facebook, etc. - APA Style (6th ed.) -- Library Guide - Library Guides at Nova Southeastern University
Unlike a web page, the title of a report on the web is italicized in both the reference and text citations. According to the APA Style FAQ, the title is formatted like the title of a book while a webpage is formatted like the title of a newspaper article. Notice that the title in the reference list only has the first word in the title and subtitle capitalized as well as proper names like American, but all the important words are capitalized when the title is used in the text of the paper. retrieved online and in print no longer always has the same exact content. Online materials may have supplemental material not available with the print version of the same source. APA (6th ed.) recommends that you include the same elements in the reference citation in the same order for online and fixedmedia sources. For the online sources, add as much information as you to provide to help others locate the source you are citing. See APA (6th ed.), p. 187 section 6.31 for more information. - When to italicize the title: Major works like names of journals, books, movies, DVDs, and so forth are italicized, but journal articles, book chapters, and web pages do not. Thus, a video on DVD would be italicized because the DVD would be considered a major work, but a video blog post would not. - Some citations have been modified to illustrate specific formatting points and are not for actual resources.

Ex. 5: Transcript of class lecture retrieved online Court, C. (2009). Qualitative and quantitative research. Retrieved from http://www.nova.edu/ schoolofed/~court/qual_quan.html Ex. 6: Webpage from a university Author, A. A. (Last update or copyright date; if not known, put n.d.). Title of specific document. Retrieved from Name of University website: URL of specific document Philosophy/ mission. (2009). Retrieved from Nova Southeastern University website: http://www.nova.edu/overview/mission.html Tunon, J. (2010). APA style library guide. Retrieved from Nova Southeastern University website: http://nova.campusguides.com/apa This example is a university web site, but notice that the web title is not italicized. Ex. 7 Press release See APA blog, Nova Southeastern University, Student Government Association. (2006, November). NSUSGA launches speak out campaign [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.nova.edu/nsusgq /minutes/press/ Toyota. (2010, July 8). Toyota to expand product quality field offices across United States and Canada [Press release]. Retrieved from http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyota-toexpand-product-quality-161715.aspx When a person did not write the press release, then the press releases are typically written by an organization about itself, usually for journalists. APA says that when you find press releases on an organizations own website without a specific author attribution, you can assume the organization to be the author (this is true for the second example above). When a reference includes a larger organization as well as a department or office within that organization, the larger entity comes first in the entry (as in the example for Nova Southeastern University, Student Government Association). The month or the month and day of the press release follow the year and are separated by a comma. The title of the press release is not italicized. The words [Press release] are enclosed in brackets. The retrieval statement does not include the date of retrieval because this is the archived version of the press release. In other words, the press release will not be changed in the future. If there are any changes, a new press release will be made instead. Ex. 8: Press release indexed by a commercial distribution service like PR Newswire Pierpoint Communications. (2010, September 10). Wise Men to help break world record at Houston Astros game tonight [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.prnewswire.com/newsreleases/wise-men-to-help-break-world-record-at-houston-astros-game-tonight102627924.html This press release was about an organization called Wise Men Consultants, but it was authored by Pierpoint Communications, and indexed on the PR Newswire site. To find the author, you would have to go to the bottom of the press release. In this case, you would have to be careful to distinguish between the author and the company that is the subject of the press release.
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Blogs Ex.1 : Blog post See APA manual (6th ed.), p. 215 #76 Author, A. A. or Screen name. (Year, Month Day). title of blog posting [Web blog posting]. Retrieved from URL Baird, L. R. (2009, July 3). Meeting at ALA's DLS discussion group [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.cmu.edu/ocls/2010/6/meeting_at_alas.php A blog comment in reply to the posting would be formatted as follows: Ex.2 : Blog post, screen name See APA manual (6th ed.), p. 215 #76 Hawkke. (2009, January 3). Coffee and bagels will be provided [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.cmu.edu/ocls/2010/6/coffee_and_bagels.php When the author's name is provided, use the format with last name and initials. If only a screen name is provided, use that followed by a period. Note that if the author posted with a screen name, that is the name you must use in your document. This is addressed in the APA Pub lication Manual (6th ed., p. 215, Ex. 76). Although a nickname may seem informal, keep in mind that a blog is a more informal mode of communication than a journal article. Whatever the medium, it is important to identify the author by the name under which he or she wrote the work in question. Ex. 3: Video blog post. See APA manual (6th ed.), p. 215, #77 Author or screen name. (Year, Month day). Subject line of message [Video file]. Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxx Librarian in Black. (2011, August 3). The IRB process [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.you_tube.com/group/watch?v=Xkas43nsu_IRB Ex. 4: Embedded video in a blog post -- see APA (6th ed.), p. 215, #76

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E-mail, web, blogs, Facebook, etc. - APA Style (6th ed.) -- Library Guide - Library Guides at Nova Southeastern University
Sheppard, N. (2010, June 12). Commemorating 23rd anniversary of Reagan's 'Tear down this wall' speech [Video file]. Retrieved from http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/ 2010/06/12/commemorating-23rd-anniversary-reagans-tear-down-wall-speech

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Facebook Ex. 1: Facebook . See APA Style FAQ and APA Style Blog. References to Facebook that are cited in the body of the text should just provide the URL. Johanna Tunon (2010, June 13a). Off to ALA [Facebook post]. Retrieved from http://www.facebook .com/posted.php?id)=8391245488922 According to the APA Style blog, provide the author's name as written in Facebook (for example, Laura Baird) for simplicity's sake and to ensure accuracy. This means not changing the author's name in the citation to Baird, L. Alphabetize under L, not B. See the APA manual, section 6.25 on pp. 181-182. Include the year and day but not the time. If you have several posts by the same person in the same year, use a and b to distinguish between the postings. Provide information about the form in brackets such as Twitter post or Facebook update. The URL should lead directly to the post, not the Facebook feed in general, Johanna Tunon (2010, June 13b). The DLS meetings have been moved to Rm 202. http://my .johannatunon.com/page/ala/dils/hTyDSD [Facebook update]. Retrieved from http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id)=8391245488922&comment1# 200024857903002 The APA editor said that it is OK to truncate the message used in the title posting is there is a long URL included. Ex. 2: Facebook fan page, no date. See APA Style Blog. | Username or Group Name. (n.d. or ca. Year). In Faceb ook [Page type]. Retrieved Day, Year, from http://www.facebook.com/specificpageURL DistEd. (n.d.). In Facebook [Fan page]. Retrieved from http://www.facebook .com/pages/DistEd/2809992783334 Use (n.d.) when there is no date. However, the other option is (ca. 2010) if you know the approximate date. The APA editor says in the APA Style blog that it is a judgment call which option should be used. Ex. 3: Citation of a Private Page on Facebook. See APA Style Blog. Pages that are private or for friends only cannot be retrieved by everyone so these should be treated like personal communications and only cited in the text of the document. See APA manual (6th ed.), section 6.20 on p. 179.

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Twitter Ex. 1 Twitter, screen name See APA Style FAQ and APA Style Blog. References to Twitter that are cited in the body of the text should just provide the URL. Screen name. (Year, Month Day). Posting title: URL [Twitter post]. Retrieved from URL for home site TheOilDrum. (2010, June 3). Edible landscape: One transition step from peak oil: http://su.pr/ 1VTqZm#oilspill#oilpocalyspe#BP#peakoil#environment#green [Twitter post]. Retrieved from http://twitter.com/TheOilDrum The APA editor said that it is OK to truncate the message used in the title posting is there is a long URL included. The APA Style editor says to include the screen name as it appears in Twitter and Facebook to be on the safe side. The reference citation would be alphabetized by T. Normally the word "The" would be ignored, but in this case, it is part of the screen name.. Ex. 2 Twitter, screen name See APA Style FAQ and APA Style Blog. References to Twitter that are cited in the body of the text should just provide the URL. SarahPalinUSA. (2010, March 23). Commonsense conservatives & lovers of America: "Don't retreat, Instead - RELOAD!" Pls see my Facebook page: http://twitter.com/sarahpalinusa/ status/10935548053 [Twitter post]. Retrieved from http://twitter.com/SarahPalinUSA The APA Style editor says to include the screen name as it appears in Twitter and Facebook to be on the safe side. The reference citation would be alphabetized by S, not P.
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Wikis Ex. 1: Wikipedia, no date of publication but retrieval date is included. See the APA Style Blog. Gertrude Bell. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 3, 2010, from

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E-mail, web, blogs, Facebook, etc. - APA Style (6th ed.) -- Library Guide - Library Guides at Nova Southeastern University
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Bell The name of the article comes in the first position when there is no author identified. Use (n.d.) for no date. The entry in Wikipedia is modeled on the format for a print reference entry in an encyclopedia. The date of retrieval is included because the entry in Wikipedia is not the final archival version but can instead be updated at any time because of being in a wiki format. Be sure to include a comma after the year as well as after the day.

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