How to Cite a Website With No Author in APA

Leave a comment

This page covers how to cite a website in APA Style (7th edition) when there are no known authors or when the author is unknown or cannot be reasonably determined. Before treating a reference as though it has no author, consider whether an organization such as a government agency, nonprofit organization, association, business, hospital, or study group can be the author by checking the title page or cover.

Citing In-text When There is No Author

Need to know that APA 7th edition uses the author-date citation system for citing a website or references in-text. In parenthetical citations, this structure will include the author’s last name and the publication year, with a comma separating them, in parentheses. In narrative citations, the last name of the author is incorporated into the sentence.

Parenthetical citation for the source with author:

    • (Author Last Name, Year Published)
    • (John, 2019)

Narrative citation for the source with author:

    • Author Last Name (Year Published)
    • John (2019)

If a website or reference has an unknown author, so the title of the work substitutes as the author name in the in-text citation.

    • The title must have each significant word capitalized (principally sentence case).
    • If the source is not italicized in the reference, you have to place the title in quotation marks (“”) in the in-text citation.
    • This means that it is part of a larger work like a magazine article within a magazine.
    • If the source title is italicized in the site or reference list entry, please italicize the title in the in-text citation.

No author, source title italicized:

    • (Source title, Year Published)
    • (Park Avenue Summer, 2020)

No author, source title in quotes:

    • (“Source title,” Year Published)
    • (“22 New apple varieties,” 1996)

Author Designated as “Anonymous”

Just use the capitalized word “Anonymous” in place of the author’s name when it is overtly designated, not as a general substitute for a site or reference with an unknown author.

“Anonymous” as author name:

    • (Anonymous, Year Published)
    • (Anonymous, 2021)

How to Cite in the Reference List When There are No Authors?

If you want to add a reference with no author to the reference list, first you have to move the title of the reference to the author position. For further information on making reference list citations, you should learn a guide on APA citations.

Reference list examples:

    • Park avenue summer. (2020). Penguin Random House.
    • “22 New apple varieties.” (1996). Food Magazine.

If the reference is overtly signed “Anonymous,” then you are able to add the entry to the reference list as if “Anonymous” were the author’s last name.

    • Anonymous. (2021). Navigating the high seas. Sea Life.

Alphabetizing the Reference List For Sources With No Author

You have to know that reference list entries without an author are alphabetized by the first significant word of the title.

    • You have to ignore the words “A,” “An,” and “The” when you are putting your reference list in order.
    • You have to begin the entry with the word “Anonymous” only if the work is signed “Anonymous.”
    • If the reference has no author and also is not signed “Anonymous,” then you are able to alphabetize it in the reference list based on the work’s title.
    • If the title begins with a number, you have to alphabetize the reference as though the number were spelled out. For instance, you would alphabetize the number 23 as though it were written as the word “twenty-three.”

Here are alphabetical order of reference list examples:

    • Anonymous. (2021). Navigating the high seas. Sea Life.
    • Park avenue summer. (2020). Penguin Random House.
    • “22 New Apple Varieties.” (1996). Food Magazine.

The Basics of APA

Talking about citing a website with no author in APA, now we are going to explain what APA is. For your information, APA is an abbreviation which stands for American Psychological Association. It is a massive organization, responsible for making and sharing psychology-related publications, research, and databases.

Particularly, they keep psychologists and other similar roles in the loop with what is happening in the world of psychology. With almost 120,000 members, it is the leading world organization related to psychology. Actually, they are not officially associated with this guide. However, the information here will talk about their citing format and rules in depth.

Why were APA Citations Made and Why Did Your Teacher Ask You To Use This Style?

Are you wondering what APA style is, and how this all relates to your research project? According to research, the American Psychological Association did something extremely cool. Back in the year of 1952, they made a way for all psychology researchers to structure their citations. The standard method did three things:

    • The researchers of Psychology were all able to display the sources they used in a systematic way.
    • The readers were able to understand the information shown in citations easily.
    • There was enough information displayed in the citations for the readers to go out and discover the exact sources on their own.

The citations of APA were successful, they were so good, that other science disciplines adopted the citation format too. In fact, other disciplines outside of the science world utilize APA style right now. So, whether you are making a psychology-related research project or not, there is a good chance you were asked to make your citations in APA style.

Currently, in APA 7th edition, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is one of the most often used style guides for academic writing right now. With APA 7th edition just coming onto the scene in the year of 2020, the American Psychological Association does not expect to view widespread usage of the 7th edition until later. This is why you must always double-check with your teacher on whether they want you to utilize the 6th edition or the 7th edition for your own projects.

Related Posts