How to reference...
Reference list:
Surname, INITIALS. (date). Article title. Website Title. Retrieved from URL
Truss, E. (2014). Experts to visit Shanghai to raise standards in maths. Announcements. Retrieved from https://www.education.gov.uk/
In-text:
(Truss, 2014)
Reference list:
Author, A. (date). Title of document. Retrieved from URL
BERA. (2016). BERA Research commissions. Retrieved from https://www.bera.ac.uk/project/bera-research-commissions
In-text:
The in-text citation includes the author and date (Author, date), as with any other APA Style citation.
(BERA, 2016)
Abbreviating the names of organisations
It is good practice to spell out the names of organisations however bodies that are readily recognisable within the field of education you can use the abbreviated form if you wish (making sure to include them in your list of abbreviations). Please check with your supervisor about this if you are unsure.
When there is no author for a website, the title moves to the first position of the reference entry:
Reference list:
Website title. (Year Published). Retrieved from URL
New child vaccine gets funding boost. (2001). Retrieved from http://news.ninemsn.com.au/health/story_13178.asp
In-text:
Cite the first few words of the reference list entry (usually the title) and the year. Use double quotation marks around the title or abbreviated title:
("New child vaccine", 2001)
How to reference...
Reference list:
Surname, INITIALS. (Date). Title of document. Retrieved from URL
Truss, E. (2014). Raising standards in maths. Retrieved from https://www.education.gov.uk/
In-text:
(Truss, 2014)
Reference list:
Official body. (DATE). Title of document. Retrieved from URL
BERA. (2011). Ethical guidelines for educational research. Retrieved from http://www.bera.ac.uk/researchers-resources/publications/ethical-guidelines-for-educational-research-2011
In-text:
(BERA, 2011)
Abbreviating the names of organisations
It is good practice to spell out the names of organisations however bodies that are readily recognisable within the field of education you can use the abbreviated form if you wish (making sure to include them in your list of abbreviations). Please check with your supervisor about this if you are unsure.
Please see the *Managing Your References (Zotero)* page for further guidance on downloading and using Zotero, including FAQs on how to add materials into your Zotero library
To cite quotes from an online source where there are no visible page numbers, use paragraph numbers, where available, with the abbreviation para and include the section heading where available, for example (project introduction, para. 3).
Where the section heading is unmanageable to cite in full, use a shortened version enclosed in quotation marks:
Use ("Mandatory Labeling," para. 4) for the heading Mandatory labeling has targeted information gaps and social objectives.
**DO NOT use the page numbers from material that you have printed out from an online source as different printers may reflect different pagination**
For a passing reference to a website in text, the URL is sufficient; no reference list entry is needed (making sure that you have not quoted or paraphrased from the source, referred to any aspect of it specifically, or used it to advance an idea). If in doubt it is best to include an in-text citation and entry in the reference list
** If you are referring to a specific piece of information or directly quoting information from a website, you will need to create both an in-text citation and a reference list entry. **
Author - the author is the person or organisation taking credit for the information. If you are not sure who is taking responsibility for the information, look for an About Us link or who is copyrighting the material. This can be a Personal author (e.g Truss, E.) or a Corporate Author or Official Body (e.g Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) or British Educational Research Association (BERA)).
If a website does not have an author then you will need to start your reference with the title information (for long titles it is fine to use the first few words).
Date – if possible, you need to find the date that the information was written. This can be found either at the bottom of the page or you can use the date the website was last updated.
If a date range is given e.g (2007-2010), you only need to give the most current year i.e.2010.
If no date is given use (n.d.).
Retrieval Date – a retrieval date only needs to be included with material that is expected to change over time such as blog posts. If you wish to include a retrieval date for all your websites and online document references ensure that you are consistent throughout so similar sources are cited the same way.
*Online Journal articles and ebooks do not need a retrieval date*
The addition of a Format Description in square brackets is used only when the format is something out of the ordinary, such as a blog post or lecture notes; otherwise, it's not necessary.
Further Guidance on how to cite a website can be found from the APA Blog here.
Missing Elements - A checklist on how to cite a website where parts of the reference are missing can be found here.