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Hist 3100 Contemporary American History: Online Sources - Most Frequently Used

Important notice!

COMING SOON! New MLA 8th Edition Guidelines and information!

Websites

Example: Website WITH Author; Organization known

Tedford, Deborah. "In New Hampshire, Obama Defends Health Care Plan." NPR.org.

     National Public Radio, 11 Aug. 2009. Web. 13 Aug 2009.

Example: Website With NO Author; Organization known

"Healthcare Overhall Issues." CNN.com. Cable News Network, 17 July 2009. Web. 13 Aug 2009.

Example: Website With NO Author; Organization known; DATE UNKNOWN
(NOTE: This is a hypothetical example. Most dates for websites are located at the bottom of the home page - also known as copyright date. If the date is shown as a range, i.e., 1999-2009, use the most recent date = 2009.)

"Healthcare Overhall Issues." CNN.com. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 13 Aug 2009.

Library Database Articles

Example from Academic Search Premiere:

Meckler, Laura, and Greg Hitt. "Obama Open to Health Overhaul Without Public Plan." Wall Street Journal -

     Eastern 253.146 (24 June 2009): A6. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 13 Aug. 2009.

Example from LexisNexis:

Parsons, Christi, and Mark Silva. "Obama Heading West to Sell Healthcare Plan." Los Angeles Times A: 16

     (13 Aug. 2009). LexisNexis. Web. 13 Aug. 2009.

Articles from Magazines, Journals, or Newspapers - Websites, NOT Library Databases

Example: Online Newspaper (also published in print)

Freyer, Felice J. "R.I. Officials Planning for Outbreak of Swine Flu." Projo.com. The Providence Journal. 

     13 Aug. 2009. Web. 13 Aug. 2009.

Example: Online Magazine (also published in print)

Glover, Mike. "Health Care Reform Inviting Raucous Debate." Time.com. Time Magazine.

     13 Aug. 2009. Web. 13 Aug. 2009.

E-Books

Example: E-book From NetLibrary

Somerville, Richard C. Forgiving Air: Understanding Environmental Change. New York, 1998. NetLibrary.

     Web. 19 Nov. 2008.

Example: Google Books

Levitt, Steven D., and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of

     Everything. New York, 2005. Google Book Search. Web. 18 Nov. 2008.

Basic Elements of An Online Citation

If you cannot find some of the information for citing websites, cite what is available in the order listed below.

  1. Author's Name (last name, first name)
  2. Title of Work (Itatlicize if you're citing the entire website; put title in "quotes" if it's an article/page within a larger website)
  3. Title of Overall Website (ONLY IF IT'S DIFFERENT THAN item 2 listed above)
  4. Version or edition (if known)
  5. Publisher, Sponsor, or Organization (If it's not listed, use N.p. for No publisher)
  6. Date of Publication (If nothing is available, use n.d. for "no date")
  7. Medium of publication (Web)
  8. Date of access (day, month, year) - this is the date you found the website

Each item listed above is followed by a period, except for #5 - Publisher, Sponsor, or Organization, which is followed by a comma.

Citation is double-spaced, first line flush to left margin; any lines following w/in the citation must be tabbed in once

Formating Rules for Dates & Page Numbering

New Abbreviations: Many web source entries now require a publisher name, a date of publication, and/or page numbers.

  • When no publisher name appears on the website, use: n.p. for no publisher given.
  • When websites omit a date of publication, use: n.d. for no date.
  • For online journals that appear only online (no print version) or for databases that do not provide page numbers, use: n. pag. for no pagination