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APA (7th ed.) Citation Guide for Health Sciences

General Notes for Web Citations

 

  • Most websites have a "copyright" date at the bottom of each page. Do not use this date in your citation as it refers to the overall site - not the content on the page.  If there is no other date indicated that is clearly attributable to the specific content you are citing then use (n.d.) to indicate that no date was provided.  

     
    • It's usually quite clear when a date is relevant to the specific content you are citing, e.g., indicators such as "posted date," "revised / updated" will appear at the top or directly beneath the article.

       
  • Do not include a date of last review in a reference because content that has been reviewed has not necessarily been changed. If a date of last review is noted on a work, ignore it for the purposes of the reference.

     
  • Italicize the title of the report or webpage.

     
  • When the author of the report or webpage and the website name are the same, omit the website name from the source element to avoid repetition.

     
  • When a web document / guideline has individual authors, provide their names in the author element of the reference; the name of the organization or site should then be provided in the website name section of your citation. 

     
  • Most clinical practice guidelines are published as online reports or webpages and so follow the webpage reference type, which has the same structure.

     
    • Use the committee or agency that developed the guideline in the author element of the reference when no individual authors are credited.

       
    • When the title page or cover credits both a committee and an agency, provide the committee name in the author element of the reference and the agency name in the source element of the reference.

       
  • End the reference with the URL.
     
The preceding are from the APA Student Nursing References blog post. 

 

Note:  see the main DC Library guide to APA 7 for guidance on citing Social Media platforms. 

Websites: Organization / Group Author

 

Use this citation format when you are citing content from websites with no individual(s) identified as author, e.g., clinical practice guidelines, factsheets, professional standards, departmental reports etc.   In such cases, the organization - e.g., health authority, licencing body, government agency etc., is the author.  For example:

 

 

Name of Organization. (Date of posting). Title of webpage. Website Name. URL
 

Fraser Health Authority. (n.d.). Diabetes - Insulin dose adjustment.  https://www.fraserhealth.ca/employees/clinical-resources/diabetes---insulin-dose-adjustment

 

British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives. (2020). Professional Standards for Psychiatric Nursing. https://www.bccnm.ca/Documents/standards_practice/rpn/RPN_Professional_Standards.pdf

 

Note: in both examples above the Website name element was omitted to prevent duplication with the Name of organization.

 

In text:

 

Parenthetical citations:
 

(Fraser Health Authority, n.d.)

(British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives, 2020)

 

 

Narrative citations:

 

Fraser health Authority (n.d.)

British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives (2020) 

Websites: Named / Individual Author

Author, A. A. (Date of posting). Title of webpage. Website Name. URL
 

Nelson, C. (2023). 11 tips for healthier eating habits. Mayo Clinic. https://mcpress.mayoclinic.org/nutrition-fitness/11-tips-for-healthier-eating-habits/

 

In text:

 

Parenthetical citations: (Nelson, 2023)

Narrative citations: Nelson (2023)

YouTube / Vimeo

Notes adapted from the APA blog post Nursing Student References: YouTube Video

 

  • Use the name of the uploader, e.g., the username, as the author and provide the full date on which the video was uploaded, in the format (year, month day). You may have to click "more" in the description box to see the date details. 
     
  • If you are citing a YouTube or Vimeo video embedded on an organization website use YouTube or Vimeo in the "Publisher or website name" element, not the organization website name.
     
  • To cite the words of individuals featured in a video, name or describe the individual(s) in your sentence in the text and then provide a parenthetical citation for the video, e.g., uploader name and date. 
     
  • Include the format type “[Video]” in square brackets after the title and provide the site name, e.g.,  YouTube, and then add its URL.
     
    • Also, if the content is from a specific channel - and the channel name is different from the uploaders name, include the channel name directly after the author name in square brackets.

 

 

Author, A. A. (Date of posting). Title of presentation [Video]. Publisher or Website name. URL
 

Canadian Nurses Association. (2024, May 17). Empowering nurses through therapeutic writing: Healing, reflection, and resilience! [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/qkbmL0OUrj4?si=TPxjgYHMkeyzKz1L

 

In text:

 

Parenthetical citations: (Canadian Nurses Association, 2024)

Narrative citations: Canadian Nurses Association (2024)

PowerPoint on the Web

 

As noted above in the YouTube section, if the presentation is part of a specific channel - and the channel name is different from the uploader - include the channel name in square brackets directly after the author/uploader name. 

 

Author, A. A. (Date of posting). Title of presentation [PowerPoint slides]. Publisher or Website name. URL

 

Schrepel, T. [OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs] (2024). GenAI: Competitive dynamics and challenges [PowerPoint slides]. slideshare. https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/artificial-intelligence-data-and-competition-schrepel-june-2024-oecd-discussion/269644409

 

In Text

Parenthetical citation: (Schrepel, 2024)

Narrative citation: Schrepel (2024)