APA 7th Edition is the most commonly used referencing style here at the University of Portsmouth. Below you will find general guidance on how to reference and cite using APA 7th Edition, as well as examples for the specific sources you are likely to use in your assignments. 

Your department or lecturer may prefer you to reference sources differently from the guidance given here. Always follow the requirements of your department or lecturer. 

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Webpages, Websites & Blogs

Webpage with a single named author 

Reference 

Author, Initials. (Year, Month Date). Title of webpage. Name of Website. URL 

Vincent, A. (2020, August 20). How can we save UK libraries? A look at the innovative steps being taken by countries around the world. Penguin Books UK. https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2020/august/innovative-libraries-around-the-world-ideas.html

 

In-text Citation 

It was stated that... (Vincent, 2020)

In a feature Vincent (2020) argues... 

If you want to cite a specific part of a webpage, if you're using a direct quote for example, you can use paragraph numbers in your citation. You should use the abbreviation para. 

It was stated that... (Vincent, 2020, para. 4)

 

Webpage with two named authors 

Reference

For a webpage with up to twenty authors, include all of the names in the reference and use an ampersand before the final author's name. 

Poole, N., & Yearwood-Jackman, S. (2021, April 9). CILIP statement on the report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities. CILIP. https://www.cilip.org.uk/news/559636/CILIP-Statement-on-the-Report-of-the-Commission-on-Race-and-Ethnic-Disparities.htm

 

In-text Citation

For sources with two authors, you should use both authors' surnames in each citation. If the citation is inside brackets, use an ampersand (&) between the names, and if they are in the text of your work, use 'and' between them.

In a statement... (Poole & Yearwood-Jackman, 2021)

Poole and Yearwood-Jackman (2021)...

It was stated... (Poole & Yearwood-Jackman, 2021, para. 4)

 

If the webpage has more than two authors, follow the citation guidance here.

 

If the webpage has a named author, use this in the reference.

If there is no named individual author, you should use the name of the organisation as the author. 

When the author and website name are the same, omit the website name from the reference.

 

Webpage belonging to an organisation which has a named author

Reference 

Author, Initials. (Year, Month Date). Title of webpage. Name of Website. URL 

Gränitz, A. (n.d.).  CEO statement. Polygon Group. https://www.polygongroup.com/investors/ceo-statement/

 

In-text Citation 

If you want to cite a specific part of a webpage, because you're using a direct quote for example, you can use paragraph numbers in your citation. You should use the abbreviation para.

It was stated that... (Gränitz, n.d., para. 2)

Gränitz (n.d., para. 2) said that... 

 

Webpage belonging to an organisation with no named author

Reference

Name of Organisation. (Year, Month Date). Title of webpage. URL 

World Health Organisation. (2018, May 8). Household air pollution and health. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/household-air-pollution-and-health

National Health Service. (2018, December 18). Overview - Agoraphobia. https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/agoraphobia/overview/

 

In-text Citation 

If the organisation is known by an acronym, you can use this in your second or subsequent citation by following this guidance.

Findings show that... (World Health Organisation, 2018, para. 5) 

As the National Health Service (2018) states...

 

It is unusual to find a webpage with no author. Most webpages will have either individual or corporate (organisational or group) authors.

One exception to this would be articles on online news sites. For guidance on referencing and citing these, please see the guidance here.

However, if the author of a webpage is unknown, you can reference it by moving the title of the article to the author position at the beginning of the reference. 

 

Reference 

Title of webpage. (Year, Month Date). Name of Website. URL

 

In-text Citation 

Use the first few significant words of the title in your in-text citation. As the title of the source is italicised in the reference, it should also be italicised in the citation.

If you want to cite a specific part of a webpage, if you're using a direct quote for example, you can use paragraph numbers in your citation. You should use the abbreviation para. 

 

If a webpage has no publication date use (n.d.) in place of this. 

The copyright date on the website itself should not be used as the publication date.

When the author and website name are the same, omit the website name from the reference. 

 

Reference 

Author, Initials. (n.d.). Title of webpage. Name of Website. URL

Cadbury. (n.d.). The Cadbury foundation. https://www.cadbury.co.uk/cadbury-foundation

 

In-text Citation 

It is stated that... (Cadbury, n.d.)

Cadbury (n.d., para. 2) claims that... 

 

Some webpages contain rapidly changing information such as stock market, statistical or demographic data. When the contents of a page are designed to change frequently over time but are not archived, include a retrieval date in the reference. 

 

Reference 

Author. (n.d.). Title of webpage. Name of Website (if different from author). Retrieved Month Date, Year, from URL 

London Stock Exchange. (n.d.). FTSE 100: Overview. Retreived May 25, 2021, from https://www.londonstockexchange.com/indices/ftse-100

 

In-text Citation 

The data shows that... (London Stock Exchange, n.d.) 

In data from the London Stock Exchange (n.d.)...

 

Some webpages contain academic information which is subject to regular update or change. Examples of this include abstract and citation databases such as Scopus.

When the contents of a page are designed to change frequently over time but are not archived, you should use n.d. for the publication date, and include a retrieval date in the reference. 

Adapt the text within square brackets to reflect the type of information being presented on the webpage.

 

Reference 

Author. (n.d.). Title of webpage [Citations for the article Title, by Initials. Author]. Name of Website (if different from author). Retrieved Month Date, Year, from URL 

Scopus. (n.d.). 74 documents have cited [Citations for the article On the identification of body fluids and tissues: A crucial link in the investigation and solution of crime, by T. Sijen & S. Harbison]. Retrieved June 11, 2025, from https://www.scopus.com/results/citedbyresults.uri?sort=plf-f&cite=2-s2.0-85118495195&src=s&nlo=&nlr=&nls=&imp=t&sid=c929ece0d7d487133dae93cd77849cea&sot=cite&sdt=a&sl=0&origin=resultslist&offset=21&txGid=566c4b4395413c40cff524ddb55fe8cd&isValidNewDocSearchRedirection=false

 

In-text Citation 

The data shows that... (Scopus, n.d.) 

In data from Scopus (n.d.)...

 

Pages and documents found on the UK Government website (GOV.UK) are created by the 23 ministerial departments and 20 non-ministerial departments, as well as over 400 other agencies and public bodies.

If you are using a document which opens as a PDF or HTML file, you should reference it using the guidance for a Report by a government department.

You should look for the department or body responsible for the particular page you are using to work out who the author is. Sometimes it will be a combination of a department and a named individual.

If you use a page or document without a department, body or named individual given as the author, you should move the title of the article to the author position at the beginning of the reference.

Note that GOV.UK is never used as an author.

If the webpage has no publication date use (n.d.) in place of this.

 

Reference

Name of Department. (Year, Month Date of publication). Title. Name of Website. URL

Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, & Whittingdale, J. (2021, June 14). Government increases licence fees for gambling operators. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-increases-licence-fees-for-gambling-operators

Benefit cap calculator. (n.d.). GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/benefit-cap-calculator

 

In-text Citation

This was amended to... (Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport & Whittingdale, 2021, para. 4)

The Benefit cap calculator (n.d.) gives information... 

 

Treat these sources as online newspaper articles.

If the online news site doesn't give page numbers, omit them from your reference.

 

Online news article with single author 

Reference 

Author, Initials. (Year, Month Date). Title of article. Title of Newspaper/Name of website. URL

Howard, H. (2021, June 16). Stop, collaborate and listen - Ice is back cos a horse went missin': Vanilla Ice hopes to solve mystery of who kidnapped Shergar in new podcast. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9691929/Vanilla-Ice-hopes-solve-mystery-kidnapped-Shergar-new-podcast.html

Morris, C. (2021, June 16). Brexit: Can the UK and the EU reach a deal on Northern Ireland? BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/57475591

 

In-text Citation

It was reported that... (Howard, 2021, para. 3)

Morris (2021, para. 8) reported that...

 

Online news article with two authors

Reference 

Author, Initials., & Author, Initials. (Year, Month Date). Title of article. Title of Newspaper/Name of website. URL

Mohdin, A., & Campbell, L. (2020, November 13). ‘So many people care!’ The young Britons whose lives were changed by Black Lives Matter. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/13/how-black-lives-matter-has-inspired-a-generation-of-new-uk-activists

 

In-text Citation 

If your article doesn't have any page numbers you can use paragraph numbers in place of pages. You should use para. in place of p. to show this is what you are doing.

It was reported that... (Mohdin & Campbell, 2020, para. 2)

Mohdin and Campbell (2020, para. 2) highlighted concerns... 

 

If your article has more than two authors, please follow the guidance here. 

 

Online news article with no named author

Reference 

If the author of an article is unknown, move the title of the article to the author position at the beginning of the reference.

Title of article. (Year, Month Date). Title of Newspaper/Name of website. URL

Archaeology dig at Caernarfon Castle offers new history insight. (2021, February 4). BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55922745

 

In-text Citation 

Use the first few significant words of the title in your in-text citation. As the title is not italicised in the reference, use double quotation marks around the title in the in-text citation.

It was reported that... ("Archaeology dig at Caernarfon", 2021, para. 3) 

In "Archaeology dig at Caernarfon" (2021, para. 3)...

 

Reference 

Author, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Name of Blog. URL 

Singh, M. (2021, May 19). India tells WhatsApp to withdraw its new policy terms. TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2021/05/19/india-tells-whatsapp-to-withdraw-its-new-policy-terms/

 

In-text Citation 

It was reported that... (Singh, 2021)

Singh (2021) suggests that... 

 

If your article has multiple authors, please follow the guidance here.

 

Reference

Author, Initials or Username. (Year, Month Day). Title of comment or up to first 20 words of comment. [Comment on the article "..."]. Title of Blog or Website. URL  

Light299. (2021, May 18). Nice to highlight the first solar program, since they are the primary producer of the Cdte panels otherwise very difficult. [Comment on the article "Are solar panels recyclable?"]. Treehugger. http://disq.us/p/2h46inm

 

In-text Citation

It was argued that... (Light299, 2021)

Light299 (2021) commented that... 

 

You should not create a reference list entry or citation for a whole website. If you are using multiple webpages from a website you should create a reference list entry for each of them.

On rare occasions, you may wish to refer to a website in general. To do this, include the name of the website in your text and provide the URL in brackets (parentheses). 

For example:

Many sellers in the UK use Ebay (www.ebay.co.uk) to...