How to Cite an Anonymous Electronic Source

Many web pages do not credit an author. This can be problematic when you are trying to cite a web page that you used as a source of information for your paper. Luckily, both the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Modern Language Association (MLA) have recognized the occasional difficulty of citing uncredited web sources. Whether you are adhering to MLA or APA citation style, the solution is the same: cite the title of the page within the text, and begin your reference list entry with the title of the page instead of the author's name.

Instructions

  1. MLA Style

    • 1

      Cite the title of the web page in parentheses directly after quoting or paraphrasing. The title should appear in quotation marks. For example:

      One anonymous web source states that "puppies can be notoriously difficult to house-train" ("Puppy Problems").

    • 2

      Do not cite parenthetically if you have already mentioned the title of the page in your sentence. For example:

      "Puppy Problems" states that "puppies can be notoriously difficult to house-train."

    • 3

      Arrange your works-cited page entry as follows. Abbreviate the names of months longer than four letters long. Use "n.p" if there is no publisher credited and "n.d." if no date of publication is listed.

      "Title." Name of Website (in italics). Publisher, Day Month Year of publication. Medium of Publication. Day Month Year of Access. <URL>

      For example:

      "Puppy Problems." petweb.com. n.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2010. <http://www.petweb.com/dogs/issues/puppy>

    APA Style

    • 4

      Cite the title of the web page and year of publication in parentheses directly after quoting or paraphrasing. For example:

      One anonymous web source states that "puppies can be notoriously difficult to house-train" (Puppy Problems, 2010).

      If no date of publication is listed, use "n.d." For example:

      One anonymous web source states that "puppies can be notoriously difficult to house-train" (Puppy Problems, n.d.).

    • 5

      Do not cite the title of the page parenthetically if you have already mentioned it in your sentence. In this case, cite the date of publication after the title. For example:

      "Puppy Problems" (n.d.) states that "puppies can be notoriously difficult to house-train."

    • 6

      Arrange your works-cited page entry as follows. Use "n.d." if no date of publication is listed. When formatting the title of the page, capitalize only the first word of the title, along with any proper nouns.

      "Title of article." (Year, Month Day of Publication). Retrieved from URL

      For example:

      "Puppy problems." (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.petweb.com/dogs/issues/puppy

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