Create parenthetical, in-text citations to note quoted, paraphrased and summarized references from a electronic source. Place parenthesis after the material that you wish to cite but before punctuation marks.
Begin the parenthetical citation with the author's name in both Modern Language Association and American Psychological Association style. Many electronic references do not have authors; if this is the case, use a shortened title in quotation marks instead of the author.
Complete the parenthetical citation with the publication date and/or the page number. In APA style, follow the author's name or abbreviated title with a comma and the year of publication. If the citation is a direct quote, add another comma and the page number. For example: (Smith, 1989, p. 75). In MLA style, follow the author's name with the page number for quotations and paraphrases. For example: (Smith 35). Unlike print sources, most electronic sources do not have page numbers. If this is the case, simply leave out the page number. Do not use paragraph numbers or page numbers obtained from moving the document into another program, like Microsoft Word.
Create a Reference or Works Cited page. In both APA and MLA style, create a new page at the end of your document and label it with "References" for APA and "Works Cited" for MLA. This page will list all of the references you used in your paper. Alphabetize entries and use a hanging indent for each new entry.
In both MLA and APA style, create a works cited page entry that lists the author, title, year or publication and source of the publication. Depending on the citation style you are using and the type of electronic document, formatting for this citation will vary. In APA, a citation for a website should look something like this: Jones, B. (1989). A Sample Entry. Retrieved from: http://www.sample.com. In MLA, the sample entry would read: Jones, Bill. "A Sample Entry." Sample.Com. University of Chicago, 10 June 1989. Web. 10 Mary 2010.
Proofread your citations for spelling and grammar problems as well as common mistakes. For example, URLs are not required in APA or MLA formatting. Check to see if you have any URLs listed in your works cited page. If so, remove them unless the source you are using cannot be found without one.