How Do I Cite Electronic Sources?

To cite a website

In text

Cite the name of the author/authoring body and the date created or last revised):

(International Narcotics Control Board 1999) 

List of references

International Narcotics Control Board 1999, United Nations, accessed 1 October 1999, <http://www.incb.org>

Include the following information:

• author (the person or organisation responsible for the site)
• year (date created or last updated)
• name of sponsor of site (if available) 
• accessed day month year (the date you viewed the site)
• URL or Internet address (between pointed brackets)
• If possible, ensure that the URL is included without a line-break.

To cite a page or document  within a website

In  text

Information should include author/authoring body name(s) and the date created or last revised:

(Winston 1999) or: (World Health Organisation 2013) 

List of references

Winston, J 1999, A look at referencing,  AAA Educational Services, accessed 20 October 2002, <http://www.aaa.edu.au/aaa.html>. United Nations Web Services 2006,

World Health Organisation 2013, Financial crisis and global health, The United Nations, accessed 1 August 2013, <http://www.who.int/topics/financial_crisis/en/>.

Include the following:

• author/ authoring body name (the person or organisation responsible for the site)
• year (date created or last updated)
• title (in italics)
• name of sponsor of site
• accessed day month year (the day you viewed the site)
• URL or Internet address (pointed brackets)

No author

In text

If the author's name is unknown, cite the website/page title and date:

(Land for sale on moon 2007) 

List of references

Land for sale on moon  2007, accessed 19 June 2007, <http://www.moonlandregistry.com>. 

No date

In the text

If there is not date on the page, use the abbreviation n.d. (no date):

(ArtsNSW n.d.)

List of references

ArtsNSW n.d., New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards, NSW Department of the Arts, Sport and Recreation, accessed 19 June 2007, <http://www.arts.nsw.gov.au/awards/
LiteraryAwards/litawards.htm>

In text

Cite the author name and date:

(Morris 2004)

List of references

Morris, A 2004, 'Is this racism? Representations of South Africa in the Sydney Morning Herald since the inauguration of Thabo Mbeki as president'. Australian Humanities Review, Issue 33, August - October 2004, accessed 11 May 2007, <http://www.australianhumanitiesreview.org/archive/Issue-August-2004/morris.html>.

Cite the following information:

• author(s) name and initials
• title of the article (between single quotation marks)
• title of the journal (in italics)
• all publication information (issue number, volume number etc.)
• accessed day month year (the date of the viewing)
• URL or Internet address (between pointed brackets) 

To cite an E-book

In text

Cite in-text as for a printed book. An e-book usually has page numbers:

Lloyd (2005, p. 262)  or:

(Lloyd 2005, p. 262).

List of references

Accessed online

Lloyd, CB (ed.) 2005, Growing up global: The changing transitions for adulthood in developing countries, e-book, accessed 5 May 2007, <http://www.nap.edu/books/11174/html/index.html>.

Include the following information:

• author/editor name(s)
• date of publication
• title of e-book (in italics)
• format (e-book)
• accessed day month year (the date of viewing)
• URL or Internet address (between pointed brackets) 

Accessed via a database

Woodham, JM 2004, A dictionary of modern design,  e-book, accessed 25 July 2007 from Oxford Reference Online Database

To cite an ebook accessed via an ebook reader

In text

Include author/date:

(Smith 2008) or:

Smith (2008) states that ...

E-books often lack page numbers (though PDF versions may have them). If page numbers are not available on ebook readers, use the chapters instead fo indicating the location of a quoted section.

List of references 

Include:

• author name and initial
• year (date of Kindle edition)
• title (in italics)
• the type of e-book version you accessed (two examples are the Kindle Edition version and the Adobe Digital Editions version).
• accessed day month year (the date you first accessed the ebook)
• the book's DOI (digital object identifier) or where you downloaded the e-book from (if there is no DOI).

For example:

Smith, A 2008, The Wealth of Nations, Kindle version, accessed 20 August 2010 from Amazon.com.

Smith, A 2008, The Wealth of Nations, Adobe Digital Editions version, accessed 20 August 2010, doi: 10.1036/007142363X.

UNSW library offers students access to the full text of journals articles, newspapers, and other publications through searchable databases. They are usually accessed through the Library Resource Database, or through MyCourse materials. Journals in full text databases are usually available via subscription by the library. For this reason, cite the database name and the date of access. Full text databases include ProQuest, EAI, and Wiley Interscience.

Library-subscribed resources usually have URLs that will not work independently, so URLs are not generally included when citing database resources.

To cite a journal article from full text database

In text

Cite as you would a journal article:

(Nicholls 2006, p. 171)

(Holmes 2004)

Articles retrieved from databases are usually in pdf form and have page numbers.

List of references

Nicholls, D 2006, "Does the meaning mean a thing?": Johnny Young's hit songs of the 60s-70s', Australian Cultural History, No 2, pp. 163-183, accessed 11 May 2007 from Informit Full Text Database, ISSN; 0728-8433.

Holmes, S 2004, "But this Time You Choose!': Approaching the 'Interactive' audience in reality TV', International Journal of Cultural Studies, No. 7, pp. 213-231, accessed 3 March 2007 from Sage Journals Online.

Cite the article as you would the same article in a print publication, listing:

• author(s) name and initials
• title of the article (between single quotation marks)
• title of journal (in italics)
• any publication information (volume, number etc.)
• page range
• accessed day month year (the date you accessed the article)
• from name of database
• item number (if given)

To cite a thesis accessed through a database

In text

Cite author, date, page number:

(Lee 2005 p. 78)

List of references

Lee, C 2005, 'Beyond the Pink: (Post) Youth Iconography in Cinema', PhD thesis, Murdoch University, accessed 15 June 2007 from Australian Digital Thesis Program Database.

Include the following:

• author name and initial
• year
• thesis title (between single quotation marks, no italics)
• type of thesis (eg. MA, Phd)
• institution
• date accessed
• from database name

To cite a newspaper article from an electronic database In text

If the article has a named author:

(Pianin 2001)

List of references

Pianin, E 2001, 'As coal's fortunes climb, mountains tremble in W.Va; energy policy is transforming lives', The Washington Post,  25 February, p. A03, accessed March 2001 from Electric Library Australasia.

Include the following information:

• author (if available)
• year of publication
• article title (between single quotation marks)
• newspaper title (in italics)
• date of article (day, month, page number—if given—and any additional information available)
• accessed day month year (the date you accessed the items)
• from name of database
• item number (if given)

To cite a newspaper article without a named author

In text

No named author:

(New York Daily Times 1830) 

The article can also be discussed in the body of the paragraph:

An account of the popularity of the baby tapir in The Independent (2013) stated that ...

List of references

If there is no named author, list the article title first.

‘Amending the Constitution’, New York Daily Times, 16 October 1851, p. 2, accessed 15 July 2007 from ProQuest Historical Newspapers database.

'Baby tapir wins hearts at zoo', The Independent, 9 August 2013, Accessed 25 January 2014, <http://www.independent.ie/world-news/and-finally/baby-tapir-wins-hearts-at-zoo-30495570.html>.

To cite an online newspaper article

In text

Cite the author name and year:

(Coorey 2007)

List of references

Coorey, P 2007, ‘Costello hints at green safety net’, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 May, accessed 14 May 2012, <http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/costello-hints-at-green-safety-net/2...

To cite a media release

In text

In the text, cite the author (the person responsible for the release) and date:

Prime Minister Howard (2007) announced plans for further welfare reform...

List of references

Include the following information:

• author name or authoring organisation name
• date
• title of release (in italics)
• format
• accessed day month year
• URL (between pointed brackets) 

Office of the Prime Minister 2007, Welfare Payments Reform, media release, accessed 25 July 2007, <http://www.pm.gov.au/media/Release/2007/Media_Release24432.cfm>.