Including a brief printable handout of the basic instructions


Please be aware that the suggestions for citing electronic resources given here are not for any official style but are for a generic unofficial format. You should always check with your professors to determine the preferred citation style for your classes.

First, ask yourself these questions:

Once you can answer these questions, you're ready to start building a citation. The suggestions given here are not based on any one official style, but were developed with the idea that the main purpose of any citation is to help someone else find the information you've used with a minimum amount of difficulty.

Almost all citations for books include the following information. The order in which you present the information may vary with the citation style you're using, but these elements will probably be present:

For journal articles, most citations include:

When you site Web resources of any kind, you'll need to add at least these three important things to the information in your citations:

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Web Pages

In some ways, citations to Web pages parallel those for books, with a few additions.


Books Web Pages
Author Author
Title of the book Title at the top of the page
Publisher Organization or person sponsoring the page
Place of publication URL
Date of publication Date page was written and/or last revised
Page numbers Number of paragraphs
Date you viewed the page


A reasonable generic citation to a web page might look like this:
Author. Title [Online]. Sponsoring organization or publisher: date published or updated. Available: URL. (Date of visit). Number of paragraphs.

For example:
Grassian, Esther. Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources [Online]. UCLA College Library: September 6, 2000. Available: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/index.htm. (May 23, 2001).

You might want to include the total number of paragraphs only when it's reasonable to count them. Remember though, that you will need to know a paragraph number when making a parenthetical citation, a footnote, or an endnote.


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Electronic Books

The Seeley G. Mudd Library's catalog, LUCIA, includes direct connections to electronic books made available via NetLibrary and other sources. Citations to electronic books follow the general format for books in the citation style you are using, with the addition of the URL for the source and the date you viewed the book.

A reasonable generic citation to an electronic book might look like this:
Author. Title [Online]. Publisher: date published. Database name. Available: URL. (Date of visit).

For example:
Miller, Michael. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Online Search Secrets [Online]. Indianapolis, IN: Macmillan, 1999. NetLibrary. Available: http://www.netlibrary.com. (May 23, 2001).

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Electronic Articles

In a similar way, citations to electronic full-text of articles parallel citations to traditional paper publications, again with a few additions.


Journal Articles Articles from Full-Text Sources
Author Author
Title of article Title of article
Title of journal Title of journal
Volume and issue number of the journal Volume and issue number of the paper source journal
Date of publication Date of publication of the source journal
Page numbers Page numbers of the source, if given
Name of the electronic source, if different from the journal name (e.g. Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe)
URL of the electronic source's homepage, or of the journal (e.g. http://www.lexis-nexis.com/universe)
Date viewed
Number of paragraphs in the article


A reasonable generic citation to an electronic journal article might look like this:
Author. "Title." Magazine or complete work title [Online]. Journal volume (Journal date): Pages. Database name. Available: Database URL. (Date of visit). Number of paragraphs.

For example, a citation to an article from an electronic journal published on the Web might look like this:
Endo, Paul. "Seeing Romantically in Lamia." ELH: English Literary History [Online]. 66 (Spring 1999): 111-128. Project Muse. Available: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals. (April 26, 1999). 36 para.

A citation to an article from a full-text database might look like this:
Minkel, Walter. "The Trouble with Citing Sites." School Library Journal [Online]. 46 (July 2000): 27. EbscoHost. Available: http://search.epnet.com. (May 23, 2001). 8 para.

In cases where the entire page range of the original paper publication is not noted, you should indicate that the article is more than a page long by using the plus sign. For example, an article that is several pages long and starts on page 19 would have the page numbering noted as 19+ because the first page number of the original print article is noted, but not the last, and this article was clearly several pages long.

As mentioned above, although you might not want to count all the paragraphs for your bibliography or works cited list, you will need to know paragraph numbers when making a parenthetical citation, a footnote, or an endnote.

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Specific Styles

American Anthropological Association
The AAA Style Guide gives essential information on capitalization and usage as well as the preferred citation format for Internet resources.

American Psychological Association
The Electronic References includes information on how to cite e-mail, Web sites, and other electronic information.

Modern Language Association
Provides a brief overview of MLA style, as well as information on citing Web sources in MLA style, with more help listed at the page of Frequently Asked Questions about MLA Style.

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Books on Citation . . .

All titles noted have at least some information on citing electronic resources. Be sure to check the index in the back of these for specific pages. Even when they don't give the specifics of citing Web resources, they can be consulted as a guide to arranging and punctuating the basic elements of an electronic citation. For more guides, see A Guide to Academic Citation and Writing or search LUCIA, the library's online catalog.

The ACS Style Guide : A Manual for Authors and Editors American Chemical Society.
Ref. QD8.5 .A25 1997

The Chicago Manual of Style.
Ready Ref. Z253 .U69 2003

The Columbia Guide to Online Style. Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor.
Ready Ref. PN171.F56 W35 1998

Electronic Styles : A Handbook for Citing Electronic Information. Xia Li and Nancy B. Crane.
Ref. PN171.F56 L5 1996

A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Kate L. Turabian.
Ref. LB2369 .T8 1996

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Joseph Gibaldi.
Ready Ref. LB2369 .G53 2003

Online! : The Internet Guide for Students and Writers. Andrew Harnack.
Ref. TK5105.875.I57 H365 1997
Supplementary material for this book is also available on the Web from the publisher, Bedford / St. Martin's

A Pocket Style Manual. Diana Hacker.
Ready Ref. PE1408 .H26 2000

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
Ready Ref. BF76.7 .P83 2001

Scientific Style and Format : The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers. Style Manual Committee, Council of Biology Editors.
Ref. T11 .S386 1994

A Writer's Reference. Diana Hacker.
Ref. PE1408 .H2778 1998

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Web Pages on Citation . . .

Basic CGOS Style.
Excerpted from the Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor.

Citing Electronic Sources
From The Learning Page at the Library of Congress American Memory Project . Includes tips on citing films, documents, maps, and more.

The Internet Public Library: Citing Electronic Resources
A nice list of recommended guides.

Library and Information Science: Citation Guides for Electronic Documents.
From IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Lots of sites on cites.

On-line Resources for Documenting Electronic Sources
From the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University.

What is Plagiarism?
One of a series of pamphlets available from the Lawrence Writing Lab at Lawrence's Center for Teaching and Learning.



Click here for a brief printable handout of the basic instructions.

And as always, if you need help, ask a Reference Librarian.

Created April 26, 1999
Revised 18-October-2004
Gretchen Revie, Reference Librarian