UMGC Library

Digital Media and Web Technology: Citing Sources

A Library Research Guide

APA Citation Examples

Classroom Materials

No official APA format for citing online classroom materials exists - this is merely a recommended format to use in citing such documents.


Course Module - Material Created or Adapted by UMGC

Author. (Year). Title of document. Retrieval information.

UMGC. (n.d.). Lecture 5: Leadership and strategic thinking. Document posted in University of Maryland Global Campus HCAD 600 9041 online classroom, archived at http://campus.umgc.edu


Course Reading - Material Authored by a Source Other than UMGC

Author name. (Year). Document title.  Retrieval information.

Health.gov. (2018). Leading health indicators. Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/leading-health-indicators/2020-LHI-Topics

When no author is named, begin with the title, followed by the publication year, etc. When no publication years is given, use (n.d.) for no date.


Discussion Posts

If in your Discussion post you quote, paraphrase, or summarize your course module or course readings or other material you researched from the library or the Web or a print source, give an in-text citation AND a reference  list citation at the end of your Discussion post in the same manner as you would within a research paper.

If you mention or refer to another student's entry/response in a Discussion post then do not cite it but simply mention the other student's entry in your sentence. Example: I agree with Susan Day (Discussion Post October 30, 2018) where she lists specific state legislatures that supported the Affordable Care Act.

Journal Article from a Library Database

If there is a DOI 

Author last name, author first initial. (Year). Article title. Journal title, volume(issue), pages. DOI URL

Dumais, S. A., Rizzuto, T. E., Cleary, J., & Dowden, L. (2013). Stressors and supports for adult online learners: Comparing first- and continuing-generation college students. American Journal of Distance Education, 27(2), 100-110. https://doi.org/10.1080/08923647.2013.783265


If there is no DOI, simply end the reference citation with the page numbers

Author last name, author first initial. (Year). Article title. Journal title, volume(issue), pages. 

Reitzes, D. C., & Mutran, E. J. (2004). The transition to retirement: Stages and factors that influence retirement adjustment. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 59(1), 63-84. 

Print Book

Author last name, author first initial. (Year). Book title. Publisher name.

Veletsianos, G. (2020). Learning online: The student experience. Johns Hopkins University Press.

E-book from a Library Database

If there is a DOI 

Author last name, author first initial. (Year). E-book title. Publisher name. DOI URL

Chaffe-Stengel, P., & Stengel, D. (2012). Working with sample data: Exploration and inference. Business Expert Press. https://doi.org/10.4128/9781606492147


If there is no DOI, then cite as a print book.

Author last name, author first initial. (Year). E-book title. Publisher name.

Burgess, R. (2019). Rethinking global health: Frameworks of power. Routledge.

Web Page

Author last name, author first initial. (Date). Web page title. Web site publisher, if different than author. URL

Freitas, N. (2015, January 6). People around the world are voluntarily submitting to China’s Great Firewall. Why? Slate. http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2015/01/06/tencent_s_wechat_worldwide_internet_users_are_voluntarily_submitting_to.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). What is health literacy? https://www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/learn/index.html


More Examples

For more examples of APA citations, see the library's APA Citation Examples guide.

MLA Citation Examples

Journal Article from a Library Database:

If there is a DOI: 

Author last name, Author first name. "Article Title." Journal Title, vol. #, no. #, publication date, pp. #-#. Database Name, DOI.

Robbins, Michael. "Paul Muldoon's Covert Operations." Modern Philology, vol. 109, no. 2, 2011, pp. 266-99. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.1086/663233.


If there is no DOI, then use a URL (particularly a  permalink or stable URL, if one is available), and remove the beginning "http://" or "https://" from the link in your citation:

Author last name, Author first name. "Article Title." Journal Title, vol. #, no. #, publication date, pp. #-#. Database Name, URL.

Merriam, Alan P. "Music in American Culture." American Anthropologist, vol. 57, no. 6, 1955, pp. 1173-1181. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/665962.

Print Book:

Author last name, Author first name. Book title. Publisher Name, publication date.

Jans, Nick. The Last Light Breaking: Life among Alaska's Inupiat Eskimos. Alaska Northwest Books, 1993.

E-book from a Library Database:

Author last name, Author first name. Book title. Publisher Name, publication date. Database Name, URL.

​Barkan, Leonard. Mute Poetry, Speaking Pictures. Princeton UP, 2013. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), ezproxy.umgc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=503029&site=eds-live&scope=site&profile=edsebook.

Web Site:

Author. "Webpage Title." Name of Website, Publication date, URL.

"Paul Laurence Dunbar." Poetry Foundation, 2016, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/paul-laurence-dunbar.

If the author and website organization are the same, start the website citation with the title of the webpage.

For more examples of MLA citations, see the library's MLA Citation Examples guide.

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