Generate accurate APA citations for free

  • Knowledge Base
  • No Author, Date, or Title in APA Style | Formats & Examples

No Author, Date, or Title in APA Style | Formats & Examples

Published on November 6, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on January 17, 2024.

Webpage citations in APA Style consist of five components: author, publication date, title, website name, and URL.

Unfortunately, some of these components are sometimes missing. For instance, there may be no author or publication date. This article explains how to handle different kinds and combinations of missing information.

What’s missing? Solution
Use title in place of author.
Use “n.d.” (“no date”) in place of date.
Describe the source in brackets.
Use title in place of author; use “n.d.” in place of date.
Use bracketed description in place of author.
Use “n.d.” in place of date; describe the source in brackets.
Use bracketed description in place of author; use “n.d.” in place of date.

Generate an accurate APA citation for any source now:

Table of contents, basic webpage citation format, no author or date, no author or title, no date or title, no author, date, or title.

You can explore the basic citation format for a webpage using the example generator below.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

APA format . (Year, Month Day). Website Name. URL
. (2020, October 30). Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/category/apa-style/
( 2020)
APA format Last name, Initials. (n.d.).  . Website Name. URL
Streefkerk, R. (n.d.). . Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/category/apa-style/
(Streefkerk, n.d.)
APA format Last name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). [Description of page]. Website Name. URL
Streefkerk, R. (2020, October 30). [Article about APA citations]. Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/category/apa-style/
(Streefkerk, 2020)
APA format . (n.d.). Website Name. URL
(n.d.). Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/category/apa-style/
( , n.d.)
APA format [Description of page]. (Year, Month Day). Website Name. URL
[Article about APA citations]. (2020, October 30). Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/category/apa-style/
([Article about APA citations], 2020)
APA format Last name, initials. (n.d.). [Description of page]. Website Name. URL
Streefkerk, R. (n.d.). [Article about APA citations]. Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/category/apa-style/
(Streefkerk, n.d.)
APA format [Description of page]. (n.d.). Website Name. URL
[Article about APA citations]. (n.d.). Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/category/apa-style/
([Article about APA citations], n.d.)

Don’t forget: Our APA Citation Generator can handle all of these exceptions for you automatically!

Try the APA Citation Generator

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2024, January 17). No Author, Date, or Title in APA Style | Formats & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved September 27, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-examples/citing-online-sources-no-author-date-title/

Is this article helpful?

Jack Caulfield

Jack Caulfield

Other students also liked, how to cite a website in apa style, beginner's guide to apa in-text citation, setting up the apa reference page | formatting & references (examples), scribbr apa citation checker.

An innovative new tool that checks your APA citations with AI software. Say goodbye to inaccurate citations!

apa citation for websites with no author and date

APA Citation Style, 7th edition: Web Page with No Author

  • General Style Guidelines
  • One Author or Editor
  • Two Authors or Editors
  • Three to Five Authors or Editors
  • Article or Chapter in an Edited Book
  • Article in a Reference Book
  • Edition other than the First
  • Translation
  • Government Publication
  • Journal Article with 1 Author
  • Journal Article with 2 Authors
  • Journal Article with 3–20 Authors
  • Journal Article 21 or more Authors
  • Magazine Article
  • Newspaper Article
  • Basic Web Page
  • Web page from a University site
  • Web Page with No Author
  • Entry in a Reference Work
  • Government Document
  • Film and Television
  • Youtube Video
  • Audio Podcast
  • Electronic Image
  • Twitter/Instagram
  • Lecture/PPT
  • Conferences
  • Secondary Sources
  • Citation Support
  • Avoiding Plagiarism
  • Formatting Your Paper

Document from a Web site with no Author

  • When citing sources that you find on the Internet you only need to include a retrieval date if the information you viewed is likely to change over time.  If you reference an article from a news source (e.g., CNN, NBC, Washington Post) or a site that may experience continuous updates, you would then need to include a retrieval date.
  • New in 7th edition: You must include the site name in your citation, unless the site name is the same as the corporate author. For example, a citation of a CDC report would not include the site name.

Subject Guide

Profile Photo

  • << Previous: Web page from a University site
  • Next: Blog post >>

Creative Commons License

  • Last Updated: Jul 26, 2024 1:06 PM
  • URL: https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/APA

GW logo

  • Himmelfarb Intranet
  • Privacy Notice
  • Terms of Use
  • GW is committed to digital accessibility. If you experience a barrier that affects your ability to access content on this page, let us know via the Accessibility Feedback Form .
  • Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library
  • 2300 Eye St., NW, Washington, DC 20037
  • Phone: (202) 994-2962
  • [email protected]
  • https://himmelfarb.gwu.edu

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / APA Format / How to cite in APA when there are no authors

How to cite in APA when there are no authors

This article covers how to cite in APA Style (7th ed.) when there are no known authors for a reference or when the author is unknown or cannot be reasonably determined. Before treating a reference as though it has no author, consider whether a group or organization (such as a government agency, association, nonprofit organization, business, hospital, task force, or study group) could be the author by checking the cover or title page.

Citing in-text when there are no authors

APA 7th ed. uses the author-date citation system for citing references in-text. In parenthetical citations, this structure includes the author’s last name and the publication year (with a comma separating them) in parentheses. In narrative citations, the author’s last name is incorporated into the sentence. This formatting applies if your source has one author or if you are citing a source with multiple authors in APA .

Parenthetical citation for source with author:

(Author Last Name, Year Published)

(Cheung, 2013)

Narrative citation for source with author:

Author Last Name (Year Published)

Cheung (2013)

If a reference has an unknown author, the title of the work substitutes as the author name in the in-text citation.

  • The title should have each significant word capitalized (basically sentence case).
  • This means it is part of a larger work (like when citing a journal article from a journal in APA ).
  • If the source title is italicized in the reference list entry, italicize the title in the in-text citation (example: books when cited in APA ).

No author, source title italicized:

(Source Title , year published)

( Park Avenue Summer , 2019)

No author, source title in quotes:

(“Source Title,” year published)

(“22 New Apple Varieties,” 1997)

Author designated as “Anonymous”

Only use the capitalized word “Anonymous” in place of the author’s name when it’s overtly designated, not as a general substitute for a reference with an unknown author.

“Anonymous” as author name:

(Anonymous, year published)

(Anonymous, 2020)

Citing in the reference list when there are no authors

To add a reference with no author to the reference list, first move the title of the reference to the author position in your citation . For further information on creating reference list citations, see this guide on APA citations.

Reference list examples:

Park avenue summer. (2019). Penguin Random House.

22 new apple varieties. (1997). Food Magazine . https://foodmag.com/article/1997/22-new-apple-varietites

If the reference is overtly signed “Anonymous,” then you can add the entry to the reference list as if “Anonymous” were the author’s last name.

Anonymous. (2020). Navigating the high seas. Sea Life. https://sealife.gov

Alphabetizing the reference list for sources with no known author

Reference list entries without an author are alphabetized by the first significant word of the title.

  • Ignore the words “A,” “An,” and “The” when putting your reference list in order.
  • Begin the entry with the word “Anonymous” only if the work is signed “Anonymous.”
  • If the reference has no author and is not signed “Anonymous,” then you can alphabetize it in the reference list based on the work’s title.
  • If the title begins with a number, alphabetize the reference as though the number were spelled out. For example, you would alphabetize the number 22 as though it were written as the word “twenty-two.”

Alphabetical order of reference list example:

22 new apple varieties. (1997). Food Magazine . https://foodmag.com/article/1997/11/new-apple-varietites

Published October 28, 2020.

APA Formatting Guide

APA Formatting

  • Annotated Bibliography
  • Block Quotes
  • et al Usage
  • In-text Citations
  • Multiple Authors
  • Paraphrasing
  • Page Numbers
  • Parenthetical Citations
  • Reference Page
  • Sample Paper
  • APA 7 Updates
  • View APA Guide

Citation Examples

  • Book Chapter
  • Journal Article
  • Magazine Article
  • Newspaper Article
  • Website (no author)
  • View all APA Examples

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!

Let us improve this post!

Tell us how we can improve this post?

To cite a source with no author or no date in APA style, it is important that you know some basic information such as the title of the work, publisher if it is a book reference or volume and page details if it is a journal reference, and/or URL (uniform resource locator). The templates and examples for in-text citation and reference list entry of a book with no author and a book with no date are given below.

Book with no author

In-text citation template and example:

Books with no author in general, but not always, are given as parenthetical citations. If the book does not have an author, cite it by its title. If the title is too long, shorten the title in the in-text citation. Italicize the title in the in-text citation. Follow title case in the in-text citation even though the book title is in sentence case in the reference list entry. A parenthetical citation might look like this:

( Title of the Book , Publication Year)

( The Cultural Politics of Emotion , 2014)

Reference list entry template and example:

Title of the book . (Publication Year). Publisher.

The cultural politics of emotion . (2014). Edinburgh University Press

The title of the book is in italics and sentence case. While arranging the reference entry alphabetically in the reference list, arrange the entry by treating the title as author name. Remember that articles (A, An, and The), if present at the beginning of the title, should not be considered for alphabetization. When you have a numeral used in the title, consider it to be in the spelled-out form and arrange it accordingly in the reference list.

  Book with no date

If you cite a book without a date, use “n.d.” in place of the year.

Author Surname (Publication Year)

Cohen (n.d.)

Parenthetical:

(Cohen, n.d.)

Cohen, J. (n.d.). Statistical power analysis for the behavioural sciences (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

To cite a book with no author in APA style, it is important that you know some basic information such as the title of the book, publisher, and/or URL (uniform resource locator). The templates for in-text citation and reference list entry of a book along with examples are given below:

In-text citation template and examples:

Books with no author in general, but not always, are given as parenthetical citations. If the book does not have an author, cite it by its title. If the title is too long, shorten the title in the in-text citation. Italicize the title in the in-text citation. Follow title case in the in-text citation even though the book title is set in sentence case in the reference list entry. A parenthetical citation might look like this:

( Addressing Uncertainty in Oil and Natural Gas Industry , 2009)

Title of the book . (Publication Year). Publisher. URL

Addressing uncertainty in oil and natural gas industry greenhouse gas inventories: Technical considerations and calculation methods . (2009). American Petroleum Institute. http://www.api.org/~/media/Files/EHS/climate-change/Addressing_Uncertainty.pdf

You need to set the title of the book in italics and sentence case. While arranging the reference entry alphabetically in the reference list, arrange the entry by treating the title as author name. Remember that articles (A, An, and The), if present at the beginning of the title, should not be considered for alphabetization. When you have a numeral used in the title, consider it to be in the spelled-out form and arrange it accordingly in the reference list.

APA Citation Examples

Writing Tools

Citation Generators

Other Citation Styles

Plagiarism Checker

Upload a paper to check for plagiarism against billions of sources and get advanced writing suggestions for clarity and style.

Get Started

American Psychological Association

Webpage on a Website References

This page contains reference examples for webpages, including the following:

  • Webpage on a news website
  • Comment on a webpage on a news website
  • Webpage on a website with a government agency group author
  • Webpage on a website with an organizational group author
  • Webpage on a website with an individual author
  • Webpage on a website with a retrieval date

1. Webpage on a news website

Bologna, C. (2019, October 31). Why some people with anxiety love watching horror movies . HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anxiety-love-watching-horror-movies_l_5d277587e4b02a5a5d57b59e

Roberts, N. (2020, June 10). Trayvon Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, qualifies to run for elected office . BET News. https://www.bet.com/news/national/2020/06/10/trayvon-martin-mother-sybrina-fulton-qualifies-for-office-florid.html

Toner, K. (2020, September 24). When Covid-19 hit, he turned his newspaper route into a lifeline for senior citizens . CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/04/us/coronavirus-newspaper-deliveryman-groceries-senior-citizens-cnnheroes-trnd/index.html

  • Parenthetical citations : (Bologna, 2019; Roberts, 2020; Toner, 2020)
  • Narrative citations : Bologna (2019), Roberts (2020), and Toner (2020)
  • Use this format for articles from news websites. Common examples are BBC News, BET News, Bloomberg, CNN, HuffPost, MSNBC, Reuters, Salon, and Vox. These sites do not have associated daily or weekly newspapers.
  • Use the newspaper article category for articles from newspaper websites such as The New York Times or The Washington Post .
  • Provide the writer as the author.
  • Provide the specific date the story was published.
  • Provide the title of the news story in italic sentence case.
  • List the name of the news website in the source element of the reference.
  • End the reference with the URL.

2. Comment on a webpage on a news website

Owens, L. (2020, October 7). I propose a bicycle race between Biden and Trump [Comment on the webpage Here’s what voters make of President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis ]. HuffPost. https://www.spot.im/s/00QeiyApEIFa

  • Parenthetical citation : (Owens, 2020)
  • Narrative citation : Owens (2020)
  • Credit the person who left the comment as the author using the format that appears with the comment (i.e., a real name and/or a username). The example shows a real name.
  • Provide the specific date the comment was published.
  • Provide the comment title or up to the first 20 words of the comment in standard font. Then in square brackets write “Comment on the webpage” and the title of the webpage on which the comment appeared in sentence case and italics.
  • Provide the name of the news website in the source element of the reference.
  • Link to the comment itself if possible. Otherwise, link to the webpage on which the comment appears. Either a full URL or a short URL is acceptable.

3. Webpage on a website with a government agency group author

National Institute of Mental Health. (2018, July). Anxiety disorders . U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml

  • Parenthetical citation : (National Institute of Mental Health, 2018)
  • Narrative citation : National Institute of Mental Health (2018)
  • For a page on a government website without individual authors, use the specific agency responsible for the webpage as the author.
  • The names of parent agencies not present in the author element appear in the source element (in the example, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health). This creates concise in-text citations and complete reference list entries.
  • Provide as specific a date as possible for the webpage.
  • Some online works note when the work was last updated. If this date is clearly attributable to the specific content you are citing rather than the overall website, use the updated date in the reference.
  • Do not include a date of last review in a reference because content that has been reviewed has not necessarily been changed. If a date of last review is noted on a work, ignore it for the purposes of the reference.
  • Italicize the title of the webpage.

4. Webpage on a website with an organizational group author

World Health Organization. (2018, May 24) . The top 10 causes of death . https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death

  • Parenthetical citation : (World Health Organization, 2018)
  • Narrative citation : World Health Organization (2018)
  • For a page from an organization’s website without individual authors, use the name of the organization as the author.
  • Because the author of the webpage and the site name are the same, omit the site name from the source element to avoid repetition.

5. Webpage on a website with an individual author

Horovitz, B. (2021, October 19). Are you ready to move your aging parent into your home? AARP. https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/home-care/info-2021/caregiving-questions.html

Schaeffer, K. (2021, October 1). What we know about online learning and the homework gap amid the pandemic. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/10/01/what-we-know-about-online-learning-and-the-homework-gap-amid-the-pandemic/

  • Parenthetical citations : (Horovitz, 2021; Schaeffer, 2021)
  • Narrative citations : Horovitz (2021) and Schaeffer (2021)
  • When individual author(s) are credited on the webpage, list them as the author in the reference.
  • Provide the site name in the source element of the reference.

6. Webpage on a website with a retrieval date

U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.). U.S. and world population clock . U.S. Department of Commerce. Retrieved January 9, 2020, from https://www.census.gov/popclock/

  • Parenthetical citation : (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.)
  • Narrative citation : U.S. Census Bureau (n.d.)
  • When contents of a page are designed to change over time but are not archived, include a retrieval date in the reference.

Webpage references are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Section 10.16 and the Concise Guide Section 10.14

apa citation for websites with no author and date

IMAGES

  1. How to Cite a Web Site in APA With No Author, Date, or Page Number

    apa citation for websites with no author and date

  2. Creating APA Citations for Websites With No Author

    apa citation for websites with no author and date

  3. How to Cite in APA with No Author: 8 Steps (with Pictures)

    apa citation for websites with no author and date

  4. How to Cite a Web Site in APA With No Author, Date, or Page Number

    apa citation for websites with no author and date

  5. Creating APA Citations for Websites With No Author

    apa citation for websites with no author and date

  6. Creating APA Citations for Websites With No Author

    apa citation for websites with no author and date

VIDEO

  1. Online Easy APA Format Reference Generator

  2. NUS Libraries

  3. APA Citation: Websites

  4. How do you cite a PDF in APA with no author?

  5. What citation style to use for APA?

  6. How To Avoid Plagiarism

COMMENTS

  1. No Author, Date, or Title in APA Style | Formats & Examples

    Webpage citations in APA Style consist of five components: author, publication date, title, website name, and URL. Unfortunately, some of these components are sometimes missing. For instance, there may be no author or publication date.

  2. APA Citation Style, 7th edition: Web Page with No Author

    APA Citation Style, 7th edition: Web Page with No Author. Document from a Web site with no Author. Helpful Tips. When citing sources that you find on the Internet you only need to include a retrieval date if the information you viewed is likely to change over time.

  3. How do you cite website material that has no author, no year ...

    Provides APA Style guidelines on how to cite website material with no author, year, or page number information.

  4. How to cite in APA when there are no authors | EasyBib

    To cite a source with no author or no date in APA style, it is important that you know some basic information such as the title of the work, publisher if it is a book reference or volume and page details if it is a journal reference, and/or URL (uniform resource locator).

  5. How do you reference a web page that lists no author? - APA Style

    Provides APA Style guidelines on citing web pages that don't specify an author.

  6. Webpage on a Website References - APA Style

    For a page from an organization’s website without individual authors, use the name of the organization as the author. Provide as specific a date as possible for the webpage. Some online works note when the work was last updated.