Regardless of format, authors using and citing Internet sources should observe the following guidelines:
- In general, include the same elements, in the same order, as you would for a print source, and add as much electronic retrieval information as needed for others to locate this source.
- Direct readers as closely as possible to the information being cited; reference specific documents rather than home pages.
- When a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is available, include the DOI instead of the Web site address in the reference. See Where to Find a DOI.
- If no DOI assigned, provide the home page URL for the journal or book publisher.
- Do not insert a hyphen if you need to break the URL across lines. Instead break the URL before punctuation (one exception is http://)
- Do not include retrieval dates unless the material may change over time (e.g., wikis). In other words, date of retrieval is no longer included for material that is the "version of record" / final version.
- In general, it is not necessary to include database information in the citation.
- When citing an entire website, it is sufficient to give the address of the site in just the text.
Example: PBS KIDS is a wonderful interactive website for children.
