Citing Online Sources

[First published in Business Communication Quarterly, March 1997, pp. 59-76. Online version last revised, August 25, 2001.]

The following formats and examples are offered as models for references that might appear in the text and in the "Works Cited" section of a research paper. These formats are based on Joseph Gibaldi, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Fifth Edition (1999), and Joseph Gibaldi, MLA Style Manual, Second Edition (1998). They also reflect the online guidelines presented at the MLA Web site. To see these guidelines, visit <http://www.mla.org> and follow the prompts to "MLA Style" and "Frequently Asked Questions."

Name of author or creator (if given). Title of Web site. (If no title is available, provide description such as
name of site plus Home page, neither underlined nor in quotation marks.) Name of any institution
or organization associated with the site. Access date <URL>.

Gesterland, Richard. WorldBiz.com Page. Retrieved 1 May 2001 <http://www.worldbiz.com/>.

Edmunds.com. Home page. Retrieved 28 Apr. 2000 <http://www.edmunds.com/edweb/>.

Business Ethics Resources on WWW. Centre for Applied Ethics. Retrieved 2 May 2001 <http://www.
ethics.ubc.ca/resources/business/>.

Name of author or creator, if available. "Title of topic or article" (if given). Title of page (if named). Name
of any institution or organization associated with the site. Latest update (if given). Access date
<URL>.

Anderson, Greg. "Can the Trooper and SLX Stand Up?" Edmunds.com. Retrieved 12 Mar. 2001
<http://www.edmunds.com/edweb/anderson/rollover.html>.

"Privacy Protection in Other Countries." Media Awareness Network. Updated Nov. 1999. Retrieved 2
May 2001 <http:// www.media-awareness.ca/eng/issues/priv/laws/lawintl.htm>.

"Data Mining Makes the Difference." SPSS, Inc. Retrieved 2 Feb. 2001 <http://www.spss.com/
datamine/>.

Author. "Chapter." Book Title. Publication information for printed source (if available). Date of electronic
publication, of the latest update, or of posting, if given. Name of any institution or organization
sponsoring or associated with the Web site. Access date <URL>.

Strunk, William, Jr. "Elementary Rules of Usage." The Elements of Style. Project Bartleby Archive,
Columbia University. Retrieved 20 Aug. 2001 <http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/strunk/
strunk.html#11>.

Author of review. Review of Book Title by Author. Journal or Magazine Title: Volume, Issue, or other
identifying number (Year of publication in parentheses): pages (if given). Access date <URL>.

Hansen, Richard. Review of A Pragmatic Approach to Business Ethics by Alex Michalos. The Online
Journal of Ethics 1.1 (1995). Retrieved 5 May 2001 <http://condor/depaul.edu/ethics/
michalos.html>.

Author (if given). "Title of Material Accessed." Date of material (if given). Title of Encyclopedia.
Publication information for any print version of the source if available. Date of electronic
publication, of the latest update, or of posting (if known). [search term if necessary for retrieval].
Access date <URL>.

Author (if given). "Title of Material Accessed." Date of material (if given). Title of Encyclopedia. Edition,
release, or version (if relevant). CD-ROM. Name of vendor (if relevant). Electronic publication date.

"Genetic Engineering." Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia. Version 2.0. CD-ROM. Compton's
NewMedia, Inc., 1994.

Author. "Article Title." Journal Title Volume.Issue or other identifying number (Year of publication in
parentheses): paging. Access date <URL>.

Koehn, Daryl. "The Ethics of Handwriting Analysis in Pre-Employment Screening." The Online Journal
of Ethics 1.1 (1995). Retrieved 2 June 2001 <http://condor/depaul.edu/ethics/hand.html>.

Author. "Article Title." Magazine Title. Date: page (for magazines published every month or two
months, do not give volume and issue numbers even if they are listed). Access date <URL>.

Murphy, H. Lee. "Saturn's Orbit Still High With Consumers." Marketing News Online. 31 Aug. 1998.
Retrieved 1 Sept. 2001 <http://www.ama.org/pubs/mn/0818/n1.htm>.

Author. "Article Title." Newspaper Title. Date, edition, section: page (if given). Database name (if
applicable). Access date <URL>.

Verhovek, Sam Howe. "Some in Seattle Believe Two Microsofts Might Be Better Than One." The New
York Times. 1 May 2000. Retrieved 3 June 2001 <http://wwwnytimes.com/library/tech/00/05/
biztech_articles/01seat.html>.

Name of author (if given). "Title of material." Name of database. Name of sponsoring institution or
organization (if relevant). Access date <URL>.

"Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc." Hoover's Online. Hoover's Company Information. Retrieved 20 Jan.
2001 <www.hoovers.com/co/capsule/3/0,2163,12763,00.html>.

Author (if given). "Title of document" (as given in subject line). Online posting. Date. Name of forum (if
known). Access date <URL>.

Manning, Kelly Bert. "E-Businesses and Privacy Leadership." Online posting. 7 Apr. 2001. Society
Privacy Forum. Retrieved 26 Apr. 2001 <alt.comp.society.privacy>.

Stevens, Melissa. "Take Our Daughters to Work Day." Online posting. 24 Apr. 2001. Career and
Workplace Issues Forum. Retrieved 2 May 2001 <http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/
WebX?13@@efded73>.

Sandwen, Janice. "GSA's Airline City-Pair Contracts." 8 May 2000. Online posting. Travel. Retrieved 11
Aug. 2001 <LISTSERV@financenet.gov/Get950809>.

Sender (sender's e-mail address). "Subject of Message." E-mail to Recipient (recipient's e-mail
address). Message date.

Omar, Bill W. (bomar@aol.com). "Excellent Web Sites for Job Seekers." E-mail to Mary Ellen Guffey
(meguffey@westwords.com). 10 Apr. 2001.

*Dr. George Guffey is the author of Business Communication: Process and Product, 3e (South-Western College Publishing, 2000); Essentials of Business Communication, 5e (South-Western College Publishing, 2001); and Business English, 7e (South-Western College Publishing, 2002). She and Carolyn M. Seefer are co-authors of Essentials of College English, 2e (South-Western College Publishing, 2002).