In today’s digital age, citing sources has become more important than ever. When using information from a website in your research paper, it is essential to properly cite the source to give credit to the author and avoid plagiarism. Two popular citation styles used in academic writing are MLA (Modern Language Association) and APA (American Psychological Association). Here’s how to cite a website using MLA and APA in-text citations.

MLA in-text citation:

When using information from a website in your paper, include the author’s last name and page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence. If there is no author, use the title of the website or article. Here’s an example:

According to a study by the American Cancer Society, tobacco use causes over 30% of all cancer deaths (Smith, par. 5).

In this example, “Smith” is the author’s last name, and “par. 5” refers to the paragraph number from which the information was taken.

APA in-text citation:

APA uses the author-date citation style, meaning you should include the author’s last name and date of publication in parentheses at the end of the sentence. If there is no author, use the title of the website or article. Here’s an example:

Tobacco use is a major contributor to cancer deaths (Smith, 2022).
In this example, “Smith” is the author’s last name, and “2022” is the year of publication.

Tips for citing websites:

– Always check the credibility of the website before using it as a source for your research. Look for domain extensions such as .edu, .gov, and .org, which usually indicate more reliable sources.

– Use the website’s title (in italics) as the source’s title if there is no author listed.

– If the website has no publication date, use “n.d.” (meaning “no date”) in your citation.

– If you are citing a direct quote, include the page number (for MLA) or paragraph number (for APA) in your citation.

– If you are citing multiple sources from the same website, include the title of the page/article in addition to the author’s last name or website name.