Re: APA Style for citing on-line documents.

[Holli Kearns <holli -at- EDEN -dot- COM>]

Hi, all,


The latest edition of the APA manual only includes about 2 pages of =
extremely brief guidelines for citing online material. However, there =
is a proposal on the Web for an extension of these guidelines. It's =
the proposed standard for referencing online documents in
scientific publications.

I've taken the time to format the text for easy readability here so =
everyone could see it even if you don't have access to the Web. I do =
not claim any credit or responsibility for this document; it is not =
my work.

Here are comments from its developer:
"This is an evolving standard. This document should be considered =
under construction. Comments and suggestions are encouraged, and =
should be sent by electronic mail (e-mail) to the author: =
beads -at- xp -dot- psych -dot- nyu -dot- edu -dot- " <-- Note that this is not my address.

For those of you who would like to see it on your own, the URL is:

http://www.nyu.edu/pages/psychology/WEAPAS/

By the way, WEAPAS =3D Web Extension to American Psychological =
Association Style


Here is the text:

Elements of References in WEAPAS Style


Author Variations
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World Wide Web documents described as "maintained" should refer to =
the author with the parenthetical modifier, Maintainer (abbr Maint.), =
although the more generic Ed. (i.e. Editor) may also be used.

Two special cases of author identifiers are considered under the Web =
Extension: e-mail addresses and nicknames/handles.

Electronic Mail Address as Author
---------------------------------
=80 If the element of a Web page lists an e-mail address, and no =
other information is available to suggest the author of the page, the =
e-mail address should fill the author position of the reference.
=80 Generic aliases (e.g. webmaster, maintainer) are an exception. In =
these cases, treat the organization which the documents represent =
(usu., but not always, the organization running the server on which =
they are found) as a group or corporate author. This organization =
will likely be found also in the ADDRESS field in proximity to the =
eMail address.
=80 All links which might name an author for a document (e.g. an =
anchor on the e-mail address itself, a "Return to Home" or "About the =
Author" link) should be exhausted before resorting to using an e-mail =
address.
=80 Newsgroup postings and other documents which are only identifable =
by an e-mail addresses should also use the e-mail address as author.
=80 No capitalization or other changes in case should be made to =
e-mail addresses in the author position.
=80 When citing references with e-mail addresses for authors, write =
out the full e-mail address as if it were a surname.

Nickname or Handle as Author
----------------------------
=80 As with e-mail addresses, all potential links to pages in which a =
real name might be found should be exhausted before using a nickname =
as author.
=80 If an author is commonly known by a handle, while their real name =
is also known, the handle may be included in brackets immediately =
following the real name in the author position. In such cases, the =
abbreviation "a.k.a." should be used to identify the nickname as =
such.
=80 The first letter of a handle should be capitalized. Unless the =
handle tends to be recognized by the use of non-standard case schemes =
(e.g. eNiGmA, mrEd), which should be preserved to aid in =
identification (i.e. the first letter should maintain its original =
case).
=80 If a nickname is given as author, because the real name can not =
be determined, but an e-mail address for the individual is also =
known, the e-mail address should be included in brackets immediately =
following the nickname.

Date Variations
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Because some types of online documents may be updated or modified by =
their authors' at any time, references to these documents should date =
the document version used with as much specificity as possible, with =
the following guidelines:

=80 References to articles in monthly serials, which will not be =
modified once distributed, need only list the month of publication. =
If the periodical is a recognized journal, with volume and issue =
numbers, only the year should be listed.
=80 Articles in newsgroups should be referenced not only by date, but =
by time, to distinguish them from other articles in the same thread =
by the same author. The format for such time references should be of =
the form "(Year, Month Date, GMT Hour:Minute:Second)" where GMT =
stands for Greenwich Mean Time, and Hour is on a 24 hour clock.
=80 Online documents which provide no information as to the date they =
were created or last modified, should be treated as republished =
versions of works with no date of initial publication (APA, 1994, p. =
173), such that the reference would be of the form. "(n.d./Year)" =
where Year is the year the document was retrieved.
=80 When referencing documents which are likely to change =
unpredictably over time (e.g. many Web pages) the date should be =
followed by the word "version" in the reference.

Visiting Date
-------------
Optionally, one may choose to list the date a document was downloaded =
or viewed online, should there be a concern that the document might =
expire in the forseeable future. Such dates come at the end of the =
reference, parenthesized in the form "(visited Year, Month Date)"

Title Variations
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Generally the title of an online document should be immediately =
recognizable. There are some variations to watch out for however.

=80 The Subject: line of a newsgroup article should be treated as its =
title. Although the prefix "Re:" or its cognate, a series of one or =
more closing angle brackets (">"), should be dropped. Messages =
lacking a subject or marked explicitly as "No subject" or similarly =
tagged, should be treated as untitled works.
=80 Gopher menus (as opposed to discrete files retrieved by a gopher =
server) do not have titles, only description(s) of content, which may =
be provided by external pointers to the menu. It is recommended that =
such a description be included in brackets in the title position, =
otherwise the gopher menu should be treated as an untitled work.
=80 The title of a HTML Web document should be taken from the <TITLE> =
element of that page. If the client used to view this page does not =
automatically display the contents of the <TITLE> element, it must be =
found by looking at the source file. Should the title given in header =
(e.g. <H1>) elements vary substantially from the that in the <TITLE> =
element, it may be listed also, following the <TITLE> part, and =
separated by a semicolon.

Types of Documents
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There are many different types of documents and services available on =
the Internet. The nature of a given document should be given in =
brackets immediately following the title.

Database
--------
An online database other than WAIS.

Digitized image
---------------
Graphics file in .gif, .jpg, or some other format.

Digitized sound file
--------------------
Recorded or sythesized audio file.

Digitized vide file
-------------------
Film, movie, or animation as an electronic data file.

Electronic data file
--------------------
Something for which these other descriptors is not entirely =
appropriate.

FTP archive
-----------
Subdirectory within an FTP accessed file system.

Gopher menu
-----------
Location in gopher space other than a terminal document node.

On-line news posting
--------------------
Article in a Usenet or local newsgroup

On-line search query
--------------------
A database query or similar service accessed by gopher, or via the =
Web using the GET method.

On-line serial
--------------
Periodical distributed by eMail or in another form.

On-line service
---------------
Service other than a database, accessible via telnet or other =
protocols.

PostScript file
----------------
File containing instructions for rendering a document on a PostScript =
printer or other device.

Text file
---------
File containing text which may be read without a special program.

WAIS database
-------------
Publicly accessible WAIS.

WAIS query
----------
Results of a search of a WAIS database.

WWW document
------------
An HTML document which must be viewed using a World Wide Web client.

Note that postings to mailing lists (e.g. Listserv, MajorDomo) are =
not included here. As these documents are not
publicly retrievable at a later date, and are seen only by those =
individuals who are subscribed to the list at the time the
message was sent, they should be treated as personal communications.


Publication Information
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The Web Extension employs URLs in the publication element of =
references, under the following conditions:

=80 Each unique Uniform Resource Locator should be prefaced with the =
keyword "URL" followed by a space.
=80 A URL should not end with a period or other punctuation.
=80 If a URL should run longer than the space available on a line, it =
may be broken at a slach ("/") character, keeping the slash as the =
last character on the line, in the same way as a dash ("-") is used =
to divide hyphenated words.
=80 When the retrieval of a document involves the sending of e-mail, =
the mailto: URL should be followed by any information required in the =
mail for retrieval. This information shall be prefixed by either the =
keyword Message: (if it is to be included in the body of the mail) or =
the keyword Subject: (if it is meant to appear on the subject header =
line). A space should delimiter both sides of the keyword, but no =
other punctuation (other than the colon in the keyword) should be =
used.
=80 For documents which have alternative methods of online retrieval, =
the URL for each retrieval method should be listed, with URLs =
delimited by a single space and no other punctuation.

References
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American Psychological Association (APA) (1994). Publication manual =
of the American Psychological Association (4th ed.). Washington, D. =
C.: Author.

Graham, I. (n.d./1995). Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) [WWW =
document]. URL http://www.utirc.utoronto.ca/HTMLdocs/NewHTML/url.html

Walker, J. R. (1995, April version). Walker/ACW Style Sheet; =
MLA-Style Citations of Electronic Sources [WWW document]. URL =
http://www.cas.usf.edu/english/walker/mla.html

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) (1995, May 15). About the World Wide =
Web [WWW document]. URL http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/WWW/



Holli Kearns                                 My comments are my own.  =

Technical Writer
Support Information Services                 So, don't credit or =
blame
Apple Computer, Inc.                         Apple Computer for them!
holli -at- apple -dot- com