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Each citation format has a different method to cite a source with either no author or multiple authors.  

APA

To determine authorship ask "who is responsible for this content?"  The responsible party can be one person, multiple people, or even entities (governments, associations, companies, etc.).  

If there is truly no responsible party APA handles this by moving the content’s title into the author position - use double quotation marks around the title of an article, chapter, or a web page, italicize the title of a periodical, book, a brochure, or report. This most commonly occurs for wiki entries, dictionary entries, and unattributed website content. In the in-text citation, the title (either inside double quotation marks or italicized) likewise takes the place of the author’s name.

General Format

"Title." (Date). Source.

Title. (Date). Source.

For Example

"The Spies of the American Revolution." (2017). Journal of Spy History, 21(2), 82-103.

How to Conduct Library Research. (1993). Shapiro Library Press.

In-Text Citation

General Format

("Shortened Article Title," 2016, p. #)

(Shortened Book Title, 2003, p. #)

For Example

("Spies," 2017, p. 85)

(Conduct Library Research, 1993, p. 248)

General Format

Book Example

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date). Title. Source.

Article Example

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date). Title of the article. Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), page numbers. DOI

For Example

Book Example

Sundel, M., & Sundel, S. S. (2018). Behavior change in the human services: Behavioral and cognitive principles and applications. SAGE Publications, Inc. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781506352671

Article Example

Mea, W. J., & Sims, R. R. (2019). Human dignity-centered business ethics: A conceptual framework for business leaders. Journal of Business Ethics, 160(1), 53-69.

In-Text Citation

General Format

(Author & Author, Publication Date)

Author and Author (Publication Date)

For Example

(Mea & Sims, 2019)

Mea and Sims (2019)

General Format

Book Example

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Date). Title. Source.

Article Example

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Date). Title of the article. Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), page numbers. DOI

For Example

Book Example

Steenblik, R., Sauvage, J., & Timiliotis, C. (2018). Fossil fuel subsidies and the global trade regime. In J. Skovgaard & H. Van Asselt (Eds.), The politics of fossil fuel subsidies and their reform (pp. 121-139). Cambridge University Press. https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/9781108241946.009

Article Example

Robins, T. G., Roberts, R. M., & Sarris, A. (2018). The role of student burnout in predicting future burnout: Exploring the transition from university to the workplace. Higher Education Research and Development, 37(1), 115-130. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2017.1344827

In-Text Citation

General Format

(Author et al., Publication Date)

Author et al. (Publication Date)

For Example

(Steenblik et al., 2018)

Steenblik et al. (2018)

For more information, see the APA Style Guide.

Note: Twenty-One or More Authors: When there are 21 or more authors, include the first 19 authors’ names, insert an ellipsis (but no ampersand), and then add the final author’s name. For more information refer to the Author section on the APA Style's page Elements of Reference List Entries This link opens in a new window.

MLA

If the resource has a corporate author (government body, organization, etc.) use that entity as the author. 

NOTE: if the corporate author is also the publisher, list the corporate entity as the publisher and skip the author and begin with the resource’s title.

According to the MLA Style Center if a resource doesn’t have an author do not use “Anonymous,” instead use the title of the resource.  In in-text citations, use a shortened title of the work in place of an author's name. Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work (such as an article) or italicize it if it's a longer work (e.g. plays, books, television shows, entire Web sites) and provide a page number.

General Format

Book Example

Title of Book. Publisher, Date.

Article Example

"Title of Article." Title of Journal, vol. #, no. #, Date, page numbers.

For Example

Book Example

How to Conduct Library Research. Shapiro Library Press, 1993.

Article Example

"The Spies of the American Revolution." Journal of Spy History, vol. 21, no. 2, Spring 2017, pp. 82-103.

In-Text Citation

General Format

("Shortened Article Title" p#)

(Shortened Book Title p#)

For Example

("Spies" 100)

(Conduct Library Research 312-315)

General Format

First Author's Last Name, First Author's First Name, and Second Author's First Name Second Author's Last Name. "Article Title." Journal Title, vol. volume number, no. Issue number, Publication Year, pp. page range where entry appears. Container or Database Name, DOI or URL.

For Example

Finn, Jeremy D., and Donald A. Rock. "Academic success among students at risk for school failure." Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 82, no. 2, 1997, pp. 221-234. Business Source Ultimate, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&custid=shapiro&authtype=ip,shib&db=bsu&AN=12422465&site=eds-live&scope=site.

In-Text Citation

General Format

(Author and Author page#).

For Example

(Finn and Rock 225).

General Format

First Author's Last Name, First Author's First Name, et al. "Article Title." Journal Title, vol. volume number, no. Issue number, Publication Year, pp. page range where entry appears. Container or Database Name, DOI or URL.

For Example

Depner, Rachel, et al. "Structural Relationship between Mindful Self-care, Meaning Made, and Palliative Worker’s Quality of Life." International Journal of Stress Management, vol. 28, no. 1, 2021, pp. 74-87. APA PsychArticles, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&custid=shapiro&authtype=ip,shib&db=pdh&AN=2020-64819-001&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

In-Text Citation

General Format

(Author et al. page#).

For Example

(Depner et al. 77).

For more information, see the MLA Style Guide.

Chicago

If the author or editor is unknown, the note or bibliography entry should begin with the title (an initial article is ignored in alphabetizing). (See 14.79: No listed author (anonymous works) for more information).

Although the use of Anonymous is generally to be avoided, it may stand in place of the author’s name in a bibliography in which several anonymous works need to be grouped. In such an instance, Anonymous or Anon. (set in roman) appears at the first entry, and 3-em dashes (see 14.67: The 3-em dash in bibliographies—some caveats) are used thereafter. 

Bibliography - General Format

Book Example

Title of Book. (Location: Publisher, Date), page#.

Website Example

Publisher/Website. "Title of Resource." Publication or Accessed Date, URL.

Bibliography - For Example

Book Example

Stanze in lode della donna brutta. Florence, 1547.

Website Example

NPR. "To Stop Extreme Wildfires, California Is Learning From ... Florida?" August 31, 2021. https://www.npr.org/2021/08/31/1029821831/to-stop-extreme-wildfires-california-is-learning-from-florida.

Note

General Format

Book Example

1. Title of Resource (Location: Publisher, Date), page#.

Website Example

2. "Title of Resource," Publisher/Website Title, Publication or Accessed Date, URL.

For Example

Book Example

1. Stanze in lode della donna brutta (Florence, 1547).

Website Example

2. "To Stop Extreme Wildfires, California Is Learning From ... Florida?" NPR, August 31, 2021, https://www.npr.org/2021/08/31/1029821831/to-stop-extreme-wildfires-california-is-learning-from-florida.

(See 14.76: Two or more authors (or editors)):

Two or three authors (or editors) of the same work are listed in the order used on the title page. In a bibliography, only the first author’s name is inverted, and a comma must appear both before and after the first author’s given name or initials. Use the conjunction and (not an ampersand).

Bibliography - General Format

Book Example

AuthorA LastName, FirstName, AuthorB FirstName LastName, and AuthorC FirstName LastName. Title of Book. Location: Publisher, Date.

AuthorA LastName, FirstName, and AuthorB FirstName LastName. Title of Book. Location: Publisher, Date.

Article Example

AuthorA LastName, FirstName, and AuthorB FirstName LastName. "Title of Article." Title of Journal volume, no. (Date): page#. DOI or Database Name.

Bibliography - For Example

Book Example

Jacobs, Sue-Ellen, Wesley Thomas, and Sabine Lang, eds. Two-Spirit People: Native American Gender Identity, Sexuality, and Spirituality. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997.

Levitt, Steven D., and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. New York: William Morrow, 2005.

Article Example

Cameron, Lindsley, and Masao Miyoshi. "Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the World Sixty Years Later." Virginia Quarterly Review 81, no. 4 (Fall 2005): 26-47. EBSCOhost.

Note

General Format

Book Example

5. AuthorA FirstName LastName and AuthorB FirstName LastName, Title of Book (Location: Publisher, Date), page#.

6. AuthorA FirstName LastName, AuthorB FirstName LastName, and AuthorC FirstName LastName, Title of Book (Location: Publisher, Date), page#.

Article Example

7. AuthorA FirstName LastName and AuthorB FirstName LastName, "Title of Article," Title of Journal volume, no. (Date): page#, DOI or Database Name.

For Example

Book Example

5. Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (New York: William Morrow, 2005), 20–21.

6. Sue-Ellen Jacobs, Wesley Thomas, and Sabine Lang, eds., Two-Spirit People: Native American Gender Identity, Sexuality, and Spirituality (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997), 32.

Article Example

7. Lindsley Cameron and Masao Miyoshi, "Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the World Sixty Years Later," Virginia Quarterly Review 81, no. 4 (Fall 2005): 30-34, EBSCOhost.

If there are four or more authors, list up to ten in the bibliography; in a note, list only the first, followed by et al. (“and others”).

Bibliography - General Format

Article Example

AuthorA LastName, FirstName, AuthorB FirstName LastName, AuthorC FirstName LastName, AuthorD FirstName LastName, AuthorE FirstName LastName, AuthorF FirstName LastName, AuthorG FirstName LastName, AuthorH FirstName LastName, and AuthorI FirstName LastName. "Title of Article." Title of Journal volume, no. (Date): page#. DOI or Database Name.

Bibliography - For Example

Article Example

Wu, Xiang-Yao, Bai-Jun Zhang, Zhong Hua, Xiao-Jing Liu, Yi-Heng Wu, Hou-Li Tang, and Jing-Wu Li. “Quantum Theory Approach for Neutron Single and Double-Slit Diffraction.” International Journal of Theoretical Physics 49, no. 9 (September 2010): 2191-2199. EBSCOhost.

Note

General Format

Article Example

8. AuthorA FirstName LastName et al., "Title of Article," Title of Journal volume, no. (Date): page#, DOI or Database Name.

For Example

Article Example

8. Xiang-Yao Wu et al., “Quantum Theory Approach for Neutron Single and Double-Slit Diffraction,” International Journal of Theoretical Physics 49, no. 9 (September 2010): 2192, EBSCOhost.

For more than ten authors, list the first seven in the bibliography, followed by et al.

Bibliography - General Format

Article Example

AuthorA LastName, FirstName, AuthorB FirstName LastName, AuthorC FirstName LastName, AuthorD FirstName LastName, AuthorE FirstName LastName, AuthorF FirstName LastName, AuthorG FirstName LastName, et al. "Title of Article." Title of Journal volume, no. (Date): page#. DOI or Database Name.

Bibliography - For Example

Article Example

Miles, Edward F., Yoshimi Tatsukawa, Sachiyo Funamoto, Naoko Kamada, Eiji Nakashima, Yoshiaki Kodama, Thomas Seed, et al. "Biomarkers of Radiosensitivity in A-Bomb Survivors Pregnant at the Time of Bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki." ISRN Obstetrics & Gynecology (2011): 1-11. https://go.openathens.net/redirector/snhu.edu?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.5402%2F2011%2F264978.

Note

General Format

Article Example

9. AuthorA FirstName LastName et al., "Title of Article," Title of Journal volume, no. (Date): page#, DOI or Database Name.

For Example

Article Example

9. Edward F. Miles et al. "Biomarkers of Radiosensitivity in A-Bomb Survivors Pregnant at the Time of Bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki," ISRN Obstetrics & Gynecology (2011): 1-11, https://go.openathens.net/redirector/snhu.edu?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.5402%2F2011%2F264978.

More information:

Further Help

This information is intended to be a guideline, not expert advice. Please be sure to speak to your professor about the appropriate way to cite sources in your class assignments and projects.

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