SBL Harvard Referencing Style: Internet Sources

No standard method for citing electronic sources of information has yet been agreed upon. The recommendations in this document follow the practices most likely to be adopted and are intended solely as a guideline. There are numerous approaches to citing works from the Internet. To maintain consistency, the following points should be noted in line with the preferred style guide:

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• Cite enough information for the reader to locate the citation in future.

• Many web documents do not give an author anywhere on the page. If not explicit or obvious, the author’s name may be found in the header of the HTML encoded text. You can view this by choosing the option to view the document source. If there is no author indicated on the webpage, use the name of the company/organisation or the word ‘Anon’.

• Cite the date on which the document was last updated, which usually appears at the bottom of the page. Alternatively, use the abbreviation ‘n.d.’ (without the inverted commas).

• When the web page does not have a clear title, use the main (i.e. most distinctive) heading on the web page as the title.

• Because web pages do not have page numbers, page numbers are not included in any in-text citations.

• Indicate the exact URL of the web page and the date on which you visited it. No punctuation should be added, nor should the upper or lower case of any characters in the address be altered. Web addresses are case sensitive.

• Look for the date on which the page was last modified – this date often appears at the bottom of a page. Alternatively, use the abbreviation ‘N.d.’ or the words ‘Not dated’ (without the inverted commas).

• You should include the complete URL of the specific web page within a website that you have used as a source of information in order to enable to reader to find the information again.