How do I in-text cite Wikipedia in APA?

Answered By: Alyssa Mitchell

Last Updated: Jun 30, 2020 Views: 237191

When citing Wikipedia in-text, all you need is the article title. This is because Wikipedia is a collaborative website and there is no author or published date. The citation, which will be in parentheses, will have the title of the page or article in quotations. In place of the published date the common practice is to use n.d., which stands for no date.

To put an in-text citation for Wikipedia in APA, you would use the following format: ("Title of article," n.d.)

An example would be:

("World War II," n.d.)

If you want to direct your reader to a specific section of the Wikipedia article, you can include the paragraph number at the end of your citation. For example:

("World War II," n.d., para. 5)

Comments (51)

what does n.d mean?
by a student on May 31, 2018.
A student,

N.d. is the abbreviation for the phrase no date and is used when there is no publication date for a source. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask!
by Alyssa Mitchell on May 31, 2018.
how insert the date? only the year? should we also include the day and the month?
by Jack Tuen on Aug 18, 2018.
@Jack Tuen - According to APA style, you technically don't need a publication date since Wikipedia is a collaborative website that results in changes on the various pages on a frequent basis. That being said, it is recommended to include the retrieval date in your reference page citation. For more information, check out the APA Style Blog, http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2009/10/how-to-cite-wikipedia-in-apa-style.html.
by Alyssa Mitchell on Aug 21, 2018.
Where can I find the DOI on Wikipedia
by Sara on Oct 15, 2018.
@Sara - some articles have DOIs and some do not. If a DOI is included use it, otherwise don't worry. A website would not have a DOI.
by Katie Hutchison on Oct 15, 2018.
How would I do this in MLA format? I know how but the problem is I'm not sure what the publisher is. Is it Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.,? It said that Wikipedia is a trademark of that...so I'm not sure what to put as the publisher.
by a wondering student on Mar 20, 2019.
While I support whatever is the current state of the globally agreed notation, the comma inside the double quotes, as in ("Title of article," n.d.) is just horrible.. Pinker approves going with human logic in this situation and therefore there is no force compelling me to ever keep the comma on the inside. ("Title of article", n.d.) is the only way to go - for me, subjectively. Feel free to adapt for your citations as needed.
by Pavel Karady on Mar 21, 2019.
@a wondering student - For the publisher, you would put Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. For more information on citing Wikipedia in MLA, here is a link to their citation guide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_Wikipedia#MLA_style. Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with!
by Alyssa Mitchell on Mar 21, 2019.
@Pavel Karady - For the placement of the comma, either in or after the quotes, it really just depends on how you were taught. Personally, I think having it outside the quotes looks more aesthetically pleasing, but that goes back to how I was taught. In American English, we are taught that punctuation always goes within the quotations, but in British English you can do either. That being said, I have worked with professors who say they don't mind which way a student follows as long as they are consistent throughout their paper! So it really is subjective! :-)
by Alyssa Mitchell on Mar 21, 2019.
where to put the information which i want to citation????
by Ali aden Gabow on Mar 26, 2019.
@Ali aden Gabow - I am not sure I understand your question completely. Are you asking where to put information from a source into your paper or where you place the in-text citation in regards to the information? If it is the latter of the two, the in-text citation would come at the end of the information from the source (usually the end of the sentence). I hope this helps!
by Alyssa Mitchell on Mar 27, 2019.
in-text citation what to do if the information of a wikipedia has citation as number and i want to make it as auther & date ? is it ok to do that?
by Ali Aden gabow on Mar 28, 2019.
@Ali aden Gabow - From what you are describing, it sounds like the information you are trying to cite from Wikipedia actually came from another source. In Wikipedia, if there is a small number at the end of the sentence, which is called an end note, it is showing where that information came from. So I would try to find the original source, which should be listed at the bottom of the Wikipedia page.
by Alyssa Mitchell on Mar 29, 2019.
Actually on the very bottom of each Wikipedia website the is a "last edited on...", but I don't think that it is accurate.
by Student on Apr 17, 2019.
@Student - You are correct. Even though the last edited date is available, it changes to frequently. So best practice is to avoid using that date and going with the (n.d.) for no date.
by Alyssa Mitchell on Apr 17, 2019.
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by Dataexpert010 on Dec 06, 2019.
If you’re sure you want to cite Wikipedia, make sure to correctly format the citation according to the citation style you’re following. There are many different styles of citation: APA, MLA, and Chicago style are three of the most commonly used.
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by priyanka on Apr 01, 2020.
Hi, how would you reference Wikipedia in the report main text for Harvard Referencing please? Im not sure if its the same as the other Referencing styles? Great Blog, really helpful, thank you.
by MP on Apr 17, 2020.
@MP - Check out this Harvard Referencing style guide: https://www.mendeley.com/guides/harvard-citation-guide - I recommend using the website example.
by Walsh University Library on Apr 19, 2020.
Do i have to put URL link in the citation for this one?
by Syawany on Jun 06, 2020.
@Syawany - For the in-text citation, you do not need to include the URL as it is just an abbreviated citation. That being said, you would include the URL in the full citation, which will be listed on your reference page/bibliography/works cited. I hope this helps!
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by Yamini on Aug 07, 2020.
then how can i know if the text citation is refer to wikipedia
by masya on Sep 22, 2020.
@masya - Thank you for your question! So even though the in-text citation does not specifically say Wikipedia, the reader of your paper will still be able to refer to the full citation on your bibliography or reference page. The title included in the in-text citation will also be listed on your reference page. For guidance on how to cite Wikipedia on a bibliography or reference page, please refer to this link: https://libanswers.walsh.edu/faq/147832. I hope this helps!
by Walsh University Library on Sep 22, 2020.
first of all, i see that you responded to every inquiry therein, which is awesome! i just have one question, wikipedia has a lot of paragraphs, if i want to direct my reader, should i start counting the paragraphs beginning from the top?
by John on Sep 28, 2020.
@John - Thank you for both your compliment and question! To answer your question, yes you would start counting the paragraphs from the top of the page, even if the Wikipedia page you are using is split into sections. The topmost paragraph on the page would be #1 and then you would continue until you get to the paragraph you are referencing. I hope this helps!
by Walsh University Library on Sep 28, 2020.