Citing Government Documents in APA | Format & Examples

APA Style doesn’t provide a special format for citing government documents. Instead, you should determine what kind of source you’re dealing with—usually a report or a web page—and use the appropriate format.

To cite a government web page that doesn’t list an individual author, use the following format, listing the name of the government organization in the author position. If the name listed in the author position is the same as the website name (as in the example here), only list it once.

APA format Organization Name. (Year, Month Day). Page title. Site Name. URL
APA reference entry Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2021, January 29). Protecting workers: Guidance on mitigating and preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. https://www.osha.gov/coronavirus/safework
APA in-text citation (Occupational Safety and Health Organization, 2021)

Citing government websites with individual authors

When a government webpage does list an individual author or authors, list them in the author position, and always include the site name.

APA format Author last name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Page title. Site Name. URL
APA reference entry Rutte, M. (2021, January 15). Statement by Prime Minister Mark Rutte on the government’s resignation. Government of the Netherlands. https://www.government.nl/documents/speeches/2021/01/15/statement-by-prime-minister-mark-rutte-on-the-government%E2%80%99s-resignation
APA in-text citation (Rutte, 2021)

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Citing a government report in APA Style

If the document you are trying to cite is a report (usually labeled as such and often found in PDF form online), the format again differs slightly based on whether individual authors are listed.

Individual authors

To cite a report with one or more named authors, use the format below.

If there is no report number, leave that part out. The publisher should be identified clearly; list the specific organization and any department they are a part of if needed to identify them unambiguously.

APA format Author last name, Initials. (Year). Report title: Subtitle (Report No. Number). Publisher Name. URL
APA reference entry Bedford, D. A. D. (2017). Enterprise information architecture: An overview (Report No. WA-RD 896.4). Washington State Department of Transportation. https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/896-4.pdf
APA in-text citation (Bedford, 2017, p. 14)

Group authors

When a report doesn’t list a specific author, list the organization in the author position.

Any parent agencies necessary to identify the organization clearly can be listed in the publisher position. Otherwise, just omit this part; don’t repeat the same name in the author and publisher positions.

APA format Organization Name. (Year). Report title: Subtitle (Report No. Number). Publisher Name. URL
APA reference entry Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General. (2006). Minerals Management Service’s compliance review process (Report No. C-IN-MMS-0006-2006). United States Department of the Interior. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-DOI-IGREPORTS-2007-g-0001/pdf/GPO-DOI-IGREPORTS-2007-g-0001.pdf
APA in-text citation (Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General, 2006, p. 17)

Frequently asked questions about APA Style citations

How do I cite a source with no author in APA Style?

When no individual author name is listed, but the source can clearly be attributed to a specific organization—e.g., a press release by a charity, a report by an agency, or a page from a company’s website—use the organization’s name as the author in the reference entry and APA in-text citations.

When no author at all can be determined—e.g. a collaboratively edited wiki or an online article published anonymously—use the title in place of the author. In the in-text citation, put the title in quotation marks if it appears in plain text in the reference list, and in italics if it appears in italics in the reference list. Shorten it if necessary.

How do I cite a source with no page numbers in APA Style?

When you quote or paraphrase a specific passage from a source, you need to indicate the location of the passage in your APA in-text citation. If there are no page numbers (e.g. when citing a website) but the text is long, you can instead use section headings, paragraph numbers, or a combination of the two:

(Caulfield, 2019, Linking section, para. 1).

Section headings can be shortened if necessary. Kindle location numbers should not be used in ebook citations, as they are unreliable.

If you are referring to the source as a whole, it’s not necessary to include a page number or other marker.

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Jack Caulfield

Jack is a Brit based in Amsterdam, with an MA in comparative literature. He writes for Scribbr about his specialist topics: grammar, linguistics, citations, and plagiarism. In his spare time, he reads a lot of books.