University Library

Online reference work

Entry in Reference List

Author, A. (Date). Title of article or segment. In A. A. Editor (Ed.), Title of encyclopedia. (xxth ed.). doi: xxxxxxxxxx [OR: Retrieved from web address]

No author or editor or date:
Title of entry. (n.d.). In Title of reference work (xxth ed.). doi: xxxxxxxxxx [OR: Retrieved from web address]

Reference work cited as a whole:
Editor, A. A. (Ed.). Title of reference work (xxth ed.). doi: xxxxxxxxxx [OR: Retrieved from web address]

Style notes

• In general, include the same elements, in the same order, that you would for a reference to a non-electronic source.
  
• If there is no author for the entry, put the title in place of the author.
  
• If the online version refers to a print edition, include the edition number after the title of the reference work.
  
• When DOIs (digital object identifiers) are available, use them for both print and electronic sources, instead of web addresses. DOI numbers are often located on the first page of an article near the copyright notice. If available, they are included in the references retrieved by Discovery.
  
• If no DOI is available, provide the home page URL of the journal or of the book or report publisher, not the URL of the article as retrieved from a database search. Do not place a period after the URL.
  
• For both free resources and subscription resources quote the web address (URL) of the resource's home page. For those supplied by the University of Melbourne through Discovery, you may need to do a quick search for the resource’s home page.
  
• The retrieval date need only be included if the content is likely to change, as with Wikis.