When a source has no author, put the title in the author's place: in APA 7th edition, use a shortened title plus the year, such as ("Rising Tuition," 2024); in MLA 9th edition, use a shortened title plus the page if there is one, such as ("Rising Tuition" 4). Titles of short works go in quotation marks, and titles of standalone works like books and reports go in italics. Before you decide there's no author, check whether an organization is responsible for the work, because that often counts as the author.
All sources below are fictional, so you can focus on the pattern.
First, check that there's really no author
Many sources that look authorless have one. Look for:
- A byline at the top or bottom of the page.
- An "About" or "Contributors" section.
- A group or organization that published the work under its own name, such as a government agency or nonprofit.
If an organization wrote the work, APA treats it as a group author: (Lakeside Water Authority, 2023). Use the title in the author slot only when neither a person nor a group is credited.
APA 7th edition: no author
In APA, the title moves to the author position, both in the reference entry and in the in-text citation.
Format the title correctly
| Type of source | In-text formatting | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Article, web page, chapter | Title Case, in double quotation marks | ("Why Bees Swarm," 2022) |
| Book, report, standalone web page | Title Case, in italics | (Guide to Urban Gardens, 2021) |
APA uses title case in the in-text citation even though the reference list uses sentence case for many titles. That mismatch trips people up, but it is the rule.
Shorten long titles
Use the first few words of a long title. A reference titled "Why Bees Swarm in Early Spring and What Beekeepers Can Do" becomes ("Why Bees Swarm," 2022). The shortened version should start with the same word as the entry in your reference list, so readers can find it alphabetically.
Add page or paragraph numbers for quotes
For direct quotations, add a locator:
- ("Why Bees Swarm," 2022, para. 3)
- (Guide to Urban Gardens, 2021, p. 18)
Narrative citations
You can also name the title in your sentence:
In "Why Bees Swarm" (2022), the writer argues that colony size, not temperature, triggers most swarms.
In-text: ("Rising Tuition," 2024)
Reference list: Rising tuition and the part-time student. (2024, March 3). The Campus Ledger. https://www.example.com/rising-tuition
Notice that the entry begins with the title, and it's alphabetized under "R."
MLA 9th edition: no author
MLA follows the same idea: the works-cited entry begins with the title, so the in-text citation uses the title too.
Format and shorten the title
- Short works (articles, web pages, poems, chapters) go in quotation marks: ("Rising Tuition" 4).
- Long works (books, films, reports, whole websites) go in italics: (Guide to Urban Gardens 18).
MLA suggests shortening to the first noun phrase where possible. "Why Bees Swarm in Early Spring" becomes "Why Bees Swarm." No comma separates title and page in MLA.
When there's no page number
Many web sources have no pages. In that case, MLA lets you cite just the title: ("Why Bees Swarm"). If the source has numbered paragraphs or sections, you can add them: ("Why Bees Swarm," par. 6). Note the comma here, which MLA uses before a label like par. or ch.
In-text: ("Rising Tuition" 4)
Works cited: "Rising Tuition and the Part-Time Student." The Campus Ledger, 3 Mar. 2024, pp. 4-5.
Side-by-side summary
| Situation | APA 7th | MLA 9th |
|---|---|---|
| Article, no author | ("Rising Tuition," 2024) | ("Rising Tuition" 4) |
| Book or report, no author | (Guide to Urban Gardens, 2021) | (Guide to Urban Gardens 18) |
| No author, no date | ("Rising Tuition," n.d.) | ("Rising Tuition") |
| Signed "Anonymous" | (Anonymous, 2020) | (Anonymous 12) |
| Group author | (Lakeside Water Authority, 2023) | (Lakeside Water Authority 7) |
Two untitled sources with similar titles
Occasionally two authorless sources start with the same words, for example two web pages that both begin "Climate Basics." Lengthen the shortened title just enough to tell them apart: ("Climate Basics for Farmers," 2022) and ("Climate Basics for Teachers," 2022). The goal is always the same: a reader should be able to go from your citation to exactly one entry in the list without guessing. If the titles are identical and from the same year, APA adds lowercase letters after the year (2022a, 2022b), as it does for authors.
Common mistakes
- Writing "Unknown" or "N.A." as the author. Neither style uses these. Move the title up instead.
- Using the website name as the author. A site's name is not automatically its author. Only use an organization when it actually authored the work.
- A shortened title that doesn't match the entry. If your reference starts with "Rising Tuition," the citation must too, not "Part-Time Student."
- Mixing italics and quotation marks. Decide based on whether the work is standalone or part of a larger work.
- Forgetting n.d. in APA. No date is still information APA expects you to state.
If you'd like a second set of eyes, a citation generator can build the reference entry from the details you have and show you how the title should appear in text. Always compare the output against your style guide, since tools work from whatever metadata you give them.
Key takeaways
- No person and no organization? The title takes the author's place.
- APA: shortened title in title case, plus year (and a locator for quotes).
- MLA: shortened title, plus a page number when one exists, with no comma.
- Quotation marks for parts of works, italics for whole works.
- The in-text title must match the first words of your reference entry.
For more on locators, see how to include a page number in a citation.