How to Do an In-Text Citation With No Author
When a source has no named author, you move the next element of the reference into the author's spot. In most cases that means the title, shortened if it is long, followed by the year (APA) or page number (MLA). Before you do that, check whether an organisation is really the author, because a group author is more common than a truly anonymous source.
Below are the rules for APA 7th edition, MLA 9th edition and Chicago style, with examples you can copy.
First: is there really no author?
Many sources that look authorless have a group or corporate author. A report from a government department, a fact sheet from a health charity or a policy page on a university site is authored by that organisation. In that case the organisation's name goes where a person's name would.
Look for:
- A department or organisation name at the top or bottom of the page
- An "About" or "Published by" line
- A copyright line naming the body responsible for the content
Only treat the source as having no author when you genuinely cannot identify a person or group responsible for it.
APA 7th edition: no author
In APA, when there is no author, the title moves to the author position in the reference list, and you use that title in the in-text citation.
Format the title the way it appears in the reference
- Standalone works (books, reports, whole webpages, films) are italicised in the reference list, so italicise the title in text too.
- Parts of a larger work (an article in a journal or magazine, a chapter, an entry in a reference work) are plain in the reference list, but in text you put them in quotation marks.
- In the in-text citation, use title case for the title even though the reference list uses sentence case.
Examples
Parenthetical, webpage: (Understanding Sleep Cycles, 2023)
Narrative, webpage: Understanding Sleep Cycles (2023) explains that...
Parenthetical, article: ("Rising Rents Push Families Out," 2024)
With a direct quotation: ("Rising Rents Push Families Out," 2024, para. 3)
Shorten long titles
If the title is long, use the first few words, enough for the reader to find the entry in the reference list:
Full title: A Practical Guide to Composting in Small Urban Gardens
In text: (Practical Guide to Composting, 2022)
Group authors in APA
Use the organisation's full name. If it has a well-known abbreviation and you cite it several times, you can introduce the abbreviation on first use:
First citation: (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2021)
Later citations: (NIMH, 2021)
"Anonymous" and no date
Use "Anonymous" only when the work is actually signed "Anonymous." Otherwise use the title. If there is also no date, write "n.d.":
(Guide to Volunteer Safety, n.d.)
MLA 9th edition: no author
In MLA, a source with no author begins its Works Cited entry with the title. The in-text citation uses that title, usually shortened, plus a page number if the source has pages.
Rules for MLA titles in text
- Italicise titles of standalone works (books, websites, films, reports).
- Put titles of shorter works (articles, webpages within a larger site, poems, chapters) in quotation marks.
- Shorten the title to its first noun phrase, or the first word or two, as long as it starts with the same word the Works Cited entry is alphabetised under.
- Skip a page number if the source has none, such as most webpages. Do not invent paragraph numbers unless the source numbers them.
Examples
Article with pages: ("Hidden Costs of Fast Fashion" 14)
Webpage, no pages: ("Beginner's Guide to Birdwatching")
Book, shortened: (Field Notes 112)
Narrative: In "Hidden Costs of Fast Fashion," the writer argues that... (14).
Organisation authors in MLA
MLA 9 has a specific rule. If the organisation is both the author and the publisher, skip the author and begin the Works Cited entry with the title, so your in-text citation uses the title. If the organisation is the author but someone else published it, list the organisation as author and use its name in text:
(American Heart Association 5)
Inside parentheses, MLA lets you shorten a long organisation name to its shortest clear noun phrase and use standard abbreviations such as "Dept." for "Department." In the body of your sentence, write the name out in full.
Chicago style: no author
Chicago offers two systems, and the advice applies to both the 17th and current 18th editions in broad terms.
Notes and bibliography. Begin the footnote with the title. In the bibliography, the entry is alphabetised by the title (ignoring "A," "An" or "The").
- Handbook of Local Rail History (London: Rail Heritage Press, 2019), 44.
Author-date. Use the title, shortened if necessary, in place of the author, or use the sponsoring organisation if one exists:
(Handbook of Local Rail History 2019, 44)
Chicago generally discourages "Anonymous" unless the work itself is signed that way.
Quick comparison table
| Situation | APA 7th | MLA 9th |
|---|---|---|
| Webpage, no author | (Title of Page, 2023) | ("Title of Page") |
| Article, no author | ("Article Title," 2024) | ("Article Title" 14) |
| Organisation author | (Organisation Name, 2021) | (Organisation Name 5) or title, depending on publisher |
| No author, no date | (Title, n.d.) | ("Title") |
Common mistakes
- Using the website name as the author. "(BBC, 2024)" is wrong in APA unless the organisation wrote the piece as a group author. A news article usually has a byline; look again.
- Using "Anonymous" by default. Only use it when the work says so.
- Mismatched titles. The shortened title in text must clearly match the start of the reference entry, or the reader cannot find it.
- Forgetting italics or quotation marks. The formatting signals what kind of source it is.
If you are juggling many sources, an APA citation generator or MLA citation generator can format the reference entry, and you can build the in-text version from it. Always compare the output with your style guide, because the tool can only work with the details you give it.
FAQ
What do I write if there is no author and no date in APA?
Use the title in place of the author and "n.d." for the date, for example (Guide to Volunteer Safety, n.d.). Italicise the title if it is a standalone work, or use quotation marks if it is part of a larger work.
Can I use the website name instead of the author?
Only if the organisation that runs the website is genuinely the author of the content, such as a government agency's own report. For news sites and blogs, look for a byline first. If there truly is no author, use the title of the page.
How short can a shortened title be?
In APA, use the first few words, enough to identify the reference. In MLA, use the first noun phrase or the first word or two, starting with the word the Works Cited entry is alphabetised by. The reader should be able to match it instantly.
Do I still need a page number for a quote with no author?
Yes, if the source has page numbers. In APA write (Title, year, p. 12); in MLA write ("Title" 12). For webpages without pages, APA lets you use a paragraph number or section heading, while MLA usually omits the location.