How to Cite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

PDF download Download Article
PDF download Download Article

Articles and reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are commonly used sources, particularly if you're writing a research paper about a medical or public health issue. Generally, you'll cite the CDC the same way you would cite any other government website or publication. However, your format may differ depending on whether you're using the American Psychological Association (APA), American Medical Association (AMA), Modern Language Association (MLA), or Chicago citation style.

Method 1
Method 1 of 4:

APA

PDF download Download Article
  1. As the government agency responsible for the material, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considered the author, even if an individual author is listed. Type out the full name and place a period at the end. [1]
    • Example: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  2. If you're using an article, it will likely have a specific publication date because it wouldn't be changed later. For webpages, however, you're more likely to use the date of the last update, since those pages are reviewed periodically. Provide as specific a date as you can in parentheses, typing the year followed by a comma, then the month and day. Do not abbreviate the names of any months. Place a period outside the closing parenthesis. [2]
    • Example: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018, December 14).
    Advertisement
  3. Type the title in sentence case, capitalizing only the first word and any proper nouns or acronyms in the title. Place a period at the end of the title, unless the title itself has its own closing punctuation. [3]
    • Example: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018, December 14). What is ADHD?
  4. Start with the word "Retrieved." For pages that may be regularly updated, include the date you accessed the page in month-day-year format, followed by the word "from" and the URL. If your reference is a journal article or PDF of a report, simply provide the URL after the words "Retrieved from" without a date of access. Do not place a period at the end of the URL. [4]
    • Example: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018, December 14). What is ADHD? Retrieved May 22, 2019, from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/facts.html

    APA Reference List Format

    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Year, Month Day). Title of article or page in sentence case. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL.

  5. Generally, APA requires a parenthetical citation at the end of any sentence in which you quote or paraphrase from a source. For a CDC citation, that parenthetical would include the full name of the CDC and the year the article or page was published or last updated. Include your parenthetical citation inside the closing punctuation for the sentence. [5]
    • For example, you might write "Children with ADHD have developmental differences that cause them to have continued difficulty focusing on tasks (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018)."
    • A parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence isn't necessary if you incorporate the parenthetical information in the body of your paper. For example, you might write "According to the CDC (2018), more than 6 million children have been diagnosed with ADHD."
    • If you quote directly from the source, include the page number ("p.") or paragraph number ("para.") where the quoted passage appears in your citation. For example, you might write: While researchers haven't yet identified the specific causes of ADHD, the CDC notes that "genetics plays an important role" (2018, para. 5).
    6. Advertisement
Method 2
Method 2 of 4:

AMA

PDF download Download Article
  1. The AMA uses footnotes or endnotes instead of including a reference list at the end of a paper. You only have to write the note once. All other citations to that same source will point readers to the original note number. Normally the author would be the first element of your note. However, here, the CDC is considered the author. Type the agency's name out in full and place a period at the end. [6]
    • Example: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  2. Type the title of the article or webpage in regular font. Use title case, capitalizing the first word and all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs. Place a period at the end of the title. [7]
    • Example: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Basic Information about Traumatic Brain Injury.
  3. After the title, copy and paste the URL that would take your readers directly to your source. Place a period at the end of the URL. Then type the word "Accessed" followed by the date you last accessed the page in month-day-year format. Do not abbreviate the names of any months. Place a period after the year. [8]
    • Example: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Basic Information about Traumatic Brain Injury. https://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/basics.html. Accessed May 22, 2019.

    AMA Footnote Format

    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Title of Article or Page in Title Case. URL. Accessed Month Day, Year.

    4. Advertisement
Method 3
Method 3 of 4:

MLA

PDF download Download Article
  1. the CDC is an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, which is itself a department of the US government. Include each of these units in descending order from largest to smallest, separated by commas. Place a period after the final agency's name. [9]
    • Example: United States, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  2. After the name of the agency, type the title of the article or page using title case. Capitalize the first word and all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs. Place a period at the end of the title, inside the closing quotation marks. [10]
    • Example: United States, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "People at High Risk for Flu Complications."
  3. Use the full name of the CDC as the publisher of the page or article followed by a comma. Then type the date of publication in day-month-year format. Abbreviate the names of months that are 4 letters or longer. Place a comma after the date, then copy and paste the URL. Do not include the "https://" portion of the URL. Place a period at the end. [11]
    • Example: United States, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "People at High Risk for Flu Complications." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , 27 Aug. 2018, www.cdc.gov/flu/highrisk/index.htm.

    MLA Works Cited Format

    United States, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Title of Page or Article." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , Day Month Year, URL.

  4. In some cases, you may be using several articles or webpages from the CDC as sources. If so, you can leave the author's name off and start your entry with the title of the article or webpage. All the rest of your Works Cited entry remains the same. [12]
    • Example: "People at High Risk for Flu Complications." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , 27 Aug. 2018, www.cdc.gov/flu/highrisk/index.htm.

    Alternative MLA Works Cited Format

    "Title of Page or Article." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , Day Month Year, URL.

  5. If your Works Cited entry lists the CDC first as the author, include the name of the agency and all the larger government units in your parenthetical in-text citation. On the other hand, if you started your entry with the title of the article, you would use a shortened version of the title. Include a page number if the source is paginated. Place the sentence's closing punctuation outside the closing parenthesis. [13]
    • For example, you might write "Adults over the age of 65 are at higher risk of developing more serious flu-related complications (United States, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)."
    • Even if you mention the CDC in your text, you likely still need this parenthetical because your Works Cited entry starts with "United States," not "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." Without the parenthetical, your readers wouldn't be able to easily find the full entry in your Works Cited.
    6. Advertisement
Method 4
Method 4 of 4:

Chicago

PDF download Download Article
  1. Because the CDC is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, list the larger department first. Place a period after the name of the department. Then, type out the full name of the CDC, also followed by a period. [14]
    • Example: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  2. After the name of the agency, type the full title of the article. Use title case, capitalizing the first word and all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs. Place a period at the end of the title. [15]
    • Example: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Strategies to Prevent Obesity .
  3. Since the CDC is located in Atlanta, use that city as the location where the article or webpage was published. The publisher is considered the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, of which the CDC is a part. Place a comma after the name of the department, then add the year the source was published or last updated. Place a period after the year. [16]
    • Example: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Strategies to Prevent Obesity . Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015.
  4. The URL is the last element of your bibliography entry. Copy the full, direct URL or permalink and paste it at the end of your entry. Place a period at the end of the URL. [17]
    • Example: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Strategies to Prevent Obesity . Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/strategies/index.html.

    Chicago Bibliography Format

    U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Title of Page or Article . Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Year. URL.

  5. Chicago style uses footnotes as in-text citations whenever you quote or paraphrase from a research source. While the footnote contains the same information as your bibliographic entry, the punctuation changes because a footnote is formatted like a sentence. The only period occurs at the end of the footnote. Other elements are separated by commas, with the publication information enclosed in parentheses. [18]
    • Example: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Strategies to Prevent Obesity (Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015), https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/strategies/index.html.
    6. Advertisement

Expert Q&A

Ask a Question
200 characters left
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit
      Advertisement

      Tips

      Submit a Tip
      All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published
      Name
      Please provide your name and last initial
      Submit
      Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

      You Might Also Like

      A Step-by-Step Guide to Citing the WHO in APA (+ other Styles)
      How to
      Quote and Cite a Play in an Essay Using MLA Format
      How to
      Properly to Cite Dialogue in MLA
      How to
      Cite a Quote
      How to
      Cite a Research Paper
      What Does Ibid Mean? How to Use It & Citation Examples
      How to
      Quote and Cite a Poem in an Essay Using MLA Format
      How to
      Quote a Book
      How to
      Cite the CDC in APA
      How to
      Add a Footnote to Microsoft Word: Step-by-Step Guide
      How to
      Cite a Graph in a Paper
      How to
      Cite a Web Site in APA With No Author, Date, or Page Number
      How to
      Cite the Quran
      How to
      Cite Sources
      Advertisement

      Expert Interview

      Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about caring for insects, check out our in-depth interview with Shweta Sharma .

      References

      1. ↑ https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/apa/citations/commonsources
      2. ↑ https://libguides.scf.edu/c.php?g=447371&p=3075453
      3. ↑ https://libguides.regiscollege.edu/c.php?g=977470&p=7067582
      4. ↑ https://libguides.regiscollege.edu/c.php?g=977470&p=7067582
      5. ↑ https://libguides.scf.edu/c.php?g=447371&p=3075453
      6. ↑ https://mdanderson.libanswers.com/faq/26256
      7. ↑ https://mdanderson.libanswers.com/faq/26256
      8. ↑ https://guides.library.uab.edu/citation/ama
      9. ↑ https://www.nwtc.edu/NWTC/media/student-experience/Library/MLA-Citation-Handout.pdf
      1. ↑ https://utica.libguides.com/c.php?g=703243&p=4991664
      2. ↑ https://utica.libguides.com/c.php?g=703243&p=4991664
      3. ↑ https://www.nwtc.edu/NWTC/media/student-experience/Library/MLA-Citation-Handout.pdf
      4. ↑ https://irsc.libguides.com/c.php?g=483085&p=3303421
      5. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/web_sources.html
      6. ↑ https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html
      7. ↑ https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html
      8. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/web_sources.html
      9. ↑ https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html

      About This Article

      Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 103,249 times.

      Did this article help you?

      Advertisement