A Step-by-Step Guide to Citing the WHO in APA (+ other Styles)

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A simple guide to citing the WHO in your research paper
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APA (American Psychological Association) style is one of the most common citation methods in social sciences. Some organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), seem so big that you might think there's a special way to cite them. But in APA style, you cite the WHO the same as any other organizational author. Read on for a breakdown of how to form that citation in your references as well as within the text. Looking for a different citation method? We've got you covered for that, too.

Citing the WHO in APA

Start with the WHO as the author. Add a period, then put the date of publication in parentheses. Place a period after the closing parenthesis, then add the title of the source in italics. Close with the URL: World Health Organization. (Year, Month Day). 'Title of source'. URL

Sample Citations

Section 1 of 3:

References Format

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  1. Type "World Health Organization" to start your references entry, followed by a period. Always spell out the full name of the organization in the references list, even if you have multiple entries with the WHO has the author. [1]
    • Example: World Health Organization.
  2. Start with the year the source was published (or the last date the page was updated, if you're citing a webpage). If there is a specific date included in the source's publication information, add a comma after the year, followed by the month and day. Spell out all months. Add a period after the closing parenthesis. [2]
    • Example: World Health Organization. (2020, September 22).
    • If you can't find any date at all, not even a year, type "n.d." for "no date" in parentheses after the name of the organization. [3]
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  3. Type the full title of the source in italics. Use sentence case, capitalizing only the first word and any proper nouns. Add a period at the end of the title, unless the title itself includes terminal punctuation. [4]
    • Example: World Health Organization. (2020, September 22). 'Tobacco responsible for 20% of deaths from coronary heart disease'.
    • If there's a subtitle, add a colon and a space after the title, then type the subtitle, capitalizing the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns. [5]
  4. Unlike most other citation methods, include the "https://" portion at the beginning of the URL. This concludes your references entry. Do not add a period to the end of the URL since it's not part of the URL.
    • Example: World Health Organization. (2020, September 22). 'Tobacco responsible for 20% of deaths from coronary heart disease'. https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/22-09-2020-tobacco-responsible-for-20-of-deaths-from-coronary-heart-disease
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Section 2 of 3:

In-Text Parenthetical Format

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  1. APA has both narrative and parenthetical citations. For both, add the abbreviation in parentheses after the first time you write out the full name. Every other time you mention the WHO in your text, just use the abbreviation. If the full name appears for the first time in a parenthetical citation, change the parentheses to square brackets. [6]
    • Narrative citation example: According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2021), the main cause is a rise in infectious disease.
    • Parenthetical citation example: The report identifies the main cause as a rise in infectious disease (World Health Organization [WHO], 2021).
  2. APA parenthetical citations include the name of the author (here, the WHO) and the year the source was published or last updated. Separate the author's name and the year with a comma and a space. If there is no year, use the abbreviation "n.d." If you've already mentioned the WHO's name in the text, include the year only in parentheses immediately after the name of the organization. [7]
    • Narrative citation example: According to the WHO (2022), health objectives are falling across the board.
    • Parenthetical citation example: According to the report, health objectives are falling across the board (WHO, 2022).
  3. If you're using a direct quote, place a comma after the year, then add a "p" with a period, a space, and then the page number where the quote appears. If the source isn't paginated, count paragraphs and use the abbreviation "para" instead of "p." For a narrative citation, put the year immediately after the name of the organization, then add a parenthetical with the page or paragraph number at the end of the quote. [8]
    • Narrative citation example: According to the WHO (2023), "infectious disease is a widespread problem" (p. 63).
    • Parenthetical citation example: The report noted that "infectious disease is a widespread problem" (WHO, 2023, p. 63).
    • Note that while the parenthetical citation is always inside the closing punctuation for the sentence, it is 'not' inside the closing quotation marks.
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Section 3 of 3:

Other Common Citation Methods

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  1. According to the 9th edition, if an organization (such as the WHO) is both the author and the publisher of the source, you only list the organization's name once—as the publisher. Start your Works Cited entry with the title. MLA recommends using the name of the organization in the narrative text, then following with a parenthetical that includes the page number where the material quoted or paraphrased can be found in the source. [9] If you found the source online, include the URL at the end of the Works Cited Entry (without the "http://" part), then add a period at the end. [10]
    • Works Cited entry: 'Tobacco Responsible for 20% of Deaths from Coronary Heart Disease.' World Health Organization, 2020, www.who.int/news-room/detail/22-09-2020-tobacco-responsible-for-20-of-deaths-from-coronary-heart-disease.
    • In-text citation: The World Health Organization reports tobacco causes 20% of coronary heart disease deaths (24).
  2. Chicago style uses a bibliography and footnotes. The first full footnote and the bibliography entry contain pretty much the same information, just in a different order. Footnotes always include page numbers, if those are available, and separate the parts with commas (rather than periods, as in the bibliography entry). [11]
    • Bibliography entry: World Health Organization. "Tobacco Responsible for 20% of Deaths from Coronary Heart Disease." 2020. www.who.int/news-room/detail/22-09-2020-tobacco-responsible-for-20-of-deaths-from-coronary-heart-disease.
    • Full footnote: "Tobacco Responsible for 20% of Deaths from Coronary Heart Disease," World Health Organization, 2020, www.who.int/news-room/detail/22-09-2020-tobacco-responsible-for-20-of-deaths-from-coronary-heart-disease.
    • Shortened footnote: World Health Organization, "Tobacco Responsible."
  3. Turabian follows mostly the same citation format as Chicago, but uses parenthetical citations rather than footnotes. The parenthetical citation includes the name of the author (here, the WHO) and the year, just like APA parenthetical citations. [12]
    • Reference List entry: World Health Organization. 2020. "Tobacco Responsible for 20% of Deaths from Coronary Heart Disease." Accessed July 11, 2021. https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/22-09-2020-tobacco-responsible-for-20-of-deaths-from-coronary-heart-disease.
    • In-text citation: (World Health Organization 2020).
  4. AMA style features a static reference list with in-text superscript numbers that refer to the number of that source on the reference list. AMA reference list entries share a lot in common with APA entries, including using sentence case for titles. There are no parenthetical in-text citations or footnotes in AMA style. [13]
    • Reference List entry: World Health Organization. Tobacco responsible for 20% of deaths from coronary heart disease. September 22, 2020. Accessed July 11, 2021. https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/22-09-2020-tobacco-responsible-for-20-of-deaths-from-coronary-heart-disease
  5. Harvard style represents something of a departure from other styles in the way the full entry in your references is formatted, but the in-text citation is constructed similarly to APA style, with the name of the organization and the year of publication. The key difference is the date of access in square brackets at the end of the reference list entry. [14]
    • Reference List entry: World Health Organization 2020, Tobacco Responsible for 20% of Deaths from Coronary Heart Disease , Available from https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/22-09-2020-tobacco-responsible-for-20-of-deaths-from-coronary-heart-disease. [11 July 2021]
    • In-text citation: (WHO 2020)
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    If the report is not about a particular city or country but a global report, then what do I write in the location?
    Torpi
    Top Answerer
    Use the location of the organisation that produced the report. If you cannot tell which branch of an organisation produced the report, cite the location of that organisation's headquarters.
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  • Question
    How do I reference a report written by an organization (no author) in text? Do I use the organization's name or simply the title of the report?
    Community Answer
    The organization name is preferable. If this creates confusion due to multiple works by the same organization, the title of the report in italics or quotes is suitable depending on publication type.
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  • Question
    For the in-text citation is (World Health Organization [WHO], 2011) APA 6th or APA 7th?
    Community Answer
    Including the abbreviation of an organization's acronym within the in-text citation is not necessary per the APA 7th edition.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/abbreviations/group-authors
      2. ↑ https://library.nic.bc.ca/c.php?g=713252&p=5082675
      3. ↑ https://columbiacollege-ca.libguides.com/apa/websites
      4. ↑ https://warren.libguides.com/c.php?g=1052743&p=7710858
      5. ↑ https://library.nic.bc.ca/c.php?g=713252&p=5082675
      6. ↑ https://guides.zsr.wfu.edu/c.php?g=1014307&p=7346635
      7. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/in_text_citations_the_basics.html
      8. ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/in_text_citations_the_basics.html
      9. ↑ https://library.ulethbridge.ca/mlastyle9/books/orgauthor
      1. ↑ https://libguides.scf.edu/c.php?g=850327&p=6164196
      2. ↑ https://columbiacollege-ca.libguides.com/chicago/websites
      3. ↑ https://libguides.msubillings.edu/c.php?g=242157&p=1610538
      4. ↑ https://librarybestbets.fairfield.edu/citationguides/ama#Website,Blog,orSocialMedia
      5. ↑ https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/harvard_citation/all-examples

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      To cite a web page or report from the WHO in APA format, start with "World Health Organization" as the author and follow it with a period. Next, write down the year or the year, month, and day the piece was published in parentheses and put a period at the end. Then, include the title of the report in italics, followed by a period. If you have a link to a website, write "Retrieved from" and add the link. Otherwise, end your citation with the location of the publication, using the city and state. For more advice from our Literary co-author, including how to cite the WHO in an in-text citation, scroll down!

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