Self-assessment: Organizations as Authors

When citing web pages and other works created by organizations rather than individuals, do you list the appropriate entity as the author of the work?

If the answer is yes, click here to move on. If you aren't sure, keep reading for further explanation and examples.

Understanding Organizations as Authors

Sometimes, if no individual author is listed on a resource, it makes sense to treat the organization responsible for the content as the author.

In the highlighted example references below, each web page clearly identifies the organization or agency as the author (or copyright holder) at the bottom of the web page, so it makes sense to use this organization as the author.

If any individuals are named as the authors, however, it makes more sense to use the names of those individuals. If more than one organization is listed as the author, it is usually best to list them all, much like we would for a work with multiple individuals as authors.

When you're ready to move on to the next step, click here to proceed.