How to Cite the World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial organization that provides loans and other financial assistance, and also provides financial data through its website (worldbank.org). If you use information from the World Bank website, you must list it as a reference at the end of your paper. Both the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Modern Language Association (MLA) provide guidelines for the proper citation of non-periodical websites.

APA Style

Step 1

Begin your citation with the name of the author. If the author is credited, use the last name and first initial. For example:

Jones, S.

If no specific author is credited, list the author as:

World Bank

Step 2

List the date of publication in parentheses. For example:

World Bank. (2009, January 22).

If no date is listed, use:

World Bank. (n.d.).

Step 3

List the title of the article, capitalizing only the first letter and any proper nouns. For example:

World Bank. (2009, January 22). The failing economy of Mozambique.

Step 4

End with the Web address of the specific page you are citing. The finished citation should be formatted as follows:

World Bank. (2009, January 22). The failing economy of Mozambique. Retrieved from http://web.worldbank.org/wbsite/external/news/art67528.htm

MLA Style

Step 1

Begin your citation with the name of the author. If the author is credited, use the last and first name. For example:

Jones, Sarah.

If no specific author is credited, list the author as:

World Bank.

Step 2

List the title of the document in italics. For example:

World Bank. The Failing Economy of Mozambique.

Step 3

List the date of publication. In MLA format, the names of months longer than four letters should be abbreviated. For example:

World Bank. The Failing Economy of Mozambique. 22 Jan. 2009.

Step 4

List the medium of publication. This should appear as "Web." For example:

World Bank. The Failing Economy of Mozambique. 22 Jan. 2009. Web.

Step 5

Conclude with the date on which you accessed the website. Your finished citation should appear in the following general format:

World Bank. The Failing Economy of Mozambique. 22 Jan. 2009. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.

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