If no author is available, use the first few words of the reference list entry (usually the title) and the year. Use the shortest form that will allow you to recognize the work properly. Use double quotes around the title of an article, chapter, or web page and italicize the title of a book, brochure, or report.

If the title of the work is italicized in the reference, also italicize it in the citation; if the title is not italicized in the reference, use double quotation marks around the title in the citation. Use title case for these titles.

For example, a citation to the article titled “A puppy may reduce stress and save your life,” could be shortened and entered as (“A puppy may reduce stress,” 2020). (Remember that this title would be alphabetized in the Reference List using “puppy.”) If you are citing the entire dictionary, not an entry in it, the citation would be entered as (Merriam-Webster’s, 2005).