Press Release Citation Generator

How to Use the Press Release Citation Generator

1. 1. Open the release. Find the issuing organization, the headline and the full date at the top of the release. Copy the page's URL.
2. 2. Enter the organization as the author. Type its name in Author(s). Leave Publisher / Site empty if the organization is also the publisher, as it is for most releases.
3. 3. Enter the headline and the date. Use sentence case for the headline, and the date as year-month-day.
4. 4. Set the descriptor. Type Press release in Format / medium. APA shows it in square brackets.
5. 5. Pick a style and copy. Choose APA, MLA, Chicago or any of the 10,834 styles.

Press Release or News Story?

A press release is the organization's own announcement, so the organization is the author. A news story that reports on it is the newspaper's work, written by a reporter. Cite the document you read. If you read the release itself, use this page. If you read an article about it, use the Newspaper Citation Generator. A page on an organization's site that is not a release belongs with the Website Citation Generator.

APA 7 (§10.4) treats a press release as a report with a group author: the organization, the full date, the headline in italics, [Press release] and the URL. MLA 9, following the MLA Style Center, puts the headline in quotation marks and the organization's website as the container, and leaves the author empty when the organization is also the publisher; it may add Press release as a final element. Chicago 18 names the organization, the headline in quotation marks, the words press release, the date and the URL.

Press Release Citation Examples

The American Psychological Association's April 11, 2024 release on willpower and trust, which the APA Style handout uses as its press release sample. The MLA and Chicago lines apply their patterns.

The MLA Style Center's own sample, for comparison, is a Global Environment Facility release: “Governments Commit to Shared Climate Action through Least Developed Countries Fund.” Global Environment Facility, 26 Sept. 2019, www.thegef.org/news/governments-commit-shared-climate-action-through-least-developed-countries-fund. Press release.

What the Generator Gives You

Enter the organization as the author and Press release as the format, and APA comes back as the example above, except that it gives the year alone and no italics; add April 11. For MLA, clear the author and type the organization in Journal / Publication, so that the headline is quoted and the organization becomes the container. Leave the format box empty there; the generator prints the descriptor as a sentence before the date. In Chicago, check that press release sits after the headline.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I cite a press release in APA 7?

Give the organization as the author, the full date, the headline in italics with [Press release], and the URL: American Psychological Association. (2024, April 11). People who use willpower alone to achieve goals, resist temptation, deemed more trustworthy [Press release]. URL. In text: (American Psychological Association, 2024).

How do I cite a press release in MLA 9?

Put the headline in quotation marks, then the organization's website in italics, the date and the URL, and Press release at the end. When the organization is both author and publisher, leave out the author. In text, use the first words of the headline.

How do I cite a press release in Chicago style?

Use a note with the organization, the headline in quotation marks, the words press release, the date and the URL. The bibliography entry puts the organization first and ends with the URL. Chicago 18 has no press release sample, so this follows its pattern for a web document.

Who is the author of a press release?

The organization that issued it, unless the release names a person as its author. A spokesperson quoted in the release is not the author. A contact name at the bottom is only a contact.

What if the press release is a PDF?

Cite it as a press release and give the URL of the PDF. MLA adds PDF download at the end if the link does not lead to a web page. The PDF Citation Generator explains how to cite a PDF by what it holds.

Which citation styles does the press release generator support?

All 10,834 styles in the library, including APA 7, MLA 9 and Chicago 18. The source type is preset to Press release.