Electronic sources need to be cited systematically and consistently, just as printed sources do, so that others can identify and access them. The main difference lies in the need to indicate when you accessed the electronic source. This is because World Wide Web pages, for example, change quite frequently - giving the date of access is therefore rather like specifying the edition of a book.
Author's surname and initials, year of publication (in brackets), title of article (enclosed in single inverted commas), the title (in italics) of the journal followed by 'online' in square brackets and, if given, the volume and issue number of the journal, 'available from' information such as the name of the service and/or URL and, in square brackets, the date you accessed the site; for example:
Example 1
Virkus, S. (2003) 'Information literacy in Europe: a literature review.' Information Research, 8(4), paper no. 159 [online]. Available from: http://informationr.net/ir/8-4/paper159.html] [Accessed 28 October 2003]
Author's surname and initials, year of publication if given (in brackets), title of document (in italics) followed by 'online' in square brackets, publisher, 'available frominformation such as the URL and, in square brackets, the date you accessed the site; for example:
Example 2
(05/07/2003), Making the Macintosh: Technology and Culture in Silicon Valley [online] , Available from http://library.stanford.edu/mac/ [Accessed 30 April 2005]
Example 3
Redshaw, K (1997), Charles Babbage (1792 - 1871) [online], Available from http://www.kerryr.net/pioneers/babbage.htm [Accessed 30 April 2005]
Author's surname and initials, followed by author's e-mail address in brackets, full date of message, subject of message (in italics), 'e-mail to' followed by the recipient's name and e-mail address; for example:
Example 1
Knight, C. J. (c.j.knight@colc.ac.uk), May 29 1997, Cumbrian windfarms. E-mail to j.q.parker-knoll@open.ac.uk
Please note : You should always check with the author of the e-mail that they are happy for you to publish their e-mail address and use the content of the e-mail before using the material.
Title of image, or a description. Underlined or highlighted in italics followed by year, [online image] Available from <URL>, filename including extension, date accessed.
Example 1
Mary of Modena, fleeing with her son James Francis Edward Stewart. (c.1688) [online image]. Available from http://www.scran.ac.uk [Accessed 17 October 2003]
Example 2
Photo of original Mac [online image]. Available from http://library.stanford.edu/mac/hello.jpg [Accessed 30 April 2005]
Example 3
Charles Babbage [online image] . Available from http://www.kerryr.net/pioneers/babbage.htm/babage.jpg [Accessed 30 April 2005]
You may wish to use a site such as easybib.com or bibme.org to help you cite your references.