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Electronic publications are formatted and produced in an electronic environment, often found on the internet in HTML or PDF formats. They offer advantages such as accessibility and wider audience reach, but can be easily copied. Online databases offer access to millions of electronic publications, and newspapers and magazines often have both electronic and print formats. Citing electronic publications requires noting the medium and URL or database name, and the date of retrieval.
Electronic publications are those publications formatted and produced in an electronic environment. An article on wiseGEEK, for example, would be considered an electronic publication. Some publications are available in both printed and electronic formats. Often, the citation rules for electronic publications will be slightly different than those for print publications.
The most common form of electronic publications are those found on the Internet, often in hypertext markup language (HTML). Some publications may also be in the form of PDF files, word processing files, or other file types uploaded to the Internet or privately distributed. The advantages of these publications are that they are available almost anytime to those who require access, and there are no printing or postage costs. Also, because they are easily forwarded from one reader to another, electronic publications will often reach a larger and more relevant audience. The disadvantages are that they can be copied relatively easily and that some readers strongly prefer reading materials on paper.
In the case of the Internet, online databases exist that offer access to millions of electronic publications, including entire journals or individual articles. These databases may be offered to the public for a fee or may be available through a university or local public library agreement. These offer a convenient place to search for electronic publications.
Electronic publications can also be placed on a physical medium, such as a disk or CD. These can be sold to private individuals or distributed freely with information about them. The advantage of this type of medium is that the distribution of information can be more tightly regulated, although the distribution is not as rapid.
Newspapers and magazines often have both electronic and print formats of their publications. This offers some additional revenue generation possibilities for these businesses, as they will offer both online and print advertising. Additionally, these publications have a more immediate way to get the word out when breaking news occurs. This is a limitation that traditional print media cannot easily overcome.
Slightly more information is needed when it comes to citing electronic publications. Whenever an electronic publication is cited, the medium from which it was retrieved should be noted. In the case of the Internet, the URL is likely to be placed at the end of the quote. Some styles, such as APA and MLA, allow the URL to be omitted if the publication is retrieved from an academic database, but the database must be named. The date the information was retrieved should also be indicated, since articles on the Internet are often updated periodically.
