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I'm writing a lab report in LaTeX (Overleaf), using the APA style for referencing. I use the biblatex package with the APA style.

However, in my school's reference guide it says to put the words "Retrieved from" in front of a URL which is not required to have a date retrieved, i.e. sources which do not change over time. apa-biblatex does not automatically do this, and I can't seem to find a solution which works. The only solution I've found (after at least an hour of googling) is to switch to the package apacite, but it would be very tedious to do this.

Below is a magazine article from a database which requires a URL but not the date the information was retrieved.

MWE:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

\usepackage[style=apa,backend=biber]{biblatex}
\addbibresource{references.bib}

\begin{document}

\begin{filecontents}{references.bib}
@article{DePalma2005,
%Magazine article from electronic database
    author = {DePalma, A.},
    year = {2005},
    title = {Sequencing in the post-genomic age},
    journal = {Bioscience Technology},
    volume = {30},
    number = {4},
    publisher = {Advantage Business Media},
    url = {https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A132192766/SCIC?u=kungsholmens&sid=SCIC&xid=beac04f2}
}
\end{filecontents}{references.bib}

\parencite{DePalma2005}

\printbibliography

\end{document}

This gives me this output, without the "Retrieved from":

Current output

This is my desired output, with the "Retrieved from" in front of the URL:

Desired output

Do you have any ideas on how this could be solved? It's really bothering me!

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6
  • Even though this is a magazine and not a journal, it still seems to be a publication on paper (or at least have the format of a paper-based publication, even if it is online). So strictly speaking it does not need a url I think, because it is already uniquely identifiable based on the article title, magazine title, volume and number (as opposed to a blog post, software documentation website etc. where a url is needed, and an access date as well).
    – Marijn
    May 6, 2020 at 14:41
  • The linked site looks a bit shady to me on first glance. If I understand correctly, the linked site is not the original publisher of the article. I couldn't find any reliable info in a journal called "Bioscience Technology" and the link at the bottom to biosciencetechnology.com appears to be dead.
    – moewe
    May 6, 2020 at 14:52
  • ... I guess what I'm saying is that I would look for a source that looks a bit more reputable than this one.
    – moewe
    May 6, 2020 at 14:58
  • @moewe the website is from the publisher Gale, which looks like a legitimate company that maintains publication databases, which contain also publications that they did not publish themselves. I do seem to remember that I have seen booths and PR material from them at scientific conferences that I attended when travel was still allowed.
    – Marijn
    May 6, 2020 at 15:29
  • @moewe Good thing you're critical of the source, but yes, this magazine article is taken from a scientific database from the publisher Gale which I have access to through my school and have been told is a reliable database by teachers and librarians.
    – Elisabeth Z
    May 6, 2020 at 15:35

1 Answer 1

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There has been a change of rules in APA style here. If I understand correctly 6th-edition APA style wants "Retrieved from" for all URLs and DOIs, whereas 7th-edition APA style only wants "Retrieved from" if you also include an access date (urldate).

That is what biblatex-apa and biblatex-apa6 implement. (If this is not what the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association requires, please report this as a bug at https://github.com/plk/biblatex-apa/issues. It would help if you could include references to the manual and an example document.)

With style=apa, you get the behaviour from the 7th edition of the APA manual ("retrieved ... from" only with access date [urldate])

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage[style=apa, backend=biber]{biblatex}

\begin{filecontents}{\jobname.bib}
@article{DePalma2005,
  author    = {DePalma, A.},
  year      = {2005},
  title     = {Sequencing in the post-genomic age},
  journal   = {Bioscience Technology},
  volume    = {30},
  number    = {4},
  publisher = {Advantage Business Media},
  url       = {https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A132192766/SCIC?u=kungsholmens&sid=SCIC&xid=beac04f2},
}
\end{filecontents}
\addbibresource{\jobname.bib}

\begin{document}
\autocite{DePalma2005}

\printbibliography
\end{document}

DePalma, A. (2005). Sequencing in the post-genomic age. Bioscience Technology, 30(4). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A132192766/SCIC?u=kungsholmens&sid=SCIC&xid=beac04f2

With style=apa6, you get the behaviour from the 6th edition of the APA manual (always "retrieved ... from")

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage[style=apa6, backend=biber]{biblatex}

\begin{filecontents}{\jobname.bib}
@article{DePalma2005,
  author    = {DePalma, A.},
  year      = {2005},
  title     = {Sequencing in the post-genomic age},
  journal   = {Bioscience Technology},
  volume    = {30},
  number    = {4},
  publisher = {Advantage Business Media},
  url       = {https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A132192766/SCIC?u=kungsholmens&sid=SCIC&xid=beac04f2},
}
\end{filecontents}
\addbibresource{\jobname.bib}

\begin{document}
\autocite{DePalma2005}

\printbibliography
\end{document}

DePalma, A. (2005). Sequencing in the post-genomic age. Bioscience Technology, 30(4). Retrieved from https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A132192766/SCIC?u=kungsholmens&sid=SCIC&xid=beac04f2

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