With the increase of online scientific publications, the traditional primacy of print documents has become less and less relevant. In some scientific journals, notably in the field of information technology and its applications (like IJTHE), a significant part of the citations now refer to online documents. This paper first reviews the various roles played by citations in scientific texts according to the literature. It then describes the characteristics and conditions which must be met if citations to online documents are to fully play these roles. Finally, it shows how, in the French-language adaptation of the APA reference formats which was adopted by IJTHE, a few choices have been made regarding online references in order to ease the task of both referees and readers. By the same token, authors will find guidelines and suggestions which should improve the relevance and efficiency of this often overlooked dimension of scientific communication.