chicago style bibliography for websites

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Chicago Style (17th Edition) Citation Guide: Websites

• Introduction
• Journal Articles
• Magazine/Newspaper Articles
• Books & Ebooks
• Government & Legal Documents
• Secondary Sources
• Videos & DVDs
• How to Cite: Biblical & Catholic Sources
• How to Cite: Other
• Short Form & Ibid.
• Additional Help

Table of Contents

Entire website - no separate pages or sections, page or section from a website.

Bibliography:

All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

All citations should use first line indent, where the first line of the footnote should be indented by 0.5 inches; all subsequent lines are not indented.

Footnotes should be the same font size and style as the rest of your paper.

See instructions for how to insert footnotes in Microsoft Word.

It can sometimes be difficult to find out who the author of a website is. Remember that an author can be a corporation or group, not only a specific person. Author information can sometimes be found under an "About" section on a website.

If there is no known author, start the citation with the title of the website instead.

The best date to use for a website is the date that the content was last updated. Otherwise look for a copyright or original publication date. Unfortunately this information may not be provided or may be hard to find. Often date information is put on the bottom of the pages of a website.

If you do not know the complete date, put as much information as you can find. For example you may have a year but no month or day.

Access Date

Chicago style does not recommend including access dates in the citation, unless no date of publication or last revision for the source may be located.

“Religion & Public Life.” Pew Research Center. Accessed January 26, 2021. https://www.pewforum.org.

1. “Religion & Public Life,” Pew Research Center, accessed January 26, 2021, https://www.pewforum.org.

“Roman Catholic Church.” Religious Groups. American Religion Data Archives. Accessed July 15, 2020. http://www.thearda.com/Denoms/D_836.asp.

1. “Roman Catholic Church,“ Religious Groups, Association of Religion Data Archives, accessed July 5, 2020, http://www.thearda.com/Denoms/D_836.asp.

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Chicago Manual of Style 17th Edition

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Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Please note that although these resources reflect the most recent updates in the The Chicago Manual of Style  (17 th  edition) concerning documentation practices, you can review a full list of updates concerning usage, technology, professional practice, etc. at  The Chicago Manual of Style Online .

Introduction

The Chicago Manual of Style  (CMOS) covers a variety of topics from manuscript preparation and publication to grammar, usage, and documentation, and as such, it has been lovingly dubbed the “editor's bible.”

The material on this page focuses primarily on one of the two CMOS documentation styles: the Notes-Bibliography System (NB) , which is used by those working in literature, history, and the arts. The other documentation style, the Author-Date System, is nearly identical in content but slightly different in form and is preferred by those working in the social sciences.

Though the two systems both convey all of the important information about each source, they differ not only in terms of the way they direct readers to these sources, but also in terms of their formatting (e.g., the position of dates in citation entries). For examples of how these citation styles work in research papers, consult our sample papers: 

Author-Date Sample Paper

NB Sample Paper

In addition to consulting  The Chicago Manual of Style  (17th edition) for more information, students may also find it useful to consult Kate L. Turabian's  Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations  (8th edition). This manual, which presents what is commonly known as the "Turabian" citation style, follows the two CMOS patterns of documentation but offers slight modifications suited to student texts.

Notes and Bibliography (NB) in Chicago style

The Chicago Notes and Bibliography (NB) system is often used in the humanities to provide writers with a system for referencing their sources through the use of footnotes, endnotes, and through the use of a bibliography. This offers writers a flexible option for citation and provides   an outlet for commenting on those sources, if needed. Proper use of the Notes and Bibliography system builds a writer’s credibility by demonstrating their accountability to source material. In addition, it can protect writers from accusations of plagiarism, which is the intentional or accidental uncredited use of source material created by others.

Introduction to Notes

In the Notes and Bibliography system, you should include a note (endnote or footnote) each time you use a source, whether through a direct quote, paraphrase, or summary. Footnotes are added at the end of the page on which the source is referenced, while endnotes are compiled at the end of each chapter or at the end of the entire document.

In either case, a superscript number corresponding to a note, along with the bibliographic information for that source, should be placed in the text following the end of the sentence or clause in which the source is referenced.

If a work includes a bibliography, which is typically preferred, then it is not necessary to provide full publication details in notes. However, if a bibliography is not included with a work, the first note for each source should include  all  relevant information about the source: author’s full name, source title, and facts of publication. If you cite the same source again, or if a bibliography is included in the work, the note only needs to include the surname of the author, a shortened form of the title (if more than four words), and the page number(s). However, in a work that does not include a bibliography, it is recommended that the full citation be repeated when it is first used in a new chapter.

In contrast to earlier editions of CMOS, if you cite the same source two or more times consecutively, CMOS recommends using shortened citations. In a work with a bibliography, the first reference should use a shortened citation which includes the author’s name, the source title, and the page number(s), and consecutive references to the same work may omit the source title and simply include the author and page number. Although discouraged by CMOS, if you cite the same source and page number(s) from a single source two or more times consecutively, it is also possible to utilize the word “Ibid.,” ( from the Latin ibidem, which means “in the same place,”) as the corresponding note. If you use the same source but a draw from different new page, the corresponding note should use “Ibid.” followed by a comma and the new page number(s).

In the NB system, the footnote or endnote itself begins with the appropriate full-sized number, followed by a period and then a space.

Introduction to Bibliographies

In the NB system, the bibliography provides an alphabetical list of all sources used in a given work. This page, most often titled Bibliography, is usually placed at the end of the work preceding the index. It should include all sources cited within the work and may sometimes include other relevant sources that were not cited but provide further reading.

Although bibliographic entries for various sources may be formatted differently, all included sources (books, articles, websites, etc.) are arranged alphabetically by author’s last name. If no author or editor is listed, the title or, as a last resort, a descriptive phrase may be used.

Though useful, a bibliography is not required in works that provide full bibliographic information in the notes.

Common Elements

All entries in the bibliography will include the author (or editor, compiler, translator), title, and publication information.

Author Names

The author’s name is inverted in the bibliography, placing the last name first and separating the last name and first name with a comma; for example, John Smith becomes Smith, John.

Titles of books and journals are italicized. Titles of articles, chapters, poems, etc. are placed in quotation marks .

Publication Information

The year of publication is listed after the publisher or journal name .

Punctuation

In a bibliography, all major elements are separated by periods.

For more information and specific examples, see the sections on  Books  and  Periodicals .

Please note that this OWL resource provides basic information regarding the formatting of entries used in the bibliography. For more information about Selected Bibliographies, Annotated Bibliographies, and Bibliographic Essays, please consult Chapter 14.61 of  The Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition).

How to Cite a Website in Chicago Style

Want to know how to cite a website in Chicago style? The Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition, the most recent) requires listing the source’s author , page title , website name , publication date , and URL . This is the core information included in the bibliography and reference pages, although there is some variation depending on what you’re citing, which we explain below. 

Give your writing extra polish Grammarly helps you communicate confidently Write with Grammarly In general, to cite a website in Chicago style, use this formula: 

Last name, First name of author. “Page title.” Website name, Month Day, Year of publication. URL.

For example, if you want to cite Britannica’s entry about the city of Chicago in Chicago style, the reference page entry would look like this: 

Schallhorn, Cathlyn. “Chicago.” Britannica, December 17, 2021. https://www.britannica.com/place/Chicago.

Typically with Chicago style, the names of months are written out in full instead of abbreviated. In-line citations in the Chicago style are known as author-date citations , an alternative to footnote citations. Chicago style in-line citations use the author’s last name and the year of publication in parentheses. Normally in Chicago style author-date citations also list the page numbers, but since we’re dealing with electronic sources you can omit them. 

(Schallhorn 2021)

This system works for all online sources, both primary and secondary sources , although you’ll have to change the formula slightly  for some sources. We explain those changes below, but first let’s cover some rules about dates for Chicago style. 

Here’s a tip: Citations can be tricky, but they don’t have to trip you up. Grammarly’s Citation Generator ensures your essays have flawless citations and no plagiarism.

Rules for how to cite a website in Chicago style

Chicago style is particular about dates, so there’s a couple of rules to keep in mind when writing a research paper . 

• If there’s a clear publication date, use it for your citations. That’s the first choice in Chicago style. 
• If the page has been updated, you can use the revision date preceded by the phrase “Last modified.” Feel free to use the revision date in place of the original publication date if you feel it’s more important. 
• If no publication or revision date is given, use the date of when you accessed the page, preceded by “Accessed.” 

How to cite a website in Chicago style: Online articles and blogs

To cite online articles and blogs in Chicago style, follow the same formula above but with a few minor changes. Perhaps the most significant change is that the website name for online newspapers, magazines, and blogs is set in italics. 

Drake, Nadia. “What is the multiverse—and is there any evidence it really exists?” National Geographic , May 4, 2022. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/what-is-the-multiverse. 

Author-date citations remain unchanged. 

(Drake 2022)

Furthermore, you have to add a label for blogs. Simply add the word “blog” in parentheses after the name of the website. 

Kramer, Lindsay. “Punctuation: Everything you need to know.” Grammarly (blog), April 9, 2021. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/punctuation/.

How to cite a website in Chicago style: Videos

To cite a video in Chicago style, you have to mention that your source is a video and note its run time. This information comes after the date of posting and before the URL. 

How to cite YouTube videos in Chicago style

For videos from YouTube, follow this formula: 

Last name, First name of author. “Video title in quotations.” Channel or organization, Month Day, Year of post. YouTube video, run time. URL. 

If there is no specific author, you can skip that part and begin with the video title: 

“Do Your Best Schoolwork Faster | Better Results With Grammarly.” Grammarly, August 12, 2021. YouTube video, 1:49. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=H53JSXPXPxI.

How to cite other videos in Chicago style

For videos that aren’t from YouTube, follow this formula:

Last name, First name of author or organization name. “Video title.” Website name . Month Day, Year of post. Video, run time. URL. 

Here’s a real-life example that shows how to cite videos in Chicago Style:

Hernandez, Daniela. “T-Rex Could Actually Be Three Separate Dinosaur Species, Study Argues.” Wall Street Journal . April 16, 2022. Video, 5:31. https://www.wsj.com/video/series/daniela-hernandez/t-rex-could-actually- be-three-separate-dinosaur-species-study-argues/B3762BBB-A4CC-4674- B6F6-037A04EE7159.

How to cite a website in Chicago style: Social media

It’s easier to cite a social media website in Chicago style than in the style of its counterparts: APA and MLA . Simply follow the standard formula, adding the author’s handle in parentheses after their proper name. Social media posts don’t have titles, so instead use the text of the post itself. If the post is longer than 160 characters, cut the post off and add an ellipsis . 

If the account belongs to an organization, you can use the organization’s name in place of the author. 

Last name, First name of author or organization name (@username). “Text of post under 160 characters in quotations.” Website name without italics, Month,  Day, Year of posting. URL. 

Grammarly (@Grammarly). “The more concise your message, the more likely it is to get a response.” Twitter , May 2, 2022. https://twitter.com/Grammarly/status/1521157691200229378. 

How to cite a website with multiple authors in Chicago style

For sources with more than one author, the format changes slightly. Here’s how to cite sources with two authors, three authors, and more than three authors. 

How to cite a website with two authors in Chicago style

Sources with two authors follow this formula: 

Last Name, First Name, and First Name Last Name.  Parker, Drake, and Josh Nichols

Author-date citations use both authors’ last names in parentheses, in the same order as listed in the source: 

(Parker and Nichols 2004)

How to cite a website with three authors in Chicago style

Sources with three authors follow the same guidelines as with two authors, using this formula: 

Last Name, First Name, First Name Last Name, and First Name Last Name Jackson, Percy, Annabeth Chase, and Grover Underwood

Author-date citations use all three last names in parentheses:

(Jackson, Chase, and Underwood 2005)

How to cite a website with more than three authors in Chicago style

Sources with more than three authors use a truncated format. If there are fewer than ten authors, list each one in the bibliography following the same format as three authors (where only the first author is listed with their last name first). 

If there are more than ten authors, list only the first seven and then add “et al.” 

Writer, Alpha, Beta Writer, Gamma Writer, Delta Writer, Epsilon Writer, Zeta Writer,  Eta Writer et al.

Author-date citations should follow this formula: 

(Last name of first author et al.)

(Jones et al. 2012)

How to cite a website with no author in Chicago style

If no author is given, simply skip that part of the citation and start with the page title. 

“Exclamation Point (or Exclamation Mark).” Grammarly (blog), January 14, 2021.  https://www.grammarly.com/blog/exclamation-mark/.

For in-line citations, use the first complete phrase in the title as the name. Try to find a natural breaking point. 

(“Exclamation Point” 2021)

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / Chicago Style / How to cite a Website in Chicago/Turabian

How to cite a Website in Chicago/Turabian

Do you need to cite a website or other online material in Chicago or Turabian style? Look no further than this page! In this guide, you’ll find information on how to cite websites (website article), blogs, social media, and more according to Chicago notes-bibliography style (17th ed.).

Guide Overview

Here you’ll find examples for the following types of citations:

• General website content
• Online news or magazine articles
• Blog posts and comments on blog posts
• Social media
• Electronic communication
• Other considerations for citation elements
• What you need

General Website Content

With general website content, you are likely to encounter missing information. For example, there may be no author listed. In that case, use the title of the page as the first element in your footnotes and use the name of the site owner or sponsor as the author in the bibliography. This guide on citing a website with no author has templates and examples for creating this type of citation in Chicago style.

Quite often you will not find a date. If this happens, you will use an access date. Some websites will not have a specific title and may be identified with just the owner or sponsor name (CMOS 8.191). For author-date style, if there is only an access date possible, include “n.d.” in place of the year for in-text citation.

Notes and Bibliography Style

Online news or magazine articles.

Online news or magazine articles are usually cited exactly as articles in print newspapers or magazines, except that the URL is added to the end of the citation. This formatting is slightly different from citations for journal articles in Chicago , though, so be sure to double check which citation style is right for your source.

Blog Posts and Comments on Blog Posts

Citing a blog post in Chicago is very similar to citing an online newspaper or magazine article. You italicize the title of the blog and follow the title with “blog” in parentheses. If the blog is part of a larger publication, include the name of that publication after the title of the blog.

To cite a comment on a blog post, you do this in text. If you cite a comment, you must cite the article on which the comment is posted in the reference list or bibliography according to the above guidelines. In the footnote, list the commenter’s name, the date the comment was posted, and then a shortened form of the citation for the primary blog post.

For example, the note for a comment on the above blog post would be formatted as follows:

WayneF1, January 17, 2014, comment on Limer, “Heck Yes! The First Free Wireless Plan is Finally Here.”

A URL can be included in the footnote citation for a blog comment, but it is not always necessary. See CMOS 14.208 or 15.51 for more guidelines on citing comments.

Social Media

Social media is generally only cited in the text, but it can also have a formal citation. If you don’t have a title, use up to the first 160 characters of the post in quotation marks. If there is no author, use the user name.

Online forums and mailing lists can be cited in the same way as social media. Include the name of the author, the title of the thread or subject of the email, the title of the list or forum, the title of the host site, the date it was posted, and the URL. For further guidance and examples, see CMOS 14.210 and Turabian 17.5.4 and 19.5.4.

Electronic Communication

The CMOS recommends that any type of personal communication be cited in text and notes, and indicates that it is rare to cite these in a bibliography (CMOS 14.214 and 15.53). Examples of personal, electronic communication include:

• Text messages
• Social media messages

Citing personal interviews in Chicago would also fall under this umbrella.

Other Considerations for Citation Elements

If an author is not clear, you can use the site owner or publisher in the author field instead. However, if no author, owner, or publisher can be readily identified, your source may be unreliable and you might want to reconsider using it and finding something more authoritative.

Titles for online material can be tricky, as there may not always be a clear title. If you can’t find a title, you can identify it by the website owner or sponsor. Titles of websites are generally set in roman without quotation marks and capitalized in title case. In a small departure from the 16th edition, the CMOS 17th edition specifies that if the website has a print counterpart (such as the websites for newspapers and other publications), then it should be in italics. If it does not, then it should be treated normally. See the examples below:

The website of the Washington Post = Washington Post 

Wikipedia’s entry on the American Revolution = Wikipedia

Titles of sections of web pages or pages within a larger website should be placed in quotation marks (CMOS 8.191).

Dates are very important in online material because this type of material changes constantly. You must include a date of publication if you can find one. If there is a revision or modification date in place of the publication date, use that. Revision dates may also be helpful when citing material that is regularly updated like Wikipedia (CMOS 14.13).

While Chicago style does not require the use of an access date in most cases, if you cannot find a publication date or revision date, you should include an access date. If you are writing a scientific or medical research piece, access dates might be required in addition to publication or revision dates, so you might want to check with your instructor (CMOS 14.12).

When recording the URL, if a permalink or shorter link is available, use it instead. Otherwise, use the full URL regardless of length and include the “https://” when writing the URL (CMOS 14.9; Turabian 15.4.1.3).

If a URL links to a database that requires a subscription, it is better to name the database (e.g., ProQuest) because not everyone may have access (CMOS 14.9).

Does the Web Page Need to be in the Bibliography?

Chicago style does not always require website material to be cited in a bibliography. Sometimes it is enough to describe the content in the text (like when citing a YouTube video in Chicago  or a blog post).

For example, writing “EasyBib’s latest blog post, posted on January 21, 2020, gave excellent tips on how to write a research paper,” would likely give the reader enough information to find and identify the blog post. You can include a formal citation if needed, and our examples above will help you out.

Keep in mind, however, that this only applies to general web content, social media, and personal communications like email or Facebook messages. For most other online material, you should always include a formal citation. When in doubt, it is always better to provide a formal citation.

What You Need

Citing web pages usually requires the following information:

• Author of the material
• Title of the web page
• Title or description of the web page
• Owner or sponsor of the cite if this is different from the title
• Publication or revision date

Because online material can disappear any moment, make sure that you record all the information about the website when you use it. You might even want to consider taking a screenshot if you think you might need more information later.

Bibliography:

The Chicago Manual of Style , 17th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017. https://doi.org/10.7208/cmos17.

Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations , 9th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018.

Written by Janice Hansen . Janice has a doctorate in literature and a master’s degree in library science. She spends a lot of time with rare books and citations.

Chicago Formatting Guide

Chicago Formatting

• Book Chapter
• Conference Paper
• Musical Recording

Citation Examples

• Thesis or Dissertation
• Encyclopedia
• Sheet Music
• YouTube Video

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Chicago Style (17th Edition) Citation Guide: Websites

• Introduction
• Journal Articles
• Magazine/Newspaper Articles
• Books & E-Books
• Government & Legal Documents
• Secondary Sources
• Videos & DVDs
• How To Cite: Other Notes & Bibliography
• How To Cite: Other Author-Date
• Quotations vs Paraphrases
• Short Form & Ibid.
• Additional Help

Important Notes

1. Author-Date Style: Websites are often cited only within the text of the paper. A corresponding Reference List entry is not needed as long as the item has been documented in the text.

Notes & Bibliography Style

Entire website (no separate pages or sections).

Bibliography:

“Religion & Public Life.” Pew Research Center. Accessed January 26, 2021. https://www.pewforum.org.

1. “Religion & Public Life,” Pew Research Center, accessed January 26, 2021, https://www.pewforum.org.

Page or Section From a Website

“Roman Catholic Church.” Religious Groups. American Religion Data Archives. Accessed July 15, 2020. http://www.thearda.com/Denoms/D_836.asp.

1. “Roman Catholic Church,“ Religious Groups, Association of Religion Data Archives, accessed July 5, 2020, http://www.thearda.com/Denoms/D_836.asp.

Author-Date Style

Reference List:

Author of the Site. Year of Publication. "Title of Web Page."  Owner/Sponsor of Site . Published, Modified, or Accessed Month Day, Year. URL.

In-Text Citation:

If No Reference List Entry Is Used: (Watson 2011, "Tunisians Vote in First Election Following Arab Spring,"  CNN.com , last modified October 23, 2011)

If A Reference List Entry Is Used: (Watson 2011)

Website With No Author

Owner/Sponsor of Site. Year of Publication or n.d. (if no date is available). "Title of Web Page." Published, Modified, or Accessed Month Day, Year. URL.

If No Reference List Entry Is Used: ("Victorian Smoking Rates Hit Record Low," n.d., 9 News, accessed August 17, 2012)

If A Reference List Entry Is Used: (9 News, n.d.)

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Cite a Website in Chicago

Don't let plagiarism errors spoil your paper, consider your source's credibility. ask these questions:, contributor/author.

• Has the author written several articles on the topic, and do they have the credentials to be an expert in their field?
• Can you contact them? Do they have social media profiles?
• Have other credible individuals referenced this source or author?
• Book: What have reviews said about it?
• What do you know about the publisher/sponsor? Are they well-respected?
• Do they take responsibility for the content? Are they selective about what they publish?
• Take a look at their other content. Do these other articles generally appear credible?
• Does the author or the organization have a bias? Does bias make sense in relation to your argument?
• Is the purpose of the content to inform, entertain, or to spread an agenda? Is there commercial intent?
• Are there ads?
• When was the source published or updated? Is there a date shown?
• Does the publication date make sense in relation to the information presented to your argument?
• Does the source even have a date?
• Was it reproduced? If so, from where?
• If it was reproduced, was it done so with permission? Copyright/disclaimer included?
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