Chicago Citation Style Guide

Webpages and Blogs—Overview

For the purposes of citation, a website refers to the entire collection of documents made available at a specific location or under a single URL on the web.

The term webpage refers to the “pages,” or subdocuments, that can be viewed within the larger website.

Formal citations are normally be limited to the types of credible documents—articles, books, and other published documents—discussed elsewhere in this chapter.

Blogs have dated entries, dated comments, etc., that allow them to be cited in the same way as (or close to) articles in periodicals (see 14.246).

In both forms of the Chicago Style, citing an entire website (ex: nytimes.com) is strongly discouraged. Instead, cite specific pages or items within the overall website. (See: Webpage)

Webpages can be problematic to cite because, unlike books or journals, they are edited frequently and don't have an actual "publication date." If you can locate a publication date or date of revision or modification, use that. If a publication or revision date cannot be located, use the date you accessed the website.

Note-Bibliography

Note:

Note #. First-name, Last-name, "Title of Webpage," Website Name, Access-Date, URL.

Example:

18. “Style Guide,” Wikipedia, Accessed July 18, 2008, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Style_guide.

Short Note:

Note #. Last-name, "Title Words."

Example:

23. "Style Guide."

Bibliography:

First-name, Last-name. "Title of Webpage." Website Name. Publication/Revision/Access-Date. URL.

Example:

“Style Guide.” Wikipedia. Accessed July 18, 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Style_guide.

When citing a blog, cite individual posts and comments in the notes and the entire blog in your bibliography.

Blog citations should include:

• Author of the entry (even if it's a psuedonym)
• Name of the entry, in quotation marks
• Title or description of the blog
• The word blog in parentheses (unless the word blog is part of the name)
• If the blog is part of a larger publication, include the name of that publication
• URL.

Note-Bibliography

Note:

Footnote #. First-name Last-name, “Title of Post,” Title of Blog (blog), Title of Publication, Date of Post, URL of post.

Example:

     27. John Timmer, "Saving Fermi: NASA’s System for Avoiding Collisions With Space Junk," Scientific Method (blog), Arstechnica, May 8 2013, http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/05/saving-fermi-nasas-system-for-avoiding-collisions-with-space-junk.

Short Note:

Footnote #. Last-name, “Title Words."

Example:

30. Timmer, "Saving Fermi."

Bibliography Entry:

Title of Blog (blog). Title of Publication. URL of blog.

Example:

Scientific Method (blog). Arstechnica. http://arstechnica.com/science.

Author-Date

Since blogs often have multiple posts per day, you can include the time stamp or part of the post title after the date to ensure clarity.

Text Citation:

(Last-name Date of Post; Title Words)

Example:

(Timmer May 8 2013; Saving Fermi)

Reference Entry:

Title of Blog (blog). Title of Publication. URL of blog.

Example:

Scientific Method (blog). Arstechnica. http://arstechnica.com/science.

When citing a blog, cite individual posts and comments in the notes and the entire blog in your bibliography.

Blog comment citations should include:

• Identity of the commenter (if available)
• Date of the comment (if a time stamp appears with the comment)
• The words “comment on,” and the citation information for the related entry.

Note-Bibliography

Note:

     Footnote #. First-name Last-name of commentor, Date and Time of Comment, "Comment on," First-name Last-name of Author, “Title of Post,” Title of Blog (blog), Title of Publication, Date of Post, URL of post.

Example:

     32. vis-viva, May 8 2013 12:09pm, "comment on," John Timmer, "Saving Fermi: NASA’s System for Avoiding Collisions With Space Junk," Scientific Method (blog), Arstechnica, May 8 2013, http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/05/saving-fermi-nasas-system-for-avoiding-collisions-with-space-junk.

Short Note:

Footnote #. Last-name of Commentor, Date and Time of Comment.

Example:

30. vis-viva, May 8 2013 12:09pm

 Bibliography Entry:

Title of Blog (blog). Title of Publication. URL of blog.

Example:

Scientific Method (blog). Arstechnica. http://arstechnica.com/science.

Author-Date

If the comment does not have a distinctive username to cite, you may include the time-stamp of the comment and/or a few words of the comment.

Text Citation:

(Last-name Date/Time)

Example:

(vis-viva May 8 2013 12:09pm)

Reference Entry:

Title of Blog (blog). Title of Publication. URL of blog.

Example:

Scientific Method (blog). Arstechnica. http://arstechnica.com/science.