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Web Sources

General Model for Citing Web Sources in Chicago Style

Titles for Websites, Blogs, and Social Media: The title of a website that is analogous to a traditionally printed work but does not have (and never had) a printed counterpart can be treated like titles of other websites. For example, Wikipedia can be treated as a website, rather than as a conventional encyclopedia. This is a departure from previous editions of CMOS.

Titles of websites should follow headline-style capitalization and are usually set in roman. There are, however, some exceptions: titles of blogs are set in italics and titles of books, journals, television shows, movies, and other types of works should be treated the same whether cited as a print version or an online version. For example, when citing the website of the television news station CNN, the title maintains italics. Furthermore, in cases such as this, when a website does not have a distinctive title, it can be cited based on the entity responsible for the website, for instance, CNN online. 

When a web page's author cannot be determined, simply list the title first. Note, however, that entries for sources without authors come before entries for sources with authors in the bibliography.

Footnote or Endnote (N):

Corresponding Bibliographical Entry (B):

Electronic Books and Books Consulted Online

Electronic books are cited exactly as their print counterparts with the addition of a media marker at the end of the citation: Kindle, PDF, EPUB, etc. Books consulted online are also cited exactly as their print counterparts with the addition of a DOI (or URL) at the end of the citation. See also Books.

Note: Stable page numbers are not always available in electronic formats; therefore, you may include the number of chapter, section, or other easily recognizable locator instead.

Weston, Anthony. A Rulebook for Arguments, 4th ed. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2010. Kindle.

N:

B:

Online Periodicals (Journal, Magazine, and Newspaper Articles)

Online periodicals are cited exactly as their print counterparts with the addition of a DOI or URL at the end of the citation. See also Periodicals. Also keep in mind that while access dates are not required for formally published electronic sources (journal articles), they can be useful for informally published electronic sources or may be required for by some disciplines for all informally and formally published electronic sources. Access dates should be located immediately prior to the DOI or URL.

For four or more authors (in a book), list the first author in the note followed by et al. For the corresponding bibliographic entry, list all authors (up to 10).

N:

B:

Web Page with Known Author and Date

N:

B:

Web Page with Known Date but without Known Author

N:

B:

Web Page with Unknown Publication Date and Author

N:

B:

Blog

Blog titles should be set in italics and blog entries should be set in quotation marks. Generally, blog entries and comments are cited only as notes. If you frequently cite a blog, however, then you may choose to include it in your bibliography. Note: if the word “blog” is included in the title of the blog, there is no need to repeat it in parentheses after that title.

N:

Podcast

Note: If the word “podcast” is included in the title of the podcast, there is no need to repeat it enclosed in commas after that title. “Podcast audio” is used below, then, as an example placeholder and would not necessarily be required for this specific example.

N:

B:

Blank Form for Online Multimedia

N:

B: