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Chicago B: Author-Date Style:  Web resources

UON Library guide to Chicago B: Author-Date Style 17th edition

Web resources: General rules

 

The following information is for the reference list entries. See also:

 

General rules:

  • A website refers to the collection of web pages available on the internet. 
  • A website can host a blog or other social media content.
  • For specific type of web resources see the tabs above. 
  • It is often sufficient simply to describe website content in the text unless there is a need for a reference list entry.

Author Names

  • Full author names (including the screen name) appear first in the reference. 
  • If the web content does not have an author, move the title to the author position.

Titles

  • Titles of websites are capitalized headline-style without quotation marks.
  • Titled sections or pages of a website are usually placed in quotation marks. 
  • The titles of blogs can usually be set in italics; titles of blog posts are placed in quotation marks.
  • Social media content is usually untitled. If needed for the purposes of citation, the text of a post itself (either in part or as a whole) can stand in as title.
  • The word website (or web page) may be added (in parentheses) after the title or description of the site if the nature of the source may otherwise be unclear.

Year and Date of Publication

  • Use the year of publication in the reference list entry. Repeat the year with the month and day to avoid any confusion.
  • Include the date (month, day, year) of publication or revision or last updated, e.g. last updated July 4, 2018. 
  • When the publication/revision date is unknown, include the access date, e.g. accessed July 21, 2018.

DOI or URL

  • Include the DOI if available or the URL as the last element of the citation.
  • Do not insert a hyphen if you need to break a URL across lines. Break the URL before a slash or dash or at another logical division point.
  • Remove the University proxy (ezproxy.newcastle.edu.au) from any link used.
  • Include a full-stop after the DOI or URL at the end of the reference.

Secondary Sources

For citations taken from secondary sources, see the Secondary Sources page.

Websites and web pages

 

For web resources other than web sites and web pages, see the tabs above. 

 

To cite a website as a whole or to discuss it in general terms in your assignment, It is often sufficient simply to describe the website in the text (e.g. The WHO website (http://www.who.int/) is accessible in six languages and ...), and short URL can be used e.g. the URL http://www.apple.com/ might be referred to in running text as apple.com.

If a more formal citation for a website or webpage is needed in the reference list, follow the instructions below:

  • Cite the site or page by the author or owner of the site.
  • Titles of websites are capitalized headline-style without quotation marks.
  • Titled sections or pages of a website are capitalized headline-style and placed in quotation marks.
  • The word website (or web page) may be added (in parentheses) after the title or description of the site if the nature of the source may otherwise be unclear.
  • When the publication/revision date is unknown, include the access date, see the first example below.

 

The following is the general format of a reference to a web page.  See the general rules for web resources for more details. 

 

In-text citation: format and example

... (Author's Last Name Year of Publication) ...

... (Australian Society for Indigenous Languages, n.d.) ...

... (Vallen 2018) ...

... (Tredinnick 2020) ...

 

Reference list entry: format and example

Author's Last name, First Names. Year. "Webpage Title." Title or Owner of Website. Date of Publication /Access. URL.

Australian Society for Indigenous Languages. n.d. "Supporting Indigenous Language Communities." Australian Society for Indigenous Languages. Accessed July 26, 2018. http://www.ausil.org.au/. 

Tredinnick, Mark. 2020. "The Inhumanities; or, The War on The Humanities & Why Our Humanity Is at Stake." https://www.marktredinnick.com/riffs-and-plaints/the-inhumanities-or-the-war-on-the-humanities-amp-why-our-humanity-is-at-stake.

Vallen, Anna. 2016. "12 Books Every Australian Should Read." Australian Geographic Society. February 26, 2016. http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history-culture/2016/02/12-books-every-australian-should-read.

Press releases

 

A press release, also called news release, or media release, is an official statement on a particular matter by a news agent or organisation. Press releases are generally cited in text only unless there is a need for a reference list entry.

  • Titles of press releases should be capitalised in headline style within quotation marks.
  • Provide a description of press release or media release after the title.
  • Include the full date of publication (Month Day, Year). 

The following is the general format of a reference to a press release. 

See also the general rules for web resources for more details. 

 

In-text citation: format and example

... (Corporate Author Year of Publication) ...

... (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2018) ...

 

Reference list entry: format and example

Corporate Author. Year. "Press Release Title." Press release no. Month Day, Year. URL.

Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2018. "More Than One Million Australians Change Jobs." Media release cat. no. 6226.0. August 9, 2018. http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/latestProducts/6226.0Media%20Release5February%202018.

Federal Emergency Management Agency. 2015. “FEMA Awards $2,781,435 Grant to DuPage County.” News release no. RV-NR-2015-006. March 19, 2015. https://www.fema.gov/news-release/2015/03/19/fema-awards-2781435-grant-dupage-county.

 

 

Blogs, blog posts, and comments

 

A blog is a web-based forum that consists of posted entries organized by date or topic, and usually accompanied by readers’ comments. 

Note that the distinction between a blog and a website is often unclear; when in doubt, treat the title like that of a website.

 

General guidelines

  • References to an entire blog should be made in the text rather than in a reference list. The URL can be listed in parentheses, e.g.

Lingua Franca, a blog published by the Chronicle of Higher Education (http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/) . . .

  • Comments are not included in reference lists; instead, they should be cited in the text, in reference to the related post, e.g.

A comment on Germano (2017) from WordObsessed (on March 15, 2017) insisted that . . .

  • ​It is often sufficient to cite blog posts entirely within the text. If a reference list entry is needed, repeat the year of publication with the month and day to avoid any confusion..

 

To cite a blog post, include the following elements:

  • Author of the post
  • Year of the post
  • Title of the post, in quotation marks
  • Title of the blog, in italics, followed by '(blog)' unless the word blog is part of the title;
  • Title of the larger publication (if the blog is part of a larger publication) in italics; 
  • Date of the post in the format of Month Day, Year;  
  • URL of blog post.

 Note:

  • Blogs that are part of a larger publication should also include the name of that publication. 

 

In-text citation: format and example

... (Post Author Year of Publication) ...

... (Germano 2017) ...

 

Reference list entry: format and example

Author's Last name, First Names. Year. "Title of the Post." Title of the Blog (blog). Larger Publication. Date of Post.  URL of Post.

Germano, William. 2017. “Futurist Shock.” Lingua Franca (blog). Chronicle of Higher Education. February 15, 2017. http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2017/02/15/futurist-shock/.

Twitter, Facebook and other social media contents

 

  • Unless a more formal citation is needed, citations of social media content can often be limited to the text, e.g. The UON Student Central Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/UONStudentCentral) lists a number of options for students ...
  • Private content via social media, such as personal and friends-only contents, is considered a form of personal communication and should be cited as such. 
  • Comments can usually be cited in the text, in reference to the related post. 

To cite publicly available content shared via social media in reference list, include the following elements:

  • Author of the post. List the real name (of the person, group, or institution), if known, followed by a screen name, if any, in parentheses. If only a screen name is known, use the screen name in place of the author’s name.
  • Title or text of the post. Quote as much as the first 160 characters, including spaces (the maximum length of a typical text message), capitalized as in the original. (If the post has been quoted in the text, it need not be repeated.)
  • Type of post. List the name of the social media service and include a description if relevant (photo, video, etc.).
  • Repeat the year with the month and day. Time stamps are usually unnecessary but may be included to differentiate a post or comment from others on the same day.
  • A URL. A URL for a specific item can often be found via the date stamp, click the date/time underneath the post to be taken to an individual update page with its own URL.

 Also note:

  • Because social media content is subject to editing and deletion, authors are advised to retain a copy of anything they cite.

 

In-text citation: format and example

... (Author's Last Name Year of Publication) ...

... (O’Brien 2015) ...

... (Souza 2016) ...

 

Reference list entry: format and example

Author of Post. Year. "Title of post," Type of Post. Date of Post. URL of Post.

O’Brien, Conan (@ConanOBrien). 2015. “In honor of Earth Day, I’m recycling my tweets.” Twitter. April 22, 2015, 11:10 a.m. https://twitter.com/ConanOBrien/status/590940792967016448.

Souza, Pete (@petesouza). 2016. “President Obama bids farewell to President Xi of China at the conclusion of the Nuclear Security Summit.” Instagram photo. April 1, 2016. https://www.instagram.com/p/BDrmfXTtNCt/.

YouTube and other free online videos

 

Streaming or other online video is digital video content made available through online/networked means. The information here is for the various free video hosting platforms such as YouTube, TED talks,  VEVO, Vimeo, Dailymotion, etc. For video content made available through subscription services such as Netflix, Kanopy, or ClickView, see the information under the source type of Films, TV, etc. on the left. 

 

The general rules to cite online videos:

  • This information is suitable to use for the various free video hosting platforms, including YouTube, TED,  VEVO, Vimeo, Dailymotion, etc.
  • If the author/poster's name is not available use the screen name.
  • The video format may be 'YouTube video', 'TED talk video' or 'MP4 video' (a downloadable file format).
  • Repeat the year with the month and day in the reference list to avoid any confusion
  • If no date can be determined from the source, include the date the material was last accessed.
  • Include the full URL as the final element of the citation. The 'Share' feature on YouTube can provide a shortened, usable link.
  • Add the timestamp of the video before the URL for a direct quote, eg 0:10 (i.e. the quote starts at 10 seconds into the video).
  • If the material is a recording of a speech or performance, or if it is a digital version of a published source, include information about the original performance or source. 
  • Copies of sources that are under copyright and which have been posted without ties to any publisher or sponsor should be cited with caution. 
  • Comments on the videos can usually be cited in the text, in reference to the related video. 

 

In-text citation: format and example

... (Author's Last Name Year of Publication) ...

... (Vsauce 2013) ...

... (Lyiscott 2014) ...

 

Reference list entry: format and example

Author's Last Names, First Name. Year. "Title of Video." Date of Publication. Video format. running time. URL. 

Vsauce. 2013. “Is Your Red the Same as My Red?” February 17, 2013. YouTube video, 9:34. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= evQsOFQju08.

Lyiscott, Jamila. 2014. “3 Ways to Speak English.” Filmed February 2014 in New York, NY. TED video, 4:29. https://www.ted.com/talks/jamila_lyiscott_3_ways_to_speak_english.

Podcasts and streaming audio

 

For podcasts it's better to include the homepage URL of where you found audio stream rather than the full link. The homepage URL is more likely to be correct as time passes to allow the reader to access the podcast.

Citations of online audio content follow the same rules for citing online videos. See more details under the YouTube and online videos tab. 

The following is the general format of a reference to a podcast. See the general rules for web resources for more details.

 

In-text citation: format and example

... (Author's Last Name Year of Publication) ...

... (Bowers 2004) ...

... (Van Nuys 2018) ...

 

Reference list entry: format and example

Author's Last Names, First Name. Year. "Title of Audio." Date of Publication. Audio Series. Audio format, running time. URL. 

Bowers, Andy. 2004. "We've Found The Lost City of Atlantis ... Again." November 18, 2004. National Public Radio. Podcast, MP3 audio, 2:55. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4176661.

Van Nuys, David. 2018. “Growing Your Resilience with Rick Hanson PhD.” April 5, 2018. Shrink Rap Radio. Podcast, MP3 audio, 1:10"51. http://shrinkrapradio.com/592-growing-your-resilience-with-rick-hanson-phd/.