Chicago Style Website Citation – Format & Examples

08.12.22 Chicago style examples Time to read: 5min

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Chicago-Style-Website-Citation-Definition

Chicago Style website citation is a crucial aspect of academic writing that helps maintain intellectual honesty and avoid plagiarism. It provides a standardized method for acknowledging the use of others’ work and ideas. In using the Chicago Style, researchers ensure the transparency of their sources, thereby enhancing the credibility of their writing and the reproducibility of their research. You must use footnotes or endnotes to cite sources in the research paper or essay.

Chicago Style Website Citation – In a Nutshell

  • A comma should be included after the final name of the first author, followed by a period.
  • The name must be written precisely as it appears on the page, without any abbreviations.
  • The author’s titles and affiliations should often be omitted.

Definition: Chicago style website citation

In Chicago style website citation, websites are cited using in-text citations that match the items in your reference list, following the Chicago author-date style.

Chicago style website citation

Full note format: Author last name, first name. "Page Title." Website Name. Month Day, Year. URL.
Short note: A short Chicago style website citation note is a citation that, in accordance with the Chicago Manual of Style, "appear[s] in the body of an essay or other work and refers the reader to a source."
A brief remark often contains the author's name, the work's title, and the source's page number(s).
Bibliography: Chicago style website citation requirements demand either a reference list of all the sources you specifically cited in your paper or a comprehensive bibliography of all the books you read while conducting your research.

• The bibliography in your work follows the same Chicago style website citation guidelines as the rest of your writing.
• Include a top and left margin of one inch.
• At the top of the page, center the title. The work's title follows the page number header.
• Between the title and the first entry, leave two blank lines.
• If the Chicago style website citation entry spans more than one line, use a 1/2 inch hanging indent.
• Entry spacing should be single.
• Separate each entry with a line that is blank. Follow the letter-by-letter alphabetizing method.
• Place the bibliography at the very end of your writing on the last page after the endnotes.

Chicago style website author-date citation

The regular citation format is often used when quoting using Chicago style website citation. However, you must add the website name in the citation if the source doesn’t have an author.

The following is an illustration of how to use Chicago style website citation without naming the author:

Example

  • “Title of webpage.” Website name. Date of publication or last update. URL.
  • “How to create Chicago style website citation.” The Chicago Manual of Style. 16th ed., 2017. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-2.html.

Chicago author-date format

It is often enough to describe web pages and other website material in the text, such as

  • “As of May 1, 2017”, Yale’s main page listed.

Use n.d. (for “no date”) in place of the year and add an access date for sources that don’t specify a publication or modification date.

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Chicago style website citation with dates

  • The author’s name, the article’s title, the website’s name, the date you accessed the content, and the URL must all be included when citing a website with a specific date.
  • The format for the Chicago style website citation will look like this:
    Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Website Title. Date Accessed. URL.

Chicago style website citation without date

In your Chicago style footnotes and bibliography, substitute an access date for the publication date when an online source doesn’t provide one.

For instance, “BachelorPrint, n.d.” will be used in a Chicago style website citation without a date.

Full note format: "Page Title," Website Name, accessed Month Day, Year, URL
Short note format: Author last name, "Shortened Page Title."
Bibliography format: Author last name, First name. "Page Title." Website Name. Accessed Month Day, Year. URL.

Example

Full note: “Strategic Themes,” Utrecht University, accessed June 15, 2019, https://www.uu.nl/en/research/profile/strategic-themes.

Short note: Utrecht University, “Strategic Themes.”

Bibliography: Utrecht University. “Strategic Themes.” Accessed June 15, 2019. https://www.uu.nl/en/research/profile/strategic-themes.

Chicago style website citation without author

In web content, authors are frequently not identified. The page’s name comes first in a full-note citation for a page without an author.

When utilizing the Chicago style website citation, start with the company’s name that published the material in the brief comments and the bibliography entry. Don’t repeat the name of the organization in the citation if it is the same as the name of the website:

Full note format: "Page Title," Website Name, Month Day, Year, URL
Short note format:
Organization Name, "Shortened Page Title."
Bibliography format:
Organization Name. "Page Title." Website Name. Month Day, Year. URL.

Example

Full note: “Climate Change Is Affecting the Way Europe Floods, Experts Warn,” University of Glasgow, October 25, 2019, https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_681850_en.html.

Short note: University of Glasgow, “Climate Change.”

Bibliography: Utrecht University. “Strategic Themes.” Accessed June 15, 2019. https://www.uu.nl/en/research/profile/strategic-themes.

Chicago style website citation: Articles & blogs

Here, you are required to put the title of the publisher in italics and include a URL at the end to cite an online newspaper or magazine article.

The reset should follow the primary Chicago style website citation technique.

Full note: Author first name, last name, "Article Title," Publication Name, Month Day, Year, URL.
Short note format: Author last name, "Shortened Article Title."
Bibliography format:
Author last name, first name. "Article Title." Publication Name, Month Day, Year. URL.

Example

Full note: Sylvia Hui, “Non-Essential Retailers Reopening Across England After Coronavirus Lockdown,” Time, June 15, 2020, https://time.com/5853613/england-coronavirus-reopening-nonessential-retail/.

Short note: Hui, “Retailers Reopening.”

Bibliography: Hui, Sylvia. “Non-Essential Retailers Reopening Across England After Coronavirus Lockdown.” Time, June 15, 2020. https://time.com/5853613/england-coronavirus-reopening-nonessential-retail/.

Using Chicago style website citation to cite online blogs

Newspaper citation style applies to blogs as well, with the word “blog” inserted in parentheses (unless the blog name already contains the word “blog”).

The title of the larger magazine, which is also italicized, appears if the blog is a component of it.

Full note format: Author first name last name, "Post Title," Blog Name (blog), Larger Publication, Month Day, Year, URL.
Short note format: Author last name, "Shortened Post Title."
Bibliography format: Author last name, first name. "Post Title." Blog Name (blog), Larger Publication, Month Day, Year. URL.

Example

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

Short note: Germano, “Futurist Shock.”

Bibliography: Germano, William. “Futurist Shock.” Lingua Franca (blog), Chronicle of Higher Education, June 15, 2020. https://www.chronicle.com/­blogs/­linguafranca/­2017/02/15/­futurist-shock/.

Chicago style website citation: Social media

In a Chicago style website citation, use the first 160 characters of the post in place of the title, since most social media posts lack titles. You may quote the entire text if the post is fewer than 160 characters.

Put the username or screen name the content was posted under in parentheses after the poster’s real name. If a user’s real name is unknown, their username will be displayed as the author.

Full note format:
Author first name last name (Username), "First words of post," Website Name, Month Day, Year, URL.
Short note format:
Author last name, "Shortened text of post."
Bibliography format: Author last name, first name (Username). "First words of post." Website Name, Month Day, Year. URL.

Example

Full note: Barack Obama (@BarackObama), “It’s World Health Day, and we owe a profound debt of gratitude to all our medical professionals,” Twitter, April 7, 2020, https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1247555328365023238.

Short note: Obama, “World Health Day.”

Bibliography: Obama, Barack (@BarackObama). “It’s World Health Day, and we owe a profound debt of gratitude to all our medical professionals.” Twitter, April 7, 2020. https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1247555328365023238.

Chicago style website citation: Private web content

Texts, emails, secret Facebook groups, direct messages, and other digital interactions that are not visible to the public should all be cited as personal communications.

Personal communications do not have a set format for the Chicago style website citation; instead, you should simply state where the source is from.

Footnote example

  1. James Smith, Twitter direct message to author, September 19, 2018.
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FAQs

History, business, and fine arts are the primary sectors where the Chicago style website citation is used.

This is because academic writing requires citing sources in notes and bibliographies using numbered endnotes or footnotes.

The Chicago style website citation is crucial for many reasons, just like other citation formats.

Notably, it enables the author to acknowledge the information source that they used to complete a dissertation or research paper. Additionally, it lends some credibility to the author’s work by demonstrating to the reader that the author did sufficient research on the subject.

Though they accomplish comparable functions, Chicago style website citation and Harvard referencing are different in a few respects.

  • The Chicago style website citation and referencing are primarily utilized in the disciplines of history, business, and fine arts.
  • Harvard referencing is used for publications in the humanities, natural sciences, or social sciences.