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Chicago citation style

A guide to citing sources using the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition

Websites

Include as much information listed in the note template as you can. The word website or web page may be added in parenthesis after the title of the page or site if the source is unclear.

Section 14.206 provides guidance on how to identify the title of a website or page.

Websites can typically be cited only in notes and omitted from the bibliography (14.207).

Note format:

18. Author, “Title" or Description of web page, Title or Owner/Sponsor of Website, date of publication or last revision/modification, URL.

Sample notes:

19. Jenny Higgins, “Women’s Suffrage,” Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage, 2008, http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/suffrage.html.

20. Olaf U. Janzen, “Beothuk and Mi’kmaq,” Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland (website), last modified January 13, 2014, http://www2.swgc.mun.ca/nfld_history/nfld_history_beothuk.htm.

Websites with no author

If there is no person or organization obviously identified as the author, start with the title of the webpage or document instead.

Sample note:

21. “Newfoundland Government Rejects Environmental Impact Statement for Nickel Plant,” Mining Watch Canada, November 28, 2008, http://www.miningwatch.ca/fr/newfoundland-government-rejects-environmental-impact-statement-nickel-plant-0.

Websites with no date

If there is no date available, use the date that you accessed the webpage (14.12).

Sample note:

22. Kathy Kaufield and Alain Bosse, "Atlantic Lobster Food Service Guide," Lobster Council of Canada (website), accessed March 11, 2020, https://lobstercouncilcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Atlantic_Lobster_Guide_P12_compressed.pdf.

Social Media

Retain a copy of the social media content cited, in case your cited post gets deleted. Section 14.15 provides guidance on preserving social media content.

Chicago Style recommends only citing social media posts in the text or in notes, unless the post is given substantial attention in your essay. A frequently cited account or an extensive thread related to a single subject or post may be included in a bibliography.

Social Media citations can often be limited to the text of your essay, without including a note (14.209).

Sample in-text citation:

Local news organization VOCM's Question of the Day on Twitter was "With provincial vaccination rates nearing 80 percent, are you comfortable and ready to head back into the workplace?" (@VOCMNEWS, September 14, 2021).

If it is important to provide a link, you may include your citation in a note. If only a screen name is known, use the screen name in place of an author's name.

Note format:

       23. Author's Real Name (@Username), "Up to the first 160 characters of the post, including spaces," Site Name and description if it is a photo or video, Month day, year of post, URL.

Sample note:

       24. Archives and Special Collections, Queen Elizabeth II Library, MUN (@MUNarchivesandspecialcollections), "JR Smallwood, Clara (Oates) Smallwood and their baby. Probably Ramsey. From the JR Smallwood backlog," Facebook photo, September 13, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/MUNarchivesandspecialcollections/photos/a.985705874831536/3366479666754133/.

Sample bibliography entry:

Chicago Manual of Style. “Is the world ready for singular they? We thought so back in 1993.” Facebook, April 17, 2015. https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoManual/posts/10152906193679151.

YouTube Videos

See section 14.261 for a list of potential elements to include in a multimedia citation. Section 14.276 covers online multimedia more specifically.

Note format:

25. AuthorFirstName AuthorLastName, “Title of Video,” YouTube video, run time, publication date, URL.

Sample note:

25. BBC Ideas, "The Quiet Power of Introverts," YouTube video, 3:42, January 28, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1Y4Z0oh1GE.

Sample bibliography entry:

de Blasio, Bill. “Mayor de Blasio Delivers State of the City Address.” NYC Mayor’s Office. Streamed live on January 10, 2019. YouTube video, 1:22:40. https://youtu.be/aZZYlpfZ-iA.

Blog Posts

Blog posts are cited like online newspaper articles (14.208). The word blog may be added in parenthesis after the blog title.

Like newspaper articles, Chicago Style recommends only citing blog posts in notes, and omitting citations from the bibliography.

Sample note:

26. Constantina Katsari, “Ancient Artifacts from the Erotic Museum in Paris,” Love of History (blog), February 9, 2015, http://loveofhistory.com/ancient-artifacts-from-the-erotic-museum-in-paris/.