Web page
It is often sufficient simply to describe web pages and other website content in the text (“As of November 15, 2023, Google’s privacy policy stated . . .”). If a more formal citation is needed, it may be styled like the examples below.
In-text citations
(Google 2023)
(Wikimedia Foundation 2022)
Reference list entries (in alphabetical order)
- Google. 2023. “Privacy Policy.” Privacy & Terms. Effective November 15. https://policies.google.com/privacy.
- Wikimedia Foundation. 2023. “Wikipedia: Manual of Style.” Last modified December 19, at 21:54 (UTC). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style.
If a source does not list a date of publication or revision, use n.d. (for “no date”) in place of the year and include an access date. Alternatively, if a publicly available archive of the content has been saved using the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine or similar service, the link for that version may be cited.
- Yale University. n.d. “About Yale: Yale Facts.” Accessed March 8, 2022. https://www.yale.edu/about-yale/yale-facts.
or
- Yale University. n.d. “About Yale: Yale Facts.” Archived March 8, 2022, at https://web.archive.org/web/20220308143337/https://www.yale.edu/about-yale/yale-facts.
Social media content
Citations of content posted to social media can usually be limited to the text (as in the first example below). If a more formal citation is needed, a reference list entry may be appropriate. In place of a title, quote up to the first 280 characters of the post. Comments are cited in reference to the original post.
In-text citations
The Instagram post included a photo of the president delivering a eulogy at the National Cathedral and referred to O’Connor as “gracious and principled” (@potus, December 19, 2023).
(Chicago Manual of Style 2015)
(NASA Webb Telescope 2022)
(Michele Truty, April 17, 2015, 1:09 p.m., comment on Chicago Manual of Style 2015)
Reference list entries (in alphabetical order)
- Chicago Manual of Style. 2015. “Is the world ready for singular they? We thought so back in 1993.” Facebook, April 17, 2015. https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoManual/posts/10152906193679151.
- NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb). 2022. “👀 Sneak a peek at the deepest & sharpest infrared image of the early universe ever taken—all in a day’s work for the Webb telescope. (Literally, capturing it took less than a day!).” Twitter (now X), July 11. https://twitter.com/NASAWebb/status/1546621080298835970.
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