LibGuides: Citation Guide: Websites

Formatting

Note: For your Works Cited list, all citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

Tips

Author

It can sometimes be difficult to find out who the author of a website is. Remember that an author can be a corporation or group, not only a specific person. Author information can sometimes be found under an "About" section on a website.

If there is no known author, start the citation with the title of the website instead.

Date

The best date to use for a website is the date that the content was last updated. Otherwise look for a copyright or original publication date. Unfortunately this information may not be provided or may be hard to find. Often date information is put on the bottom of the pages of a website.

If you do not know the complete date, put as much information as you can find. For example you may have a year but no month or day.

Access Date

Date of access is now optional in MLA 8th edition. If no publication date is included, we recommend including the date you last accessed the site.

Abbreviating Months

In your works cited list, abbreviate months as follows:

January = Jan.
February = Feb.
March = Mar.
April = Apr.
May = May
June = June
July = July
August = Aug.
September = Sept.
October = Oct.
November = Nov.
December = Dec.

Spell out months fully in the body of your paper.

Page on a Website Created by a Corporation, Institution, or Group - Title of Website & Author are the same

"Title of Section." Title of Website, Publisher or Sponsoring Organization, Date of publication or last modified date, URL. Accessed access date.

Note: Date of access is now optional in MLA 8th edition. If no publication date is included, we recommend including the date you last accessed the site (MLA Handbook, p. 53).

Note: The publisher or sponsoring organization can often be found in a copyright notice at the bottom of the home page or on a page that gives information about the site. When the page is authored and published by the same corporation/group/organization, begin your citation with the section title (MLA Handbook, p. 25).

Note: The publisher may be omitted from the citation if the website title is essentially the same as the publisher name (MLA Handbook, p. 25)

Works Cited List Example

"Audit and Assurance." Chartered Professional Accountants Canada, 2016, www.cpacanada.ca/en/business-and-accounting-resources/audit-and-assurance. Accessed 6 July 2016.

In-Text Citation Example

("Title of Section")

("Audit and Assurance")

Note: The example above does not include a publisher or sponsoring organization because the organization is the same as the website title. According to p. 42 of the MLA Handbook, publisher information may be omitted for:

periodicals (journals, magazines, newspapers)
works published by an author or editor
web sites whose title is the same as the name of the publisher
a web site not involved in producing the work it makes (e.g. user-generated content sites like YouTube)

Website with a Known Author

Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Website, Name of Organization Affiliated with the Website, Date of copyright or date last modified/updated, URL. Accessed access date.

Note: Date of access is now optional in MLA 8th edition. If no publication date is included, we recommend including the date you last accessed the site.

Works Cited List Example

Mabillard, Amanda. Shakespeare Online, 29 Dec. 2011, www.shakespeare-online.com. Accessed 6 July 2016.

In-Text Citation Example

(Author's Last Name)

(Mabillard)

Page or Document on a Website with a Known Author

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Page or Document." Title of Website, Name of Organization Affiliated with the Website, Date of copyright or date last modified/updated, URL. Accessed access date.

Note: Date of access is now optional in MLA 8th edition. If no publication date is included, we recommend including the date you last accessed the site.

Works Cited List Example

Morin, Amy. "Mom Am I Fat?: Helping Your Teen Have a Positive Body Image." Verywell Family, About Inc., 18 Jan. 2019, www.verywellfamily.com/media-and-teens-body-image-2611245. Accessed 12 May 2019.

In-Text Citation Example

(Author's Last Name)

(Morin)

Example from Global Road Warrior

Works Cited List Example

Williamson, Jennifer. "Canada: Business: Attire." Global Road Warrior, World Trade Press, 2018, www.globalroadwarrior/com/#mode=country&regionId=27&uri=country-content&nid=13.08&key=country-attire. Accessed 17 July 2016.

In-Text Citation Example

(Author's Last Name)

(Williamson)

Page or Document on a Website with an Unknown Author

"Title of Page or Document." Title of Website, Name of Organization Affiliated with the Website, Date of copyright or date last modified/updated, URL. Accessed access date.

Note: Date of access is now optional in MLA 8th edition. If no publication date is included, we recommend including the date you last accessed the site.

Works Cited List Example

"How to Teach Yourself Guitar." eHow, Demand Media, www.ehow.com/how_5298173_teach-yourself-guitar.html. Accessed 24 June 2016.

Note: The above example has no copyright/last updated date. The date of access is crucial if the source has no date specifying when it was produced or published.

In-Text Citation Example

("Title of Page or Document")

("How to Teach Yourself Guitar")

Note: There is no author, so the title (or an abbreviated version of the title) is used in the in-text citation, in quotation marks, as it appears in the Works Cited List Example above.

Example from Global Road Warrior

Works Cited List Example

"Canada: Education Structure." Global Road Warrior, World Trade Press, 2018, www.globalroadwarrior.com/#mode=country&regionId=27&uri=country-content&nid=62.1&key=country-ed-structure. Accessed 17 July 2018.

In-Text Citation Example

("Title of Page or Document")

("Canada: Education structure")

Note: There is no author, so the title (or an abbreviated version of the title) is used in the in-text citation, in quotation marks, as it appears in the Works Cited List Example above.

Government Document From a Website

Title of Document: Subtitle if Given. Edition if given and is not first edition, Name of Government Department, Agency or Committee, Publication Date, URL. Accessed Access Date.

Note: Date of access is now optional in MLA 8th edition. If no publication date is included, we recommend including the date you last accessed the site.

Works Cited List Example	Highlights from the Competition Bureau’s Workshop on Emerging Competition Issues. Competition Bureau of Canada, 4 Mar. 2016, www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/vwapj/cb-Workshop-Summary-Report-e.pdf/$FILE/cb-Workshop-Summary-Report-e.pdf. Accessed 6 July 2016.
In-Text Citation Example	(Title of Document) Example: (Highlights) Note: You can use a shortened form of the title by listing the first word or words of the full title.