Citing Websites and Blogs

On this page:

  1. Websites
  2. Blogs

1. Websites

In most instances, references to webpages should be made to the host institution/organization/author's website, rather than individual pages (see CMS 14.206, 14.207). For original content from online sources that does not duplicate formally published documents, include as much of the following content as possible: author, title or description of the page, sponsor/owner of site, and a URL. A publication date, revision date and access date are also helpful, especially for sites like Wikipedia that are updated frequently. Citations to websites can often be limited to notes, with bibliographic citations as appropriate.

Footnote/Endnote:

Format: 

  • 1 Author First Name Last name, “Website Title,” Sponsor/Owner of Site, Access Date, URL. 

Example: 

  • Metropolitan Opera, “Educator Guide: Rigoletto,” The Metropolitan Opera, Accessed September 21, 2015, https://www.metopera.org/discover/education/educator-guides-archive/rigoletto/. 

Bibliography:

Format: 

  • Author/Creator Last Name, First Name. “Website Title.” Sponsor/Owner of Site. Access Date. URL. 

Examples: 

  • Metropolitan Opera. “Educator Guide: Rigoletto.” The Metropolitan Opera. Accessed September 21, 2015. https://www.metopera.org/discover/education/educator-guides-archive/rigoletto/. 
  • Robbin, Rachel. “About the TSYO.” Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Accessed September 22, 2015. https://www.tso.ca/toronto-symphony-youth-orchestra. 

2. Blogs

Blogs (or, "weblogs") now generally consist of a few standard components, including titles, dated entries, and comments. Citing blog entries is therefore similar to citing online newspaper articles (see CMS 14.208). Blogs that are part of a larger publication should also include that publication's name. The word blog, if not in the title, should appear in parentheses after the blog title, as in example 2, below. Chicago style suggests that blog entries generally be relegated to notes rather than bibliographies, with frequently cited blogs listed under the blog heading itself.

Footnote/Endnote:

Format: 

  • Author First Name Last Name, “Title,” Name of Blog in Italics (blog), Name of Publication, Publication date, URL. 

Example: 

  • Adrianne Pieczonka, “The Opera that Changed My Life: Tosca in the Flesh,” Parlando: The COC Blog, Canadian Opera Company, June 5, 2017, http://www.coc.ca/COC-news1?EntryID=14998.

Bibliography:

Format: 

  • Author Last Name, First Name. “Title.” Name of Blog in Italics (blog), Name of Publication. Publication Date. URL. 

Examples: 

  • Pieczonka, Adrianne. "The Opera that Changed My Life: Tosca in the Flesh." Parlando: The COC Blog, Canadian Opera Company. June 5, 2017. http://www.coc.ca/COC-news1?EntryID=14998.
  • Reynolds, Christopher. "Growing the Database of Women Songwriters, 1890-1930." Musicology Now (blog), American Musicological Society. September 21, 2015. http://musicologynow.ams-net.org/.