The Best Source Material On How to Cite a Website in MLA, APA & Chicago Formats With Examples

When you need to cite a website in an academic paper, it is important that you adhere to the conventions of citing and referencing appropriately. This includes correctly formatting citations for different sources like websites, newspapers, books, journals, and other materials. 

It is also important that you include all relevant information in your reference list or bibliography at the end of your paper. As with any source material used for research purposes, it is essential to provide reliable evidence for what you are claiming by accurately acknowledging authorship and publication dates.

How To Cite A Website In MLA Style?

The MLA Works Cited entry for an article from a periodical includes the author’s name, the title of the article (in quotation marks), the title of the periodical (in italics), volume and issue numbers, date of publication, page numbers, and sometimes a URL. Most scholarly journals provide detailed information about how to cite articles in their style guides or on their websites.

For material from online databases such as JSTOR or ProQuest, provide all necessary information about each source, including authorship, document type (e.g., article or ebook chapter), and database provider before providing a direct URL link to access it. Finally, when citing webpages that do not have an identifiable author or date published—such as Wikipedia entries—include in-text citations giving only site titles followed by dates accessed in parentheses after quoted materials.

For example, if you cited the webpage “MLA Citation Basics” from EasyBib.com, your Works Cited entry would look like EasyBib.com. “MLA Citation Basics.” EasyBib, 12 June 2018, www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/mla-format/.

When citing a website in MLA style, it is important to note that the date of publication may not be readily available or easily identifiable on some websites and, therefore, should only be included if possible, such as for newspapers and magazines with known dates of publication or academic articles which indicate when they were published online. If no date can be found on the website itself, then use (n.d.) instead after the name of the site in place of a year.

How To Cite A Website In APA Style?

To cite an online source in APA Style, start by writing the author’s last name, then add a comma and their first initial. Next, include the year of publication inside a set of parentheses, followed by a period. If no author is available, use either an organization’s full name or a short form if it is more commonly known (e.g., U.S. Department of Justice – DOJ). Then add the year in parentheses followed by a period outside the brackets. 

The title must appear on the site and in quotation marks – unless it’s too long, then you can shorten it according to APA rules for titles longer than 40 characters–followed by a period outside quotation marks. Lastly, include both the DOI number if one is provided or alternatively provide a link to where you accessed it and when that was done (date retrieved).

For example, McLaughlin, J. (2020, April 12). Python Basics. W3Schools. Retrieved from https://www.w3schools.com/python/python_intro.aspWhen citing websites in APA style with no author given, use the website owner or organization as the author and add “(n.d.)” for no date of publication after the title of the page instead of a full date listing (APA Publication Manual 2020). 

For example: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (n.d.). Introduction to Remote Sensing & Earth Observation Systems Technology Primer Series 1-6 [PDF]. Retrieved from https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi

Tips To Consider When Writing APA, MLA, and Chicago Formats

1. Always double-check your website source citation, ensuring that all sources are cited correctly and as per the formatting guidelines of the chosen style guide. 
2. Pay attention to margins, font size, and line spacing when writing in APA, MLA, or Chicago formats. The specified requirements for each type of format should be followed closely to avoid errors. 
3. Make sure you understand the rules related to capitalization when using any of these styles; titles such as books and articles must be written according to their own specific rules within each format guidebook. 
4. Be aware that different types of sources require different treatment when citing them in an assignment; make sure you have read up on what is needed for every source before adding it to your paper’s bibliography list!  
5. Be aware of any changes that may occur over time due to updates in the various style guides; this is especially important if you are reusing material from previous papers written under an earlier version of a particular format guideline! 
6. Spellcheck your document multiple times and use quotation marks whenever appropriate so that there is no confusion between words which might be spelled differently but sound alike (e.g., their versus there).
7. Lastly, always proofread your work thoroughly after completing it; this will help you identify any mistakes in grammar or styling so they can be rectified before submission!

Conclusion

In conclusion, citing a website in MLA, APA, and Chicago formats can be tricky. However, with the help of this article and the various examples provided above, you should now better understand how to do so correctly. By following these steps and using the correct format for each style guide mentioned here (MLA, APA & Chicago), you’ll be well on your way to accurately citing all sources used in your research paper or essay.