Websites are among the most cited sources and among the most incorrectly formatted ones. This guide covers standard webpages in five citation styles, then handles the trickier cases: news articles, government sites, social media posts, and pages that no longer exist.
Standard Webpage
Source details
Author: World Health Organization
Year: 2023 Date: 15 March 2023
Title: Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2030
Website: World Health Organization
URL: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241506021
APA 7
World Health Organization. (2023, March 15). Mental health action plan 2013–2030. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241506021
APA 7: site name omitted when the same as author; no "Retrieved from"; no access date for stable pages
MLA 9
World Health Organization. "Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2030." World Health Organization, 15 Mar. 2023, www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241506021. Accessed 10 Apr. 2024.
MLA 9: site name in italics as container; URL without https://; accessed date required
Harvard
World Health Organization (2023) Mental health action plan 2013–2030. Available at: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241506021 (Accessed: 10 April 2024).
Harvard: "Available at:" before URL; "(Accessed: Day Month Year)" required
Chicago AD
World Health Organization. 2023. "Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2030." Accessed April 10, 2024. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241506021.
Chicago AD: "Accessed [date]." before URL; title in quotes (not italics) for a webpage
Vancouver
World Health Organization. Mental health action plan 2013–2030 [Internet]. Geneva: WHO; 2023 [cited 2024 Apr 10]. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241506021
Vancouver: [Internet] tag required; [cited Year Mon Day] format; "Available from:" before URL
Special Cases
No author — APA 7
Format
Title of page. (Year, Month Day). Site Name. URL
Example
What is peer review? (2022, June 4). Nature. https://www.nature.com/...
No date — APA 7
Format
Author. (n.d.). Title. Site Name. URL
Note
Use n.d. for no date. Retrieve date only if content likely to change (e.g., Wikipedia).
Government website — Harvard
Example
Department of Health and Social Care (2023) COVID-19 response: autumn 2023. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/... (Accessed: 5 November 2023).
News article — APA 7
Example
Wanjiru, M. (2022, August 15). Universities cut arts subject places. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/...
Most citation styles now have official guidance for tweets, Instagram posts, and similar content.
APA 7 — Tweet
Obama, B. [@BarackObama]. (2020, November 7). Congratulations to my friend, @JoeBiden, on his historic victory. [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/...
Include the username in square brackets after the display name; note [Tweet] after the text; include full URL
MLA 9 — Social media post
@BarackObama. "Congratulations to my friend, @JoeBiden, on his historic victory." Twitter, 7 Nov. 2020, twitter.com/BarackObama/status/...
Username as author; platform in italics as container; no "www." needed
Pages That No Longer Exist: Wayback Machine
If a webpage has been removed or changed, use the Wayback Machine (web.archive.org) archived version. Cite the archived URL, not the original dead link.
APA 7 — Archived page
Smith, J. (2018, April 3). Article title. Website Name. https://web.archive.org/web/20180403120000/https://example.com/article
Use the Wayback Machine URL as your URL; add "Retrieved Month Day, Year" before the URL for content likely to change
When Is an Access Date Required?
- APA 7: Only if content is likely to change or has no date (e.g., Wikipedia, informal pages). Not needed for stable institutional pages.
- MLA 9: Always include "Accessed [date]."
- Harvard: Always include "(Accessed: Day Month Year)."
- Chicago: Always include "Accessed [Month Day, Year]." before the URL.
- Vancouver: Always include "[cited Year Mon Day]."
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