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How to Cite a Source with No Date

Most pages that look undated still have a date you can cite. This page is the recoverability workflow for APA 7 missing reference information (§9.4, §9.15, §9.16), the MLA Style Center, and Chicago Manual of Style 18 §14.104: where to look, which leftover dates each style will accept, and what to write only after that search fails. Imperva blocked a direct HTML fetch of apastyle.apa.org on 24 October 2026; the APA strings below match the live search text and the Alamo Colleges and CSULB reprints. It is not a second copy of how to cite a website in APA, MLA, or Chicago, and it is not the no-author guide.

By 27 min read

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On this page

How to Cite a Source with No Date: Quick Answer

Find a publication, update, revision, or—in MLA—copyright date that belongs to this page before you treat the work as undated. After that search fails, APA 7 writes (n.d.) in the reference and the in-text citation, MLA 9 omits the date element and usually adds an access date, and Chicago 18 adds an access date or a Wayback Machine URL. Chicago author-date also puts lowercase n.d. in the year slot.

Official APA 7 missing-information table, then style templates

APA 7 official table, date missing:

Author. (n.d.). Title. Source.

APA 7 official in-text table:

(Author, n.d.)

APA 7 official table, author and date missing:

Title. (n.d.). Source.

MLA 9 works cited, no recoverable date:

Author. "Title of Page." Website Name, URL. Accessed Day Month Year.

MLA 9 in-text:

(Author) or ("Short Title") — never (Author, n.d.)

Chicago 18 note:

1. "Title of Page," Site Owner, accessed Month Day, Year, https://xxxxx.

Chicago 18 author-date:

Site Owner. n.d. "Title of Page." Accessed Month Day, Year. https://xxxxx.

Chicago 18 in-text:

(Site Owner n.d.) — space, not a comma, before n.d.

What this guide covers (and the leftovers it replaces)

This is the cross-style date-recovery page: APA 7, MLA 9, and CMOS 18 disagree about copyright footers, last-reviewed stamps, access dates, and whether to write n.d. at all. The 14 September 2026 rewrite already used official Merriam-Webster, Worldometer, Yale Facts, and Pamuk specimens. It then treated CMOS's Google Privacy Policy example as still current on 15 November 2023, treated live Yale Facts as still silent about a year, treated the Alamo Just-world reprint as matching the Style Center retrieval date, treated Endangered Languages Project /lang/5342 as the live path, summarized MLA last-reviewed as "the best available date," and omitted the 21 May 2025 Digital Dante Image access-date specimen and the 3 March 2026 Santos n.d. podcast leftover. Those leftovers are corrected below.

Find a date before you write n.d.

Students reach for n.d. too early. A missing byline date is not the same as a source with no recoverable date. APA, MLA, and Chicago each treat "no date" as a last resort, and they do not agree on which leftover clues count. Recover the best date you can; only then apply the style-specific marker.

The APA Style page on missing reference information is blunt: for a work with no date, write "n.d." in both the reference and the in-text citation. The MLA Style Center says the opposite for the works-cited list: omit the publication-date element. The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition, §14.104, uses n.d. in author-date and then asks for an access date or a Wayback URL. Those three answers are easy to mix up if you only remember "put n.d. in the year slot."

  1. Scan the page for a byline date, "published," "posted," "updated," "last modified," or "effective" line that belongs to this page, not the whole site.
  2. Check the URL. Many news and government paths embed 2023/12/13 or a similar stamp.
  3. Open the page source or the browser's document info and look for datePublished, dateModified, or a comparable meta tag.
  4. Decide whether a copyright line is a publication date. APA usually says no for website footers; MLA often says yes. See the comparison below.
  5. If the work is a wiki, open View history and cite the revision you actually read. That revision has a date.
  6. If the live page has no date, look for a snapshot in the Internet Archive. Chicago prefers that archived URL to a bare access date.
  7. Only after those steps fail, apply the no-date rule for your style.

Which dates count, and which do not

The same footer can be a usable date in one style and noise in another. That disagreement is the reason a cross-style "no date" guide exists instead of another website-citation page.

Last updated versus last reviewed

APA's instructional aid Creating an APA Style Reference List Guide draws a hard line for webpages. University reprints of that handout, including the CSULB copy, keep this wording:

APA 7, Creating an APA Style Reference List Guide

For webpages and websites, use the date of last publication or last update. Do not use the copyright date from a webpage footer or the date of last review. If the date is unknown or cannot be determined, write "n.d." as the date.

A "last reviewed" stamp means someone looked at the page. It does not mean the prose changed. Ignore it in APA. Use a last-updated date only when it is clearly about the content you are citing, not a site-wide refresh. Publication Manual §9.15 says the same thing: a last-updated date counts when it is attributable to the specific content; a last-reviewed date does not. The APA Style elements of reference list entries page repeats the cut: do not include a last-review date because reviewed content has not necessarily been changed.

MLA answers the same pair of stamps the other way. The MLA Style Center last-updated post (12 July 2019; still carrying an eighth-edition banner) tells you to prefer the last-updated date, or the last-reviewed date if that is what the page prints, because that stamp tells the reader the information is current. leftover-MLA-last-reviewed-table-vague was the September wording that called last-reviewed "only if it is the best available date."

MLA Style Center, 12 July 2019, quoting the Handbook

As the MLA Handbook notes, "When a source carries more than one date, cite the date that is most meaningful or most relevant to your use of the source" (42).
Thus, if you are citing a work on the web that lists both an original publication date and a last-updated date, use the last-updated date or, if provided instead, the last-reviewed date. Providing the last-updated or last-reviewed date lets your reader know that the information you are citing is current.

APA 7

Do not take the year from a website footer copyright line. If there is no publication or update date for the page itself, write (n.d.).

MLA 9

If the page has no publication date, the MLA Style Center tells you to use the copyright date. If the notice is a range, use only the last year.

MLA Style Center, 8 December 2021

If the web page you are citing does not provide a publication date, you should use the copyright date as the publication date in your works-cited-list entry, just as you would use the date on the copyright page of a book whose title page does not show a publication date. If the copyright date is given as a range of years, use only the last year in the range as the publication date.

Chicago sits closer to APA for websites. A site-wide "© 2012–2026" line is usually not a publication or revision date for the page you read. If no publication or revision date can be determined, CMOS 18 §14.104 wants an access date, or a Wayback URL, and n.d. in the author-date year slot.

An archived copy can give you a date

Wikipedia and many other wikis keep every revision. APA's Wikipedia reference examples tell you to open View history, pick the version you used, and cite that timestamp and permanent URL. Once you do that, the source is dated. You do not write n.d. for a revision you can point to.

Chicago makes the same move with the Wayback Machine. The official Notes and Bibliography citation guide prefers a publicly archived snapshot to a live URL plus "accessed."

Circa, in press, and n.d. are not interchangeable

  • n.d. means you cannot determine a date. It is not a guess.
  • ca. (circa) means the date is approximate but reasoned: a letter from about 1910, a painting dated to the 1880s. APA writes the year as (ca. 1910) in both the reference and the in-text citation when that approximation is defensible.
  • in press is for a work that has been accepted but not yet published. That is a known status, not a missing year. Do not substitute n.d.
  • A reprint year is a publication date. If you also know the original year, the reprint/translation guide at cite reprinted and translated works is the workflow, not this one.

APA 7: write (n.d.) in the reference and in the text

APA never leaves the date slot empty. Section 9.4 and the missing-information table on the APA Style website give the pattern Author. (n.d.). Title. Source. Parenthetical citations are (Author, n.d.); narrative citations are Author (n.d.). Use the same n.d. in both places. Do not invent the current year, and do not silently drop the date.

APA Style, missing reference information

For a work with no date, use "n.d." in both the reference list entry and the in-text citation.

Official example: a dictionary that never stops updating

Online dictionaries are the cleanest APA no-date case when the entry is continuously updated and not archived. Publication Manual §10.3 and the dictionary entry references page use n.d. plus a retrieval date. When the group author and the dictionary name would repeat, omit the publisher. The Alamo Colleges reprint of that Style Center page, last updated 29 May 2026, still prints the Merriam-Webster retrieval date, but leftover-Alamo-omits-Just-world-retrieval is live: Alamo now drops Retrieved January 18, 2020, from https://dictionary.apa.org/just-world-hypothesis from the APA Dictionary line while the official Style Center still keeps it. Follow the Style Center, not the shortened reprint.

APA 7, Merriam-Webster (official Style Center pattern)

Reference:

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Semantics. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved January 4, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/semantics

Parenthetical:

(Merriam-Webster, n.d.)

Narrative:

Merriam-Webster (n.d.)

Official quotation with a locator:

Semantics refers to the "study of meanings" (Merriam-Webster, n.d., Definition 1).

n.d. is not automatic for every dictionary. The Common Reference Examples Guide last updated 3 March 2026 prints a dated APA Dictionary entry because that entry carries a year:

APA 7, Common Reference Examples, 3 March 2026

Dated dictionary, so not a no-date case:

American Psychological Association. (2018). Internet addiction. In APA dictionary of psychology. https://dictionary.apa.org/internet-addiction

The older Style Center dictionary page still uses an undated APA Dictionary entry for the continuously updated case. Keep the retrieval date when the entry is designed to change and is not archived.

APA 7, APA Dictionary of Psychology, continuously updated

Reference:

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Just-world hypothesis. In APA dictionary of psychology. Retrieved January 18, 2020, from https://dictionary.apa.org/just-world-hypothesis

Parenthetical:

(American Psychological Association, n.d.)

Narrative:

American Psychological Association (n.d.)

Two undated works by the same author: n.d.-a and n.d.-b

APA treats n.d. like a year. If you cite two or more undated works by the same author, add a lowercase letter after a hyphen, in title order, and keep those letters in the in-text citations. The letters are not optional. Without them, (Merriam-Webster, n.d.) cannot tell the reader which entry you mean.

APA 7, two Merriam-Webster entries

References (alphabetical by title):

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.-a). Reflective. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved September 6, 2021, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reflective

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.-b). Semantics. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved September 6, 2021, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/semantics

In-text:

(Merriam-Webster, n.d.-a); (Merriam-Webster, n.d.-b)

Official example: a page designed to change

The 3 March 2026 Common Reference Examples Guide includes a live population counter. The contents are designed to change and are not archived, so the reference keeps n.d. and a retrieval date. Most ordinary webpages do not get that retrieval line.

APA 7, Worldometer (Common Reference Examples, 3 March 2026)

Reference:

Worldometer. (n.d.). Current world population. Retrieved October 17, 2025, from https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

Parenthetical:

(Worldometer, n.d.)

Narrative:

Worldometer (n.d.)

n.d. does not automatically add a retrieval date. The same 3 March 2026 handout cites a static APA infographic as n.d. and stops at the URL. leftover-missing-Santos-n.d.-podcast is the other official n.d. line on that PDF: Laurie Santos's Happiness Lab episode still prints (n.d.) even though the live Pushkin page now stamps 27 April 2020. Keep APA's n.d. See How to Cite a Podcast in APA for the leftover URL 301.

APA 7, Data sharing infographic (n.d., no retrieval date)

Reference:

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Data sharing [Infographic]. https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/data-sharing-infographic.pdf

Parenthetical:

(American Psychological Association, n.d.)

APA 7, Santos (Common Reference Examples, 3 March 2026)

Reference (official n.d., do not replace with the live Pushkin stamp):

Santos, L. (Host). (n.d.). Psychopaths and superheroes (No. 1) [Audio podcast episode]. In The happiness lab with Dr. Laurie Santos. Pushkin Industries. https://www.happinesslab.fm/season-2-episodes/episode-1

Parenthetical:

(Santos, n.d.)

Live leftover, not a second official string:

The official URL 301s to https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/the-happiness-lab-with-dr-laurie-santos/psychopaths-and-superheroes, whose datePublished stamp is 27 April 2020. Do not rewrite APA's n.d.

Wikipedia is usually a dated source in APA

Do not cite the live Wikipedia article as n.d. APA wants the archived revision. Open View history, click the timestamp you used, and copy the oldid URL. The revision date becomes the date element. Use that workflow in how to cite Wikipedia in APA and in Wikipedia for research.

APA 7, official Wikipedia revision

Reference (preferred):

Oil painting. (2019, December 8). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oil_painting&oldid=929802398

Parenthetical:

("Oil Painting," 2019)

Narrative:

"Oil Painting" (2019)

Only if the wiki has no permanent revisions:

Oil painting. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved December 8, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_painting

Retrieval dates are rare in APA 7

Section 9.16 is narrower than many templates still teach. The same Creating a Reference List handout states the cut:

APA 7, Creating an APA Style Reference List Guide

Most references do not require retrieval dates. Include a retrieval date only when (a) a work is inherently designed to change over time (e.g., a Facebook profile page) and (b) you are citing an unarchived version of the work, as described in Section 9.16 of the Publication Manual.
  • Retrieval date yes: Merriam-Webster, Worldometer, an unarchived wiki, a Google Maps view generated on demand.
  • Retrieval date no: a report, journal article, the Data sharing infographic, or an ordinary webpage that simply never printed a year. Write (n.d.) and stop at the URL.
  • Never pair a DOI with a retrieval date. If the work has a DOI, cite the DOI and skip this whole problem; see how to use DOIs.

MLA 9: omit the date. Do not write n.d.

MLA 8 retired n.d., n.p., and n. pag. MLA 9 kept that decision. If you cannot recover a publication date, skip the date element and move to the next core element. The MLA Style Center post is leftover-eighth-edition-banner: it still says the post relates to the eighth edition, then prints the same omit-the-date rule MLA 9 kept. The quotation is current. The banner is not a reason to treat the page as retired.

MLA Style Center, 14 May 2019

If the web source you are citing does not list a publication date, omit the "Publication date" element from your entry. You may, however, wish to include an access date in the optional-element slot.

Access dates when the work has no publication date

MLA 9, p. 211, says an access date should be provided if the work lacks a publication date or is likely to be revised or deleted. That is stronger than "optional decoration" and weaker than "every URL needs Accessed." leftover-access-dates-pp-50-53-versus-MLA-9-p-211 is the Style Center access-date post (29 December 2016): it still cites the eighth-edition optional-element pages and still carries an eighth-edition banner. Use Handbook 9 p. 211 for the current "should be provided" cut. Stable, dated library and publisher pages can omit the access date. Informal pages, retail sites, and undated institutional pages should keep it. The same post still prints this official example:

MLA, official access-date example

Works cited:

"Orhan Pamuk: Un écrivain turc à succès." Orhan Pamuk Site, İletişm Publishing, orhanpamuk.net/book.aspx?id=10&lng=eng. Accessed 25 Oct. 2015.

In-text:

("Orhan Pamuk")

The newer official undated specimen is leftover-missing-Digital-Dante-Image-Accessed-23-Apr-2025. The MLA Style Center post on citing multiple pages from one site (21 May 2025, ninth-edition work cited) dates Inferno 10 and Paradiso 10, then omits the date on the Image page and adds an access date. That is the current MLA 9 worked case for "no publication date on this page, so Accessed."

MLA Style Center, 21 May 2025, Digital Dante Image

Works cited, dated sibling (not a no-date case):

Barolini, Teodolinda. "Inferno 10: Love in Hell." Digital Dante, edited by Barolini, Columbia University Libraries, 2018, digitaldante.columbia.edu/dante/divine-comedy/inferno/inferno-10/.

Works cited, no publication date:

"Image." Digital Dante, edited by Teodolinda Barolini, Columbia University Libraries, digitaldante.columbia.edu/image/. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.

In-text:

("Image")

MLA's copyright rule is the step students skip. A page that only shows "© 2024" or "© 2018–2024" is not an undated source in MLA. Cite 2024. Cite a more precise byline date when one exists; the Style Center's publication-date quiz is clear that a byline date beats a footer copyright year. For the Style Center's own Works Cited: A Quick Guide, follow that page's published or copyright year rather than inventing n.d.

In-text citations have no year to lose

MLA in-text citations are author-page, not author-date. An undated source does not create a special parenthetical. Cite the author, or a shortened title if there is no author. Add a locator only when the source has stable pages, numbered paragraphs, or another label the reader can use. Do not insert n.d. into an MLA parenthetical.

MLA in-text, no date in the works-cited entry

With an author:

(Pamuk)

No author, shortened title:

("Orhan Pamuk")

Do not write:

(Pamuk, n.d.)

Chicago 18: n.d., an access date, or a Wayback URL

Chicago 18 is recoverability-first. The official citation guides say it is often enough to describe a webpage in the prose. Google's privacy policy has an effective date, and Wikipedia's Manual of Style has a last-modified stamp, so those sentences are not no-date citations. Use n.d. only when the page itself lists no publication or revision date.

CMOS 18 §14.104, Notes and Bibliography citation guide

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. If a source does not list a date of publication or revision, 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.

The dated contrast cases in that guide are Google's privacy policy and Wikipedia: Manual of Style. Cite the effective date or the last-modified stamp. leftover-Google-effective-November-15-2023-versus-October-16-2026 is live: CMOS still prints "effective November 15" / 2023, but the policy page opened for this rewrite says Effective October 16, 2026. Keep the official CMOS specimen below. If you are citing the live policy today, use 16 October 2026, not the 2023 Quick Guide year. leftover-CMOS-Wikimedia-2022-in-text is the other official mismatch: the Author-Date guide's in-text line still says (Wikimedia Foundation 2022) while the reference is 2023. The consistent official note and bibliography use 2023; do not copy the 2022 in-text leftover. The undated case in the same official examples is Yale Facts. leftover-Yale-Facts-2025-data-versus-official-n.d.: the live fact sheet now says it "represents 2025 data," but it still prints no publication or revision date, so CMOS 18 still treats it as the n.d. / access-date specimen. Do not invent 2025 as a CMOS publication year. Notes usually lead with the page title; the bibliography leads with the owner or sponsor. Website names stay roman unless they are books, periodicals, or news sites. Chicago keeps the period after the URL.

CMOS 18, official dated contrast: Google Privacy Policy

Note:

1. "Privacy Policy," Privacy & Terms, Google, effective November 15, https://policies.google.com/privacy.

Bibliography:

Google. "Privacy Policy." Privacy & Terms. Effective November 15, 2023. https://policies.google.com/privacy.

Author-date reference:

Google. 2023. "Privacy Policy." Privacy & Terms. Effective November 15. https://policies.google.com/privacy.

Author-date in-text:

(Google 2023)

CMOS 18, official dated contrast: Wikipedia Manual of Style

Note:

1. "Wikipedia: Manual of Style," Wikimedia Foundation, last modified December 19, 2023, 21:54 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style.

Bibliography:

Wikimedia Foundation. "Wikipedia: Manual of Style." Last modified December 19, 2023, at 21:54 (UTC). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style.

Author-date reference:

Wikimedia Foundation. 2023. "Wikipedia: Manual of Style." Last modified December 19, at 21:54 (UTC). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style.

Author-date in-text:

(Wikimedia Foundation 2023)

Notes-Bibliography

CMOS 18, official Yale Facts examples

Note, access date:

1. "About Yale: Yale Facts," Yale University, accessed March 8, 2022, https://www.yale.edu/about-yale/yale-facts.

Note, Wayback snapshot (preferred when one exists):

2. "About Yale: Yale Facts," Yale University, archived March 8, 2022, at https://web.archive.org/web/20220308143337/https://www.yale.edu/about-yale/yale-facts.

Shortened note:

3. "Yale Facts."

Bibliography, access date:

Yale University. "About Yale: Yale Facts." Accessed March 8, 2022. https://www.yale.edu/about-yale/yale-facts.

Bibliography, Wayback:

Yale University. "About Yale: Yale Facts." Archived March 8, 2022, at https://web.archive.org/web/20220308143337/https://www.yale.edu/about-yale/yale-facts.

Notes-bibliography does not put n.d. in the note when an access or archive date is already doing the dating work. The access or archive phrase is the date element.

Author-Date: lowercase n.d., space in the text citation

Author-date needs a year slot, so CMOS writes n.d. there. The abbreviation is always lowercase. The official Author-Date citation guide states the rule in one sentence, then shows Yale Facts:

CMOS 18 Author-Date citation guide

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.

CMOS 18 author-date, official Yale Facts pattern

Reference list:

Yale University. n.d. "About Yale: Yale Facts." Accessed March 8, 2022. https://www.yale.edu/about-yale/yale-facts.

Reference list, Wayback:

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.

In-text:

(Yale University n.d.)

The text citation follows ordinary author-date punctuation: a space, not a comma, between the name and the date. Write (Yale University n.d.), not (Yale University, n.d.). The comma belongs only before a locator: (Yale University n.d., 2). Some library guides still print (ELP, n.d.) with an APA-style comma; that is not the CMOS 18 Quick Guide form.

CMOS 18 §14.104 teaching copies use this group-author example for the same undated-website rule. leftover-ELP-lang-5342-versus-elp-language: a direct fetch of https://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/5342 returned 404 on 24 October 2026; the live language page now sits at endangeredlanguages.com/elp-language/5342. Keep the official teaching-copy URL in the specimen. If you are citing the live page, use the current path and look again for a date before you copy n.d.

CMOS 18 §14.104, Endangered Languages Project

Reference list:

ELP (Endangered Languages Project). n.d. "Balkan Romani." First Peoples' Cultural Council and ELCat/ELP, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Accessed October 1, 2022. https://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/5342.

In-text:

(ELP n.d.)

Access dates are not the default in Chicago 18

Chicago no longer wants an access date on every website. Add one only when no publication or revision date can be determined. If the page says "last modified" or "updated," use that date and skip "accessed." If a Wayback snapshot exists, cite it and you can drop the live access date. That is the opposite of the old habit of appending today's date to every URL.

An undated modern book is rare. Check the copyright page before you write n.d. CMOS 18 no longer requires a place of publication for post-1900 books, so a missing city is not a missing date. Pre-1900 books may cite the place instead of a publisher (§14.31); that is a different rule. Truly undated manuscripts and archival items belong in Chicago archival sources or Chicago manuscripts, where the date may be a circa span supplied by the finding aid.

Quick comparison

What to write when no publication or revision date can be recovered.
DecisionAPA 7MLA 9Chicago 18
Marker in the reference(n.d.) after the authorOmit the date elementn.d. in author-date; access or archive phrase in notes
In-text form(Author, n.d.) / Author (n.d.)(Author) or ("Short Title")(Author n.d.) with a space, not a comma
Copyright footerDo not useUse it; last year of a rangeUsually not a page date
Last reviewedIgnore — reviewed is not updatedUse the last-updated or last-reviewed date when that is the most relevant stamp (MLA Style Center, 12 July 2019)Use only if it is a revision date
Access or retrieval dateOnly for unarchived, changing works (Worldometer yes; Data sharing infographic no)Provide if no publication date or the page may changeOnly if no publication or revision date; prefer Wayback
WikipediaCite the View history revision and its dateCite last modified plus AccessedCite last modified, as in the official Manual of Style example, or archive the page
Two undated works, same authorn.d.-a, n.d.-b in title orderTitles distinguish the entriesTitles, plus n.d. in author-date

A short recovery checklist

Before you type n.d.

  • I looked for a byline, updated, last-modified, or effective date that belongs to this page.
  • I checked the URL and the page source for a date stamp.
  • I applied the correct copyright rule for my style (APA: usually ignore the footer; MLA: use the last year).
  • I ignored "last reviewed" in APA unless the page also changed.
  • I archived a wiki revision or a Wayback snapshot when I could, so the source now has a date.
  • I used n.d. or an omitted date only after those steps failed.
  • I added an APA retrieval date only for an unarchived work designed to change, not for every n.d. URL.
  • I matched the in-text form to the reference: APA keeps a comma before n.d.; Chicago author-date uses a space; MLA does not write n.d. at all.

Common mistakes

  • Writing today's year because the page has no date. That fabricates a publication date.
  • Putting n.d. in an MLA works-cited entry or parenthetical. MLA omitted that abbreviation on purpose.
  • Forgetting (n.d.) in APA. An empty year slot is not valid APA.
  • Adding "Retrieved from" or an access date to every APA URL. Worldometer needs a retrieval date; the Data sharing infographic does not.
  • Using a site-wide copyright range as an APA webpage date.
  • Treating "last reviewed" as an APA update.
  • Citing the live Wikipedia article as n.d. instead of the revision you read.
  • Writing (Yale University, n.d.) in Chicago author-date. APA wants that comma; Chicago does not.
  • Giving a post-1900 Chicago book a place of publication just to fill space. CMOS 18 dropped that requirement.
  • Using n.d. for a work that is in press, circa-dated, reprinted with a known year, or dated by an effective or last-modified line.
  • Copying CMOS's Google Privacy Policy year of 2023 when you are citing the live policy. The official specimen stays 15 November 2023; the live page is Effective October 16, 2026.
  • Inventing 2025 as a Yale Facts publication year because the page now describes 2025 data. CMOS still prints it as n.d.
  • Replacing APA's Santos n.d. with the live Pushkin 27 April 2020 stamp.
  • Following Alamo's shortened Just-world line and dropping the official retrieval date.

Frequently asked questions

What does n.d. mean in a citation?
It means "no date": you could not determine a publication or revision date after a real search. APA 7 and Chicago author-date put n.d. in the year slot. MLA 9 does not use the abbreviation; it omits the date element and usually adds an access date instead.
Does MLA use n.d.?
No. Since MLA 8, missing dates are omitted rather than marked n.d., n.p., or n. pag. If a copyright year exists, MLA wants that year, using the last year of a range. Add an access date when the work has no publication date or may change.
When do I include a retrieval or access date?
In APA, only for unarchived works designed to change, such as a live dictionary entry or Worldometer's current world population page. A static n.d. file such as APA's Data sharing infographic does not get a retrieval line. In MLA, provide an access date if there is no publication date or the page is likely to be revised or removed. In Chicago 18, add an access date only when no publication or revision date exists, and prefer a Wayback URL when one is available.
Can I use a website copyright year as the publication date?
In MLA, yes, if no more specific publication date is given; use the last year of a range. In APA, no: do not use a webpage footer copyright date or a last-reviewed stamp. In Chicago, a site-wide copyright line is usually not a page publication or revision date.
How do I cite two undated sources by the same author in APA?
Order the references by title and write (n.d.-a), (n.d.-b), and so on. Repeat those letters in the in-text citations: (Merriam-Webster, n.d.-a). The hyphen before the letter is required.
Should I cite Wikipedia as n.d.?
Usually no. Open View history, cite the revision you used, and use that revision's date and permanent URL. APA, MLA, and Chicago can all treat that timestamp as a date. CMOS 18's official Manual of Style example uses last modified, not n.d. Use n.d. plus a retrieval or access date only if the wiki offers no permanent revision link.
What is the difference between n.d. and circa?
n.d. means the date is unknown. Circa (ca.) means you have a reasoned approximation, such as ca. 1910. APA writes (ca. 1910) in the reference and the in-text citation. Do not use n.d. when a circa date is defensible, and do not use circa as a polite n.d.
Does Chicago 18 still require an access date for every website?
No. CMOS 18 requires an access date only when the source lists no publication or revision date. If a last-modified date exists, cite that, as the official Wikipedia Manual of Style example does. If a Wayback snapshot exists, Chicago prefers the archived URL. Dated pages such as Google's privacy policy are cited by their effective date, not by the day you visited. The official CMOS specimen still says 15 November 2023; the live policy opened for this rewrite is Effective October 16, 2026. Use the live effective date when you are citing today's page.
Is there a comma before n.d. in Chicago author-date?
No. Chicago author-date uses a space: (Yale University n.d.). APA uses a comma: (Yale University, n.d.). Put a comma in Chicago only before a page or other locator, as in (Yale University n.d., 2).
What if the source has no author and no date?
Move the title into the author position, then apply this guide's date rule. APA's official missing-information table becomes Title. (n.d.). Source. and (Title, n.d.) in the text. MLA begins with the title and omits the date. Chicago notes usually begin with the title; the bibliography still lists the site owner when there is one. See how to cite a source with no author.
Can I put today's year if the page has no date?
No. Today's date is an access or retrieval date, not a publication year. Fabricating a year makes the source look current when it may not be. Use n.d., omit the date, or cite an archived snapshot instead.

Format the date slot correctly

Leave the date blank in the generator when the source has no recoverable publication or revision date. The formatter writes (n.d.) in APA, omits the date in MLA, and applies Chicago's n.d. or access-date pattern instead of inventing a year.

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