How to Cite a Website in Chicago (17th edition)
Learn how to cite webpages, online articles, and web content in Chicago format (17th edition). This guide includes the reference list format, in-text citation examples, and key formatting rules.
Chicago Bibliography Format
Here is the standard Chicago format for citing a website in your bibliography:
Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Page." Website Name. Month Day, Year. https://www.example.com/page.
Chicago Example for a Website
A complete Chicago reference for a website, formatted by the official Chicago CSL style definition — the same engine that powers the generator on this site:
Larsen, Sofie. 2024. “How Peer Review Works.” Open Science Digest, May 14. https://www.example.org/peer-review.
Matching in-text citation: (Larsen 2024)
Chicago In-Text Citation
Use one of these formats when referencing this source within your paper:
Parenthetical
(Smith 2024)
Narrative
Smith (2024) argues...
Key Chicago Formatting Rules
- Put the page title in quotation marks.
- Italicize the website name.
- Include the full URL.
- Include a last-modified or accessed date.
- Notes-Bibliography: use footnotes; Author-Date: use parenthetical.
Step-by-Step Guide
- Gather source information: Collect the author name, title, publication date, and URL or DOI for your website.
- Format the reference: Arrange the elements following the Chicago (17th edition) template shown above.
- Create the in-text citation: Add a parenthetical or narrative citation in your paper where you reference this source.
- Add to your bibliography: Include the full formatted citation at the end of your paper.
- Double-check formatting: Verify italics, punctuation, capitalization, and hanging indents match Chicago requirements.
Evidence and review notes
Worked examples are generated by citeproc from the published CSL definition, not written by a language model. Editorial guidance and sources in this section were reviewed on 2026-08-14.
CSL style record: chicago.csl
Metadata to collect
- author or responsible organization
- page title
- site name
- publication or update date
- stable URL
Common metadata traps
- Do not use a copyright year as the page publication date without evidence.
- Remove tracking parameters when a clean canonical URL is available.
Editorial sources
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I cite a website in Chicago?
- To cite a website in Chicago (17th edition), include the author, title, date, and source location. Use our free citation generator for automatic formatting.
- What is the Chicago format for a website citation?
- The Chicago format for a website is: Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of Page." Website Name. Month Day, Year. https://www.example.com/page.
- What does the in-text citation look like for a website in Chicago?
- In Chicago, the in-text citation for the example above is (Smith 2024)
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