A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations, Ninth edition - Kate L. Turabian 2018

Websites, blogs, and social media
Notes-bibliography style: citing specific types of sources
Source citation

17.5.1 Website Content

Cite web pages and related content by identifying the following elements: author, title of the page (in roman type, enclosed in quotation marks), title (or description) of the site (usually in roman type; see 22.3.2.3), the owner or sponsor of the site (if not the same as the title), and a publication or revision date. Include a URL as the final element (see 15.4.1.3).

For a frequently updated source (such as a wiki), you can record a time stamp if the source includes one. If no date can be determined from the source, include an access date (see 15.4.1.5). Cite website content in the notes; include a specific item in your bibliography only if it is critical to your argument or frequently cited.

N:

1. 1. “Privacy Policy,” Privacy & Terms, Google, last modified March 25, 2016, http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.

2. 2. “Balkan Romani,” Endangered Languages, Alliance for Linguistic Diversity, accessed June 10, 2016, http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/5342.

3. 3. “Wikipedia: Manual of Style,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified June 27, 2016, 09:57, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style.

4. 4. Susan B. Higgins, “High School Students Explore Key Issues Facing American Indian Communities,” News at Princeton, Princeton University, June 23, 2016, https://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S46/66/02A46/.

5. 5. “History,” Columbia University, accessed July 1, 2016, http://www.columbia.edu/content/history.html.

In a bibliography, list a source that doesn’t include an author under the title of the website or the name of its owner or sponsor.

B:

✵ Google. “Privacy Policy.” Privacy & Terms. Last modified March 25, 2016. http://www.google.com/intl/en/privacypolicy.html.

Articles from news websites can usually be cited like articles in newspapers (see 17.4). For blogs, see 17.5.2.

17.5.2 Blog Posts

Blog posts (also called entries) are similar to articles in magazines and newspapers and can be cited in much the same way (see 17.3 and 17.4). Put the title of the post in quotation marks and the title of the blog in italics (you can indicate “blog” in parentheses if it is not clear from the title). If the blog is part of a larger publication such as a newspaper or website, give the name of the publication after the title of the blog. Citations of blog posts can usually be limited to notes. Include a specific item in your bibliography only if it is critical to your argument or frequently cited; if you cite multiple posts from the same blog, you may choose to cite the blog as a whole in the bibliography.

N:

1. 1. Sharon Jayson, “Is Selfie Culture Making Our Kids Selfish?,” Well (blog), New York Times, June 23, 2016, http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/06/23/is-selfie-culture-making-our-kids-selfish/.

2. 2. Lindy West, “Sweden Introduces New Gender-Neutral Pronoun, Makes Being a Man ILLEGAL,” Jezebel, April 11, 2013, http://jezebel.com/sweden-introduces-new-gender-neutral-pronoun-makes-bei-472492079.

3. 3. William Germano, “Futurist Shock,” Lingua Franca (blog), Chronicle of Higher Education, February 15, 2017, http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2017/02/15/futurist-shock/.

B:

✵ Germano, William. “Futurist Shock.” Lingua Franca (blog). Chronicle of Higher Education, February 15, 2017, http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2017/02/15/futurist-shock/.

or

✵ Lingua Franca (blog). Chronicle of Higher Education. http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/.

Comments can be cited in terms of a shortened form of the original post (which must be cited or mentioned in full elsewhere). Cite the name exactly as it appears, along with any identifying information in parentheses. List the date of the comment rather than the date of the post (though they may be the same).

N:

1. 4. Muberra (Istanbul), June 26, 2016, comment on Jayson, “Selfie Culture.”

17.5.3 Social Media

Social media content is normally cited in the text or notes but not in the bibliography. Include a specific item in your bibliography only if it is critical to your argument or frequently cited. To cite direct messages and other personal or private content, follow the guidelines for citing personal communications (see 17.6.2). For publicly posted content, model your citations on the examples shown here. Include the following elements:

1. 1. The author of the post. List a screen name in addition to the name of the person or group on the account, if known. Otherwise, just use the screen name.

2. 2. In place of a title, the text of the post. Quote up to the first 160 characters (enough to capture the typical text message), capitalized as in the original. (If you quoted the post in your text, there is no need to repeat it in a note.)

3. 3. The type of post. This can include a description (photo, video, etc.).

4. 4. The date, including month, day, and year. You can also include a time stamp to help differentiate a post from others on the same day.

5. 5. A URL. A URL can often be found via the date stamp for the item.

Comments are cited in reference to a shortened form of the original post, which must be cited in full elsewhere. Like newspaper articles or blog posts, social media can often be cited in the text, as in the first example. If it is especially important to link back to the original post, use a note instead.

Conan O’Brien’s tweet was characteristically deadpan: “In honor of Earth Day, I’m recycling my tweets” (@ConanOBrien, April 22, 2015).

N:

1. 1. Junot Díaz, “Always surprises my students when I tell them that the ’real’ medieval was more diverse than the fake ones most of us consume,” Facebook, February 24, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/junotdiaz.writer/posts/972495572815454.

2. 2. Conan O’Brien (@ConanOBrien), “In honor of Earth Day, I’m recycling my tweets,” Twitter, April 22, 2015, 11:10 a.m., https://twitter.com/ConanOBrien/status/590940792967016448.

3. 3. Chicago Manual of Style, “Is the world ready for singular they? We thought so back in 1993,” Facebook, April 17, 2015, https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoManual/posts/10152906193679151.

4. 4. Pete Souza (@petesouza), “President Obama bids farewell to President Xi of China at the conclusion of the Nuclear Security Summit,” Instagram photo, April 1, 2016, https://www.instagram.com/p/BDrmfXTtNCt/.

5. 5. Kristaps Licis, February 24, 2016, comment on Díaz, “Always surprises.”

6. 6. Michele Truty, April 17, 2015, comment on Chicago Manual of Style, “singular they.”

B:

✵ Chicago Manual of Style. “Is the world ready for singular they? We thought so back in 1993.” Facebook, April 17, 2015. https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoManual/posts/10152906193679151.

Items shared on social media tend to disappear; always keep a screenshot of whatever you cite in case you need to refer to it later (see also 15.4.1.1).

17.5.4 Online Forums and Mailing Lists

To cite material from an online forum or mailing list, include the name of the correspondent, the title of the subject or thread (in quotation marks and capitalized as in the original), the name of the forum or list, and the date and time of the post or message. Omit email addresses. (Posts on private forums or lists should be cited as personal communications; see 17.6.2.) Include a URL (see 15.4.1.3). As with social media (see 17.5.3), such items should normally be cited in a note but may instead be incorporated into the text.

N:

1. 1. Caroline Braun, reply to “How did the ’cool kids’ from high school turn out?,” Quora, August 9, 2016, https://www.quora.com/How-did-the-cool-kids-from-high-school-turn-out/.

2. 2. Sharon Naylor, “Removing a Thesis,” email to Educ. & Behavior Science ALA Discussion List, August 23, 2011 (1:47:54 p.m. ET), http://listserv.uncc.edu/archives/ebss-1.html.

or

Sharon Naylor, in her email of August 23, 2011, to the Educ. & Behavior Science ALA Discussion List (http://listserv.uncc.edu/archives/ebss-1.html), pointed out that . . .