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

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

19.5.1 Website Content

Cite web pages and related content by identifying the following elements in your reference list entries: author, publication or revision date, 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), and the owner or sponsor of the site (if not the same as the title). Include a URL as the final element (see 15.4.1.3).

If there is no author, the source should be listed under the name of the owner or sponsor of the site or its title. For a frequently updated source (such as a wiki), you can record a time stamp if the source includes one. You can repeat the year with the month and day in the reference list entry to avoid any confusion regarding the exact date. If no date can be determined from the source, use n.d. (see 19.1.2) and include an access date (see 15.4.1.5).

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✵ Alliance for Linguistic Diversity. n.d. “Balkan Romani.” Endangered Languages. Accessed June 10, 2016. http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/5342.

✵ Columbia University. n.d. “History.” Accessed July 1, 2016. http://www.columbia.edu/content/history.html.

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

✵ Higgins, Susan B. 2016. “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/.

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

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✵ (Alliance for Linguistic Diversity n.d.)

✵ (Columbia University n.d.)

✵ (Google 2016)

✵ (Higgins 2016)

✵ (Wikipedia 2016)

Articles from news websites can usually be cited like articles in newspapers (see 19.4). For blogs, see 19.5.2.

19.5.2 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 19.3 and 19.4). In the reference list, 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. You can repeat the year with the month and day in the reference list entry to avoid any confusion regarding the exact date.

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

✵ Jayson, Sharon. 2016. “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/.

✵ West, Lindy. 2013. “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.

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✵ (Germano 2017)

✵ (Jayson 2016)

✵ (West 2013)

Comments are cited in the text, in reference to the original post, which must be cited in the reference list or elsewhere in the text. Identify the commenter and the date of the comment. Cite the name exactly as it appears, along with any identifying information. You can include the information either parenthetically or directly in the text.

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✵ (Muberra [Istanbul], June 26, 2016, comment on Jayson 2016)

✵ According to a comment on June 26, 2016, by Muberra of Istanbul (Jayson 2016), . . .

References to an entire blog should also be made in the text rather than in a reference list. The URL can be listed in parentheses.

Lingua Franca, a blog published by the Chronicle of Higher Education (http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/), . . .

19.5.3 Social Media

Social media content can normally be cited in the text or in parenthetical citations. Include a specific item in your reference list 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 19.6.2). 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. The year of the post. List the year after the author’s name to facilitate parenthetical citations.

3. 3. 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.

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

5. 5. The exact date of the post, including month and day. You can repeat the year with the month and day in the reference list entry to avoid any confusion regarding the exact date. You can also include a time stamp to help differentiate a post from others on the same day.

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

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 and there is no reference list entry to refer to, add the URL in parentheses, after the date.)

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

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

✵ Díaz, Junot. 2016. “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.

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

✵ Souza, Pete [@petesouza]. 2016. “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/.

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✵ (Chicago Manual of Style 2015)

✵ (Díaz 2016)

✵ (O’Brien 2015)

✵ (Souza 2016)

Comments are cited in the text, in reference to the original post, which must be cited in the reference list or elsewhere in the text.

Michele Truty agreed, saying that “we do need a gender-neutral pronoun” (April 17, 2015, comment on Chicago Manual of Style 2015).

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).

19.5.4 Online Forums and Mailing Lists

Material posted or sent to an online forum or mailing list should normally be cited only in the text. 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 19.6.2.) Include a URL (see 15.4.1.3).

As with newspaper articles (see 19.4.3), you may choose to weave much of this information into the text. Be sure to preserve enough information to allow readers to identify the source.

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✵ (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/)

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 . . .

If you cite several items from a particular group or list, you may choose to include a particular thread or subject as a whole in your reference list. For the date, use the year (or span of years) for the posts cited in the text.

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✵ Quora. 2016. “How did the ’cool kids’ of high school turn out?” https://www.quora.com/How-did-the-cool-kids-from-high-school-turn-out/.