For a citation to webpage, the author’s name should be in ordinary roman font; the title of the derivative
page in italics; the main webpage in small caps and abbreviated according to T.10 and T.13; the date in
parentheses; and the URL in ordinary roman font.
a) Author: The author’s name, if available, should be in ordinary roman font. When the
webpage’s author is an institutional author, the author’s name is in ordinary roman font and
abbreviated according to T.6 and T.10. However, if the webpage’s author is the same
institution, agency, or organization that sponsored its creation or publication, omit that
institution’s name from the author position and abbreviate according to T.13, not T.6.
b) Title: If you are citing any part of the website other than the main page, the specific page title
should be included in your citation in italics. In contrast to Rule 18.2.2(b), the specific page
title should derive from the title on the webpage itself, not from the title bar. Also contrary to
Rule 8(b), capitalize according to 8(a) and not in accordance with the actual capitalization of
the source. If the citation is to the main page of a website itself, there’s no need to include an
italicized title—the main page title is sufficient. So when the citation is to a main page, and
the institutional author is clear from the main page title, only a T.13- and T.10-abbreviated
main page title is necessary.
c) The Main Webpage: Identify the main webpage. For purposes of this rule, the main
webpage is the site that your browser takes you to if you cut off the URL
after .com, .gov, .edu, etc. The main page title should be in small caps. Abbreviate the main
page title according to T.13 and T.10. In some cases, the main page might have a “prefix.”
For example, the website of the Federal Railroad Administration—which is an agency within
the Department of Transportation—is located at www.fra.dot.gov. In most cases, the main
webpage should still be www.dot.gov. You may, however, treat a subdivision of an
institution as the main webpage if it seems particularly relevant.
d) Date and Time: Identify the date and time that the website was created, or the piece or post
was published. If no date is available, use the month; if no month is available, use the year.
Include the time zone, if available, and AM or PM, if available.
e) Examples:
1
Marissa Miller, Monday Round-Up, SCOTUSBLOG (Mar. 5, 2012, 9:55 AM),
https://www.scotusblog.com/2012/03/monday-round-up-108
[https://perma.cc/XYZ].
2
Fed. R.R. Admin., Railroad Safety, U.S. DEP’T TRANSP.,
https://www.fra.dot.gov/rrs/pages/fp_3.shtml [https://perma.cc/XYZ].
3
The Butterfly Conservatory, AM. MUSEUM NAT. HIST.,
https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/butterflies [https://perma.cc/XYZ].
4
Yasmin Nair, In Defense of Sluts, JEZEBEL (Mar. 8, 2012, 2:20 PM),
https://jezebel.com/5891313/in-defense-of-sluts [https://perma.cc/XYZ].
5
DAILY KOS, http://www.dailykos.com [https://perma.cc/XYZ].
6
Eric Posner, More on Section 7 of the Torture Convention, SCOTUSBLOG
(Jan. 29, 2009, 10:04 AM EST),
https://www.scotusblog.com/2012/1233241458.shtml [https://perma.cc/XYZ].
See Bluebook Rule 18.4.
S.R. 18.2.2(d): URLs
URLs should begin with https:// or http:// depending on what is actually used in the browser bar. All
Perma links should begin https://.