Chicago Style (18th Edition) Citation Guide: Websites

Entire Website - No Separate Pages or Sections

Page or Section from a Website

Bibliography:

All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

Footnotes:

All citations should use first line indent, where the first line of the footnote should be indented by 0.5 inches; all subsequent lines are not indented.

Footnotes should be the same font size and style as the rest of your paper.

See instructions for how to insert footnotes in Microsoft Word.

Author

It can sometimes be difficult to find out who the author of a website is. Remember that an author can be a corporation or group, not only a specific person. Author information can sometimes be found under an "About" section on a website.

If there is no known author, start the citation with the title of the website instead.

Date

The best date to use for a website is the date that the content was last updated. Otherwise look for a copyright or original publication date. Unfortunately this information may not be provided or may be hard to find. Often date information is put on the bottom of the pages of a website.

If you do not know the complete date, put as much information as you can find. For example you may have a year but no month or day.

Access Date

Chicago style does not recommend including access dates in the citation, unless no date of publication or last revision for the source may be located.

Bibliography:

“Catholic News Agency.” Accessed March 24, 2025. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/.

Footnote:

1. “Catholic News Agency,” accessed March 25, 2025, https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/.

Web Pages with Known Authors

Bibliography:

Grabar, Henry. “How Do You Resurrect an Empty Church?” Slate. July 12, 2023. https://slate.com/business/2023/07/church-real-estate-development-west-park-presbyterian.html.

Footnote:

1. Henry Grabar, “How Do You Resurrect an Empty Church?,” Slate, July 12, 2023, https://slate.com/business/2023/07/church-real-estate-development-west-park-presbyterian.html.

Web Pages Created by a Corporation, Association, or Professional Group

For web pages created by a corporation or association, the corporation / association is cited as the author of the web page.

In the bibliography, the corporation / association name is listed first in the citation. In the footnote, the corporation / association name is listed after the title of the web page (as the sponsor/host of the web site). 

Bibliography:

The Association of Religion Data Archives. “Catholic - Religious Tradition.” Accessed March 24, 2025. https://www.thearda.com/us-religion/group-profiles/traditions?T=3.

Footnote:

1. “Catholic - Religious Tradition,“ The Association of Religion Data Archives, accessed March 24, 2025, https://www.thearda.com/us-religion/group-profiles/traditions?T=3.

Web Pages with Unknown Author

For web pages without a known author that were not created by a corporation / association, omit the author. The first item in the citation will be the title of the web page.

Bibliography:

“New Church Statistics Reveal Growing Catholic Population, Fewer Pastoral Workers.” Vatican News. March 20, 2025. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2025-03/pontifical-yearbook-2025-priests-religious-statistics.html.

Footnote:

1. “New Church Statistics Reveal Growing Catholic Population, Fewer Pastoral Workers,” Vatican News, March 20, 2025, https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2025-03/pontifical-yearbook-2025-priests-religious-statistics.html.