# Citing a website in MLA format **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2011, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citing-a-website-in-mla-format/600946 "2011-10-27T05:24:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citing-a-website-in-mla-format/600946/1 "2011-10-27T05:24:46Z")
Here’s one for all you academia nuts: I run a website, [nationalanthems.info](http://www.nationalanthems.info) to be exact, and I occassionally get emails asking how to cite the website in papers (as my website is basically a factual one, no surprise it would be cited in papers). (They sometimes ask for my name (or that of the “author and editor of the website”, which is basically me, but I do have information on my site contributed by other people which is worked into the page content, something like how Wikipedia works), if needed for the MLA cite, it is on the FAQ of the site. (Not being coy in protecting my name, as my alias here is very similar to my real name, it’s just that if you’re already on my site … ) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citing-a-website-in-mla-format/600946/2 "2011-10-27T16:45:35Z")
Is the question, “What is the proper form for citation of a website?” I don’t use M.L.A., but using Chicago, I would do it this way – John Jay Jr., “How to Cite Web Content,” _New York Times_, Oct. 27, 2011; [http://www.this.stuff](http://www.this.stuff) (accessed on Oct. 27, 2011). or _New York Times_, “Guide to Online Citation,” NYTimes Online, Oct. 27, 2011; [http://www.this.stuff](http://www.this.stuff) (accessed on Oct. 27, 2011). User dhkendall, Message board thread “Citing a website in MLA format,” Straight Dope Message Board (The Straight Dope, Creative Loafing Media Inc.), Post No. 1, Oct. 27, 2011; [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14399833&postcount=1](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14399833&postcount=1) (accessed Oct. 27, 2011). ---
**Author:** ![acetylene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@acetylene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/acetylene)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citing-a-website-in-mla-format/600946/3 "2011-10-27T17:54:36Z")
According to [easybib](http://easybib.com/), the MLA 7 citation for your website is: ([http://www.javascriptkit.com](http://www.javascriptkit.com)), [JavaScriptKit.com](http://JavaScriptKit.com). Nationalanthems.info. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. \<[http://www.nationalanthems.info/>](http://www.nationalanthems.info/>). This looks a little weird because of the javascriptkit stuff. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citing-a-website-in-mla-format/600946/4 "2011-10-27T18:01:44Z")
Websites like [EasyBib](http://www.easybib.com/), [Cite This For Me](http://www.citethisforme.com/), and [CitationMachine](http://citationmachine.net/index2.php) help create citations in a variety of styles – MLA, APA, Chicago, etc. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citing-a-website-in-mla-format/600946/5 "2011-10-27T23:08:05Z")
Related; Some online journals, especially, will apply a DOI identifier to each article-- a pretty new thing but useful for clarification. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citing-a-website-in-mla-format/600946/6 "2011-10-28T00:42:13Z")
> [@acetylene](#): > > According to [easybib](http://easybib.com/), the MLA 7 citation for your website is: > > ([http://www.javascriptkit.com](http://www.javascriptkit.com)), [JavaScriptKit.com](http://JavaScriptKit.com). Nationalanthems.info. Web. 27 Oct. 2011. \<[http://www.nationalanthems.info/>](http://www.nationalanthems.info/>). > > This looks a little weird because of the javascriptkit stuff. Not weird. Plainly wrong. No way is that a correct citation of **dhkendall** ’s site, or any part of it, in any imaginable citation style. If [easybib.com](http://easybib.com) gave you that, you somehow triggered a bug in the site. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citing-a-website-in-mla-format/600946/7 "2011-10-28T00:57:23Z")
Incidentally, I do not know about MLA style, but if you want to know about APA style for citing online material (and do not want to shell out for the massive manual), look [here](http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/index.aspx). In general, for web pages APA not only requires the regular citation and URL (and DOI if applicable), but also the date at which you accessed it. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citing-a-website-in-mla-format/600946/8 "2011-10-28T01:50:22Z")
Purdue’s OWL website is excellent for this information, and paper-writing in general. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/citing-a-website-in-mla-format/600946/9 "2011-10-28T17:21:10Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Not weird. Plainly wrong. No way is that a correct citation of **dhkendall** ’s site, or any part of it, in any imaginable citation style. If [easybib.com](http://easybib.com) gave you that, you somehow triggered a bug in the site. It’s a bug, but it’s triggered by the code in dhkendall’s HTML. EasyBib misinterpreted the Google Search code as header file info.