Subject guides: Chicago 18th (B) Author-Date: Web, social media, games and apps

Web, social media, games and apps

Websites

In-text citation

Format

(Author Surname or Organisation Year)

(Author Surname or Organisation n.d.)

Example

(Gattupalli 2024)

(Alliance for Linguistic Diversity n.d.)

Reference list

Format

Author Surname, First Name or Organisation. Year of publication or revision. “Title of Webpage.” Website Name. Month DD of publication or revision. URL.

Author Surname, First Name or Organisation. n.d. “Title of Webpage.” Website Name. Month DD, YYYY of access. URL.

Example

Gattupalli, Ankitha. 2024. "Understanding Urbanism: Harmony, Justice, and Poetry in Cities". ArchDaily. Published January 3. https://www.archdaily.com/1011604/understanding-urbanism-harmony-justice-and-poetry-in-cities.

Alliance for Linguistic Diversity. n.d. “Balkan Romani.” Endangered Languages. Accessed April 6, 2016. http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/5342.

Tips

If there's no author, cite the name of the organisation that owns the website.
If there's no publication or 'last modified' date, reference the access date and include 'n.d.' (no date) as the year of publication in both the reference list entry and the citation.
For frequently updated sources, reference a time stamp or a last modified date and retain a copy of the information.
Online sources may not have fixed page numbers, use other locators such as section headings if needed.

Reports and documents on the web

Pamphlets, corporate reports, brochures, exhibition catalogues, and other freestanding publications are treated essentially as books. Information on author and publisher may not fit the normal pattern, but sufficient information should be given to identify the document.

Blog posts

In-text citation

Format

(Author Surname Year)

Example

(Earl 2012)

Reference list

Format

Author Surname, First Name. Year. “Title of Post.” Title of Blog (blog). Month DD of post. URL.

Author Surname, First Name. n.d. “Title of Post.” Title of Blog (blog). Accessed Month DD, YYYY. URL.

Example

Earl, Martin. 2012. “What Must Be Said.” Harriet (blog). 10 April. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2012/04/what-must-be-said.

Tips

The word blog enclosed in parentheses may be added after the title of the blog, unless it is part of the title.
The distinction between a blog and a website will be sometimes blurry. When in doubt, treat the source like a website.

Social media posts

In-text citation

Format

(Author Surname Year)

(Author Screen Name Year)

Example

(O’Brien 2015)

(@ConanOBrien 2015)

Reference list

Format

Author Surname, First Name (Author Screen Name). Year. The First 160 Characters of the Post (or nearest phrase if longer). Name of the Social Media Service, Month DD of post. URL.

Example

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

Tips

Publicly shared social media sources such as Facebook are cited in this way. Privately shared social media sources are cited like other forms of personal communication.
To differentiate between multiple posts of the same day include a time stamp.
Repeat the year along with the date posted in the reference list entry.

Arcade and console video games

In-text citation

Format

(Developer Year of release)

Example

(Mojang Studios 2022)

Reference list

Format

Developer. Year of release. Title of Game. Operating system. Publisher, Version (if applicable). Additional information of relevance such as URL/author/composer/animator etc.

Example

Mojang Studios. 2022. Gran Tourismo 7. PlayStation 4 and 5. Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Tips

The publisher and developer may be the same company.
You can also acknowledge designers in your text.

Mobile apps

In-text citation

Format

(Developer Year of version)

Example

(Rovio Entertainment 2014)

(Snap Inc. 2020)

Reference list

Format

Developer. Year of version. Title of App. Version. Operating system. Additional information of relevance such as URL/author/composer/animator etc.

Example

Rovio Entertainment. 2014. Angry Birds Transformers. V. 1.4.25. Android 4.0 or later. Soundtrack by Vince DiCola and Kenny Meriedeth.

Snap Inc. 2020. Snapchat. V. 10.81.0.71. iOS 10.0 or later. www.snapchat.com.

Tips

Include any version numbers and details of the device or operating system required to run the app, if available.
You can use version numbers to differentiate between iterations if relevant; if not, cite the latest version.
You can also acknowledge designers in your text.