Citing and referencing: Websites, newspaper and social media

A guide to the styles recommended by Monash schools and departments for students and researchers

Author rules

The rules for websites, newspaper articles, magazine articles, and social media items with one author, two or more authors, an organisation as author, or no author are the same as the general rules for presenting authors in reference list entries described on the Reference list page of this guide.

 

Websites

Please note: The Style Manual states to hyperlink the title of online sources such as websites, news, and social media, rather than including the URL. However, this will not work in citation management software such as EndNote, and the URL will not display if your work is printed.  For these reasons, we recommend including the URL at the end of the reference rather than hyperlinking the title so that your readers/markers can easily locate your references if necessary.

Don’t include links direct to a PDF eg. https://www.ballarat.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-09/Homelessness%20Protocol%202022%20Final.pdf or other downloadable documents if possible. Instead link to the page that hosts the document eg. https://www.ballarat.vic.gov.au/homelessness

Always include the date you accessed the site at the end of the reference.

Use the same capitalisation as the organisation uses for the name of a website.

Rule: Author A (Year) Title of webpage, Name of Website (if different), accessed Day Month Year. URL

Example: NSW RDN (NSW Rural Doctors Network) (2021) Registration pathways - social workers, NSW RDN, accessed 20 January 2021. https://www.nswrdn.com.au/site/index.cfm?display=286432

 

Document on a website

Rule: Author A (Year) Title of document, Organisation Name or Name of Website, accessed Day Month Year. URL

Example: ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) (2020) Combating scams summary report, ACMA, accessed 22 January 2021. https://www.acma.gov.au/publications/2019-11/report/combating-scams-summary-report

 

Newspaper articles

Include the full date for newspaper articles, rather than just the year.

 

Online newspaper articles

Please note: The Style Manual recommends hyperlinking the title of the article rather than providing the URL, however, this will not work in citation management software such as EndNote, and the URL will not show if your work is printed.  For these reasons, we recommend including the URL rather than hyperlinking the title. If you accessed the article through a database (for example Newsbank, Factiva), include the name of the database instead of a URL.

Author A (Day Month Year) ‘Title of article: subtitle of article’, Name of Newspaper, accessed Day Month Year, URL or Name of Database.

Example: Clun R (19 January 2021) '365 days later: the alert that heralded disaster', The Age, accessed 19 January 2021, Newsbank.

 

Print newspaper articles

Newspaper articles accessed in print don't include a URL or an accessed date.

Rule: Author A (Day Month Year) ‘Title of article: subtitle of article’, Name of Newspaper.

Example: Peel C (5 June 2019) 'Revealed: who's at most risk of violence', The Australian.

 

Social Media

 

Social media and forum posts

For social media posts with no title, include the first 10 words of the content followed by an ellipsis instead. Include what type of post it is (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) and the date you accessed the post.

Rule: Name of Page or Poster (Day Month Year) ‘Title or first 10 words of content of post ...’ [type of post], Page of Post, accessed Day Month Year. URL

Example: Bevan H (15 March 2021) 'A global study of 26,000 people on engagement & resilience ... ' [Twitter], accessed 17 March 2021. https://twitter.com/HelenBevanTweet/status/1371151408347688961

 

Blog posts

 

Blog post with author listed

Rule: Author A (Day Month Year) ‘Title of article: subtitle of article’, Name of Blog, accessed Day Month Year. URL

Example: Eddé D (6 November 2019) ‘If I’m dreaming, don’t wake me up’, Verso blog, accessed 14 November 2019. https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/4478-if-i-m-dreaming-don-t-wake-me-up

 

Blog post without author listed

Rule: Name of Blog (Day Month Year) ‘Title of article: subtitle of article’, Name of Blog, accessed Day Month Year. URL

 

Comment on a blog post

Rule: Author A (Day Month Year) ‘Re: Title of post: subtitle of post’ [blog comment], Name of Blog, accessed Day Month Year. URL