FAQ: How do I cite a blog in Chicago or Turabian Style?

A weblog—or blog—is a category of website that has evolved to include dated entries and dated comments. 

Notes & Bibliography Style

For detailed information please visit: 14.208: Citing blog posts and blogs.

Within the body of the research paper

In both Chicago and Turabian styles, blog entries or comments are cited in the body of the paper instead of a note and do not require a bibliographic entry.  

For example:

“In a comment posted to The Becker-Posner Blog on February 23, 2010, . . . ”)

Notes and Bibliography entries 

Per the Chicago Manual of Style Citation Quick Guide: If a citation is needed it can follow the examples below.  You give the authors name exactly as it is posted even if its fictitious.  If an access date is needed then add it before the URL.

General format:

Author of the entry, the date, a title (in quotation marks), the name of the blog, and the specific day the entry was posted. Also include the access date and the URL.

Footnote example:

1. Jack, February 25, 2010 (7:03 p.m.), comment on Richard Posner, “Double Exports in Five Years?,” The Becker-Posner Blog, February 21, 2010, http://uchicagolaw.typepad.com/beckerposner/2010/02/double-exports-in-five-years-posner.html.

3. Gary Becker, “Is Capitalism in Crisis?,” The Becker-Posner Blog, February 12, 2012, accessed February 16, 2012, https://www.becker-posner-blog.com/2012/02/is-capitalism-in-crisis-becker.html

Bibliography example:

Becker-Posner Blog, The (blog). http://uchicagolaw.typepad.com/beckerposner/.

NOTE: If a blog is a part of a larger publication he bibliography should include the name of that publication (e.g. the New York Times) in italics before the URL. Amlen, Deb, ed. Wordplay (blog). New York Times. http://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/.

Author-Date

Within the body of the research paper

The Chicago Manual of Style (17th ed) states that an in-text citation is sufficient and it doesn't require reference list. 

“In a comment posted to The Becker-Posner Blog on February 23, 2010, . . . ”)

Author-Date entries

If a citation is needed it can follow a format adopted from the Notes & Bibliography section (see Section 15.51: Citing blogs in author-date format).

General Format:

(LastName Date)

In-Text example:

(Germano 2017)

Reference example:

 Germano, William. 2017. “Futurist Shock.” Lingua Franca (blog), Chronicle of Higher Education. February 15, 2017. http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2017/02/15/futurist-shock/.

More Information

• Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago Manual of Style)
• Chicago Style Guide (Shapiro Library)
• Sample Chicago Style Paper (SNHU Academic Support)
• Turabian Student Paper-Formatting Tip Sheets This link opens in a new window (Chicago Manual of Style)

Further Help

This information is intended to be a guideline, not expert advice. Please be sure to speak to your professor about the appropriate way to cite sources in your class assignments and projects.

Campus Students

To access academic support, visit your Brightspace course and select “Tutoring and Mentoring” from the Academic Support pulldown menu.

Online Students

To access help with citation and more, visit Academic Support via modules in Brightspace:

• The Complete Guide to Using Academic Support via Brightspace This link opens in a new window
• Accessing Writing STEM Help This link opens in a new window

References

University of Chicago. (2017). The Chicago Manual of Style. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.