This page is intended to help students and others compose suitable bibliographic citations for Web pages. The main concern is that the citation provides a way to read the document that is cited.

A citation for a Web site should include the Author(s), if known; "Title"; URL; date of last change to the page; and the date accessed. For example, this page could be cited as follows. Note that the link is visible and clickable, thus supporting both forms of use.

Cross, John A. "Help for Bibliographic Citations of Web Pages". www.cosc.iup.edu/jacross/scholarly/citations.html. Last updated September 26, 2002. Accessed September 25, 1996.

However, an actual URL can sometimes be impractical. Generic directions may be more effective. For example:

Wright, Robert, " The Man Who Invented the Web." TIME Magazine, May 19, 1997, Volume 149, Number 20. Online starting at www.pathfinder.com, select TIME Magazine, then select the archive, choose the May 19, 1997 Issue, and select the article.

Much of what you find on the Web is inaccurate, biased, unsupported, or it may contain deliberate misrepresentations. By itself, a statement on a Web page may have even less credibility than what you say on your own. The lack of review for things you find on the Web requires that you verify the accuracy and fairness of everything you cite. For example, The source I cited above is from a printed, respected magazine. A second citation from an academic source that supports what I say in this page would be especially helpful because bibliographic citation is fundamental to scholarly research. When you publish anything on the web that you want other people to believe, make an effort to state if what you say is supported by something published in hard copy in a respected way or if it has been formally presented to others.

Web citations can support the currency of your statements and point out things that are not well-supported in print. If you present something to others that you have learned from a printed source, cite any trusted, current sources you can find on the web that supports that what is written is up to date.

Note that the ephemeral nature of Web pages suggests that it is a good idea to keep copies of pages that you cite. You may print the page or save it as a file. If you cite a document such as the previous article in something you put your name on, you have the option to add a note that says something to the effect that "interested readers may contact the author."   Note that your copy is NOT an original source, since you could edit it, but it may suffice for some needs. It is sometimes better netiquette to copy a page and link to the copy. This prevents burdensome hits on the author's Web server. The appropriateness of linking to a copy of a page is clear when the author of the page states a preference.

You must respect any copyright notices within the page. This especially applies to graphics. Educational use of graphics is often OK, but any form of commercial use is likely to require authorization from the copyright holder. References for concerns about online copyrights can be found at the Library of Congress, the Association for Research Libraries, and Educause.