A Simple Guide to Citing Websites in Bluebook Format

Understanding Bluebook Citation for Websites

The Bluebook citation style is commonly used in legal writing and academia. When it comes to citing websites, the format can seem tricky at first, but don’t worry! We’ll walk through the steps together.

Basic Structure of a Website Citation in Bluebook

The general format for citing a website in Bluebook is as follows:

Author's Name, Title of the Webpage, Website Name (Publication Date), URL.

Example 1: Citing a Webpage with an Author

Let’s say you found an article written by John Smith on a legal website. Here’s how you would cite it:

John Smith, Understanding Bluebook Citation, Legal Writing 101 (Jan. 15, 2023), https://www.legalwriting101.com/bluebook-citation.

Example 2: Citing a Webpage without an Author

If there is no author listed for the webpage, you can start with the title of the webpage. For instance, if you want to cite a webpage on the U.S. Supreme Court website:

Understanding the Constitution, U.S. Supreme Court (Mar. 1, 2022), https://www.supremecourt.gov/understanding-constitution.

Example 3: Citing a Blog Post

If you’re referencing a blog post, the format remains similar. For instance, if Jane Doe wrote a blog post on a site about legal advice, it would look like this:

Jane Doe, Top 5 Tips for Legal Research, Legal Advice Blog (Apr. 10, 2023), https://www.legaladviceblog.com/top-5-tips-legal-research.

Additional Tips

• Publication Date: If no publication date is available, you can use the date you accessed the website instead, but remember to clearly indicate it as an access date.
• URLs: Always include the full URL, starting with ‘http://’ or ‘https://’. This makes it easy for readers to locate the resource.

Conclusion

Citing websites in Bluebook format doesn’t have to be daunting! With the examples provided, you can confidently include website citations in your research papers. Remember to keep the format consistent, and soon it will be second nature. Happy writing!