How to cite websites, books, newspapers and dictionaries

Cite a web page by its author, the page's title, the website's name, the page's date in parentheses, and the URL (Rule 18.2.2). In a memo or brief the title is in italics and the site's name is in ordinary type; in law review footnotes the site's name is in small capitals. Shorten words in the site's name the way the tables do for other names. End with a period, and take off the blue, underlined link Word adds.

“Available at” no longer goes before a URL: it was dropped editions ago, and the URL simply follows a comma.

Use the date the page shows. If the page says it was updated, give that date, without the words “last updated”. Months are shortened as in any citation, and the 22nd edition writes September as Sep. When the page gives a time, the 22nd edition encourages a 24-hour time with its zone: (Dec. 5, 2025, at 14:22 ET). Only a page with no date at all gets “last visited”, after the URL: (last visited Oct. 20, 2026).

The 22nd edition also requires a permanent archived copy of the page, such as a Perma.cc link in square brackets after the URL, for law review work (Rule 18.2.1(d)). Whether a memo or brief needs one is less settled, so ask your professor.

• Dana Whitlock, “Tenant Rights After the Storm,” Quillfeather, September 3, 2025, available at https://quillfeather.org/tenant-rightsDana Whitlock, Tenant Rights After the Storm, Quillfeather (Sep. 3, 2025), https://quillfeather.org/tenant-rights.Italic title, the date in parentheses, no “available at”. R 18.2.2
• Lanternway, https://lanternway.org (last updated Oct. 1, 2024).Lanternway (Oct. 1, 2024), https://lanternway.org.The page's date goes before the URL, without “last updated”. R 18.2.2(c)
• Lanternway, https://lanternway.org (last visited October 20, 2026).Lanternway, https://lanternway.org (last visited Oct. 20, 2026).Months are shortened. T12

Give the author's full name as the book prints it, without Dr. or Prof., then the title, the page you rely on, and the edition and year in parentheses: (2d ed. 2019) (Rule 15). A first edition gives the year alone. In a memo the title is in italics; in law review footnotes the author and title are both in small capitals.

Editors go first inside the parentheses: (Herbert J. Storing ed., 1981). The 22nd edition names two or three authors, joined by &, and uses “et al.” from four (Rule 15.1); the 21st used it from three.

• Prof. Marisol T. Akers, Water Law Basics, 2nd edition (2019), p. 44.Marisol T. Akers, Water Law Basics 44 (2d ed. 2019).Full name, the page after the title, edition and year in parentheses. R 15
• Owen Pryce et al., Coastal Easements 12 (2021).Owen Pryce, Lena Hart & Tomas Vidal, Coastal Easements 12 (2021).The 22nd edition names up to three authors. R 15.1

A newspaper article gives the author, the headline in italics, the paper's name in its short form (N.Y. Times, Wash. Post, Wall St. J.), the date without parentheses, and the page after “at” (Rule 16.6). An article you read online may be cited like a web page instead: the date in parentheses, then the URL.

• Priya Natarajan, “City Council Delays Vote,” The New York Times, (March 4, 2026), page A1.Priya Natarajan, City Council Delays Vote, N.Y. Times, Mar. 4, 2026, at A1.The paper's short name, the date without parentheses, “at” the page. R 16.6

Cite a dictionary by the word you looked up, then the dictionary's title and the edition and year, with no page (Rule 15.8(a)). Black's Law Dictionary's 12th edition came out in 2024.

• Black's Law Dict., “notice” (2024).Notice, Black's Law Dictionary (12th ed. 2024).The word first, then the dictionary, edition and year. R 15.8(a)