Citing websites in research articles or essays can be difficult and confusing at times, but there are several techniques you can use to find publication dates. Check sites or links to find when an article or page was published. You can also take advantage of a simple search via Google using the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) operator. If you want to know when the site was published, you can find it in the site's source code. Generally, you can find the publication date of most sites, but not always. If you can't find it, cite the site as a “no date” page.
Step
Method 1 of 4: Checking Pages and Links
Step 1. Search under the title of the article or blog post
Most news sites and blogs usually list the date under the title along with the author's name. Look for the date just below the title or at the beginning of the article.
- There may be a subheading or image between the article title and the date. Keep scrolling down to check if the date is listed under the caption or image.
- Some articles may be revised after the publication date. When this happens, you'll see a disclaimer explaining when the article was revised and why.
Variation:
If you don't see the date in the article, return to the website's homepage or browser engine. You may be able to find the publication date next to the article's link or thumbnail.
Step 2. Check the bottom of the page for the copyright date
Scroll to the bottom of the page and read the information in that area. You may be able to view copyright information or publication notes. Read to see if there is any information about the publication date. However, note that this date may be the site revision date, not the article publication date.
- The site revision date is the date the site was last modified. This means that the information you read may have been published before the last revision of the site. However, copyright information or new revisions mean that the site is active and constantly being improved so that the information contained in it is likely to be trusted.
- See the article section which provides information on the author's short biography. Sometimes, the issue date is right above or below it.
Tip:
The copyright date usually just mentions the year without the month or day.
Step 3. See if the issue date is listed in the URL
Look at the address box and check the URL. Some blogs and websites automatically include the date of publication in the link address. You may get the full date or just the month and year of publication.
- Make sure you're on a dedicated web page for that one article and not an archive or index page. Click on the article title to make sure you are on the page specific to that article.
- Many blogs edit the URL to make it shorter and easier to search so you may not be able to find the date of publication in the URL of the article.
Step 4. Look at the date of the comments in the article for an estimate
This is not the most accurate method, but it can help you estimate when the article was published. Look at the date next to the username in the comments section to see when the comment was written. Keep scrolling until you find the earliest date. If the user interacts when the article is published, this is the date closest to the publication date.
You cannot use this date to quote. However, this date can help you estimate when the website was published so you can guess how old the information provided is. If it looks new, you might be able to use the information it contains, but quote it as “no date” or “no date.”
Method 2 of 4: Using Google Operators
Step 1. Copy the website URL and paste it in the Google search box
Use the cursor to block the URL, right click and select copy or copy. Go to the Google page and paste the URL in the search box, but don't click search because you have to add something to the URL first.
Make sure you have copied and pasted the full address of the site
Step 2. Type “inurl:
” in front of the URL and click search.
This operator will help you get more information about the URL link. First, place the cursor in front of the site URL. Type “inurl:” in front of the website address. Don't use spaces. After you add the operator, click search or search.
- Do not include quotation marks.
- This step may sound difficult, but you don't really need to do anything special to use this operator. Just type in the operator and Google will handle your request.
Step 3. Add “&as_qdr=y15” after the URL then search again
Place your cursor in your browser's engine address box immediately behind the URL you just searched for. Type “&as_qdr=y15,” without the quotes. Click search or search to get the final result.
- This is the second part of the “inurl:” operator.
- For your convenience, copy and paste the code.
Variation:
You can use Ctrl+L in Firefox and Chrome or Alt+D in Internet Explorer to put the cursor in the right place in the search box.
Step 4. Check the results to find the date in the website description
Scroll the cursor in the search results. At the top, you can find the link of the page you are about to cite. Look to the left of the page description for dates. Generally, the date of issue is listed in that section.
If you don't see date information, you might be able to do a special search by date range to find out when the article was published. Continue to the next step if you can't find the date
Step 5. Click Tools
It's below the Google search bar at the top right of the page. The search bar should still contain "inurl:" followed by the full URL of the article.
Step 6. Click Any time⏷
This is the first option that appears on the left side next to the search bar when you click the "Tools" button. After that, a drop-down menu that will allow you to search by date will open.
Step 7. Click Custom range
This option lets you select a date range to search for articles and check if the site was published within a certain date range.
In addition, you can also click past year to quickly find out if the site was published in the past 1 year. This is a great way to check the novelty of an article.
Step 8. Enter the start date next to the "From: field"
"and the end date next to the "To:" column You can use the calendar on the right to select a date or enter it manually. You can enter the full date (day/month/year), or just the month and year (month/year), or just the year.
Step 9. Click Go
After that, a search will be performed on the date range. If the website is published in the date range you entered, the date will be listed below the URL. If you see an error message that says your search doesn't match any documents, it means that the website was published outside the date range you specified. Click clear below the search bar and repeat again with a wider date range.
Method 3 of 4: Searching the Source Code
Step 1. Right click on the web page and select “View Page Info
” After you click on the menu option, a window or tab containing the website code will appear. This window may look awful, but you don't have to understand it to find the publication date.
The menu option may be called “View Page Source” depending on the browser you are using
Variation:
The hotkeys to open the source code directly are Control+U for Windows and Command+U for Mac.
Step 2. Open the “Find” function in the browser using the Control+F or Command+F keys
This function will help you to find the date easily. If you are using Windows, press Control+F key to open this function. For MAC, use Command+F to look up the date in the source code.
Variation:
You can also access the “Find” function by clicking Edit in the top menu and then selecting “Find…” in the drop-down menu.
Step 3. Look for the term “datePublished”, “publishdate” or “published_time”
Type in one of these terms and hit enter. The “Find” function will search for the terminology in the source code and then stop where the information is displayed.
- If those terms return nothing, type “publish” into the “Find” function. Information about the publication will appear.
- If you want to know when a particular page was last revised, look for the word “modified” in the source code.
Step 4. View the date in year-month-day order
Read the found section via the “Find” function. The date will be written right next to the terminology you are looking for. The year will be written at the beginning followed by the month and day.
You can use this date to cite the website or to determine the age of the information contained in the website
Method 4 of 4: Citing Websites
Step 1. Write the author's name, title, website, date and URL if you are using MLA format
Type in the author's name starting with the last name followed by a comma then the first name. Give a period then write the title of the article using capital letters enclosed in quotation marks and ending with a period. Type in italics the name of the website, close with a comma and then the date in day-month-year format. Type a comma then the URL. Close with a dot.
Example: Aranda, Arianna. “Understanding Expressive Poems.” Poetry Scholar, 7 Nov. 2016, www.poetryscholar.com/understanding-expressive-poems
Variation:
No need to worry if the date is not available. You can write the website access date after the URL. Example: Aranda, Arianna. “Understanding Expressive Poems.” Poetry Scholar, www.poetryscholar.com/understanding-expressive-poems. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
Step 2. Write the author's name, year of publication, title and URL if you are using APA format
Type in the author's last name, a comma, the author's first name, and a full stop. Type the year of publication in parentheses followed by a period. Write the title as you would a sentence (capital only applies to the first letter of the first word) followed by a period. Type in “Retrieved from” or “Retrieved from” then enter the URL. Don't put a dot.
Example: American Robotics Club. (2018). Building Complex Robots. Taken from www.americanroboticsclub.com/building-complex-robots
Variation:
If there is no date, type “n.d.” in the year part. Example: American Robotics Club. (n.d.). Building Complex Robots. Taken from www.americanroboticsclub.com/building-complex-robots
Step 3. Write the author's name, page title, website name, date and URL if you are using Chicago Style
Type in the author's last name, comma then first name. Put a period and then type the title of the page using capital letters enclosed in quotation marks. Close with a dot. Italicize the website name. Put a full stop then write “Last modified” or “Last modified” and give the date of publication in the month, day, and year format followed by a period. Type in the URL and put a period.
Example: Li, Quan. "Examing Arts." Insights into Culture. Last Modified February 12, 2015. www.insightsinoculture.com/examining-art
Variation:
If you can't find the issue date, use the access date. Use the same format, but write, “Accessed” or “Accessed” not “Last modified” or “Last modified” before you enter the date. Example: Li, Quan. "Examing Arts." Insights into Culture. Accessed April, 9, 2019. www.insightsinoculture.com/examining-art.
Tips
- Some websites have multiple dates. For example, the date the site was created and the date a particular page was published. Use the date that is most relevant to the information you are citing (generally the date of a specific page).
- Checking a website's publication date helps you determine whether the information on the website is up-to-date or out of date.
- Some websites hide the publication date to appear up-to-date even though they are not.
