<cite>: The Citation element #

::: section-content The <cite> HTML element is used to mark up the title of a cited creative work. The reference may be in an abbreviated form according to context-appropriate conventions related to citation metadata. :::

Try it #

::: section-content ::: iframe ::: {.output-header .border-rounded-top}

HTML Demo: <cite> #

Reset :::

::: {#warning-no-script .warning-container} ::: warning The interactive example cannot be shown because JavaScript is disabled. ::: :::

::: {#warning-mathml-not-supported .warning-container .hidden} ::: warning The interactive example cannot be shown because MathML is not supported by your browser. ::: :::

::: {#editor-container .editor-container .tabbed-standard .hidden .border-rounded-bottom editor-type=“tabbed”} ::: {#tab-container .section .tabs} ::: {#tablist .tab-list role=“tablist”} HTML

CSS

JavaScript :::

::: {#html-panel .section .hidden tabindex=“0” role=“tabpanel” aria-labelledby=“html” aria-hidden=“true”} ::: {#html-editor}

::: {#css-panel .section .hidden tabindex=“0” role=“tabpanel” aria-labelledby=“css” aria-hidden=“true”} ::: {#css-editor} /* stylelint-disable-next-line block-no-empty */ cite { } ::: :::

::: {#js-panel .section .hidden tabindex=“0” role=“tabpanel” aria-labelledby=“js” aria-hidden=“true”} ::: {#js-editor} ::: ::: :::

::: {#output .output-container}

Output #

::: :::

::: {.section .console-container .hidden aria-hidden=“true”}

Console Output #

![] clear console

::: {#console .console} ::: :::

::: {#html-output .output .editor-tabbed} %html-content% ::: ::: :::

Attributes #

::: section-content This element only includes the global attributes. :::

Usage notes #

::: section-content In the context of the <cite> element, a creative work that might be cited could be, for example, one of the following:

• A book
• A research paper
• An essay
• A poem
• A musical score
• A song
• A play or film script
• A film
• A television show
• A game
• A sculpture
• A painting
• A theatrical production
• A play
• An opera
• A musical
• An exhibition
• A legal case report
• A computer program
• A website
• A web page
• A blog post or comment
• A forum post or comment
• A tweet
• A Facebook post
• A written or oral statement
• And so forth.

To include a reference to the source of quoted material which is contained within a <blockquote> or <q> element, use the cite attribute on the element.

Typically, browsers style the contents of a <cite> element in italics by default. To avoid this, apply the CSS font-style property to the <cite> element. :::

Examples #

::: section-content ::: code-example [html]{.language-name}

<p>More information can be found in <cite>[ISO-0000]</cite>.</p>

::: :::

Result #

::: section-content ::: {#sect1 .code-example} ::: iframe ::: ::: :::

Technical summary #

::: section-content

Specifications #

::: _table #

Specification #

HTML Standard
[# the-cite-element]{.small}

:::

Browser compatibility #

::: _table Desktop Mobile

       Chrome    Edge   Firefox   Internet Explorer   Opera   Safari   WebView Android   Chrome Android   Firefox for Android   Opera Android   Safari on IOS   Samsung Internet

cite 1 12 1 Yes 15 ≤4 4.4 18 4 14 ≤3.2 1.0 :::

See also #

::: section-content

• The element <blockquote> for long quotations.
• The element <q> for inline quotations and the cite attribute. :::

::: _attribution © 2005–2023 MDN contributors.
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/cite{._attribution-link} :::