<cite> HTML citation element
Baseline
Widely available
This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.
The <cite> HTML element is used to mark up the title of a creative work. The reference may be in an abbreviated form according to context-appropriate conventions related to citation metadata.
Try it
<figure>
<blockquote>
<p>
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
</p>
</blockquote>
<figcaption>
First sentence in
<cite><a href="http://www.george-orwell.org/1984/0.html">Nineteen Eighty-Four</a></cite>
by George Orwell (Part 1, Chapter 1).
</figcaption>
</figure>
cite {
/* Add your styles here */
}
Attributes
This element only includes the global attributes.
Usage notes
In the context of the <cite> element, a creative work 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
<p>More information can be found in <cite>[ISO-0000]</cite>.</p>
Result
Technical summary
| Content categories | Flow content, phrasing content, palpable content. |
|---|---|
| Permitted content | Phrasing content. |
| Tag omission | None, both the starting and ending tag are mandatory. |
| Permitted parents | Any element that accepts phrasing content. |
| Implicit ARIA role | No corresponding role |
| Permitted ARIA roles | Any |
| DOM interface |
HTMLElement Up to Gecko 1.9.2 (Firefox 4)
inclusive, Firefox implements the
HTMLSpanElement interface for this element.
|
Specifications
| Specification |
|---|
| HTML # the-cite-element |
Browser compatibility
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Legend
Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.
- Full support
- Full support
See also
- The element
<blockquote>for long quotations. - The element
<q>for inline quotations and theciteattribute.