How to Cite a Website in LaTeX with BibTeX

Use a @misc entry with the author, title, and year, put the address in howpublished = {\url{...}}, and put the access date in note. Classic BibTeX has no dedicated website type, so @misc is the standard choice; the modern biblatex package adds a purpose-built @online entry with a real urldate field. Cite the entry with \cite{key} and compile with a BibTeX pass between LaTeX runs.

Which entry type do I use for a website?

Classic BibTeX (the styles that ship with it, like plain, abbrv, and alpha) defines no @online or @webpage type. @misc is the catch-all designed for works that fit nowhere else, and it is what the community has settled on for web pages. If you use biblatex instead, prefer its @online type, which has native url and urldate fields. Do not mix the two systems: pick classic BibTeX or biblatex for the whole document.

The fields that matter in a website entry

• author: for an organization, wrap the whole name in an extra pair of braces - author = {{TeX Users Group}} - so BibTeX treats it as one unit instead of trying to split it into first and last names.
• title: BibTeX styles like plain lowercase titles automatically. Protect words that must keep their capitals with braces, as in title = {{BibTeX}ing}.
• year: include it when the page has a clear date; many styles are fine without one.
• howpublished: the conventional home for the URL, used with \url{...} from the url or hyperref package.
• note: the conventional home for the access date, for example note = {Accessed: October 29, 2026}.

The urldate trap

If you write urldate = {2026-10-29} in a .bib entry processed by a classic BibTeX style, nothing appears: BibTeX silently drops fields the style does not know. urldate only works with biblatex. Under classic BibTeX, put the access date in note (or fold it into howpublished) or it will not reach your reference list.

A complete example you can compile

The .tex file:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{url}
\title{Citing a Website with BibTeX}
\date{October 2026}
\begin{document}
\maketitle
The official BibTeX documentation~\cite{patashnik1988bibtexing}
describes the entry types, and the TeX FAQ~\cite{texfaq-cite-web}
collects community answers about citing web pages.

\bibliographystyle{plain}
\bibliography{refs}
\end{document}

The accompanying refs.bib:

@misc{patashnik1988bibtexing,
  author       = {Oren Patashnik},
  title        = {{BibTeX}ing},
  year         = {1988},
  howpublished = {\url{http://mirrors.ctan.org/biblio/bibtex/base/btxdoc.pdf}},
  note         = {Accessed: October 29, 2026}
}

@misc{texfaq-cite-web,
  author       = {{TeX Users Group}},
  title        = {{TeX} Frequently Asked Questions},
  howpublished = {\url{https://texfaq.org}},
  note         = {Accessed: October 29, 2026}
}

We verified these two files compile as-is with a single Tectonic 0.17.0 run on October 29, 2026, producing a References section with both entries, URLs, and access dates. With the classic toolchain instead, the sequence is pdflatex, bibtex, then pdflatex twice more; Tectonic runs the BibTeX pass automatically.

FAQ

What BibTeX entry type should I use for a website?

@misc. Classic BibTeX has no website-specific type; @misc is its general-purpose fallback. With biblatex, use @online instead.

How do I add an access date in BibTeX?

Put it in the note field, for example note = {Accessed: October 29, 2026}. The urldate field exists only in biblatex and is silently ignored by classic BibTeX styles.

Why does my entry not appear in the reference list?

Three common causes: the entry was never cited (add \cite{key} or \nocite{*}), the BibTeX step was skipped in the compile sequence, or the .bib file name in \bibliography{...} does not match the actual file.

How do I stop BibTeX from lowercasing my title?

Wrap the words that must stay capitalized in an extra pair of braces, as in title = {{TeX} Frequently Asked Questions}. Styles like plain apply sentence case unless braces protect the letters.

How do I cite a website that has no named author?

Use the organization behind the page as a corporate author in double braces - author = {{TeX Users Group}} - so it sorts and prints as one name. If there is no organization either, the entry can start from the title.

Further reading

Our comparison of the best citation managers covers keeping a .bib library tidy, and .bst and .bbx bibliography styles explains the two style systems. More how-tos are on the Bibby AI blog. Source question: How can I use BibTeX to cite a web page? on TeX Stack Exchange.

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Last updated: October 29, 2026. By the Bibby AI editorial team.