HTML <cite> element

The <cite> element represents the title of a work. That work might be a book, article, poem, song, film, painting, play, legal case, computer program, game, exhibition, or another named creative or reference work.

This element is often misunderstood because the word cite sounds as if it should mark a whole citation, a quotation, or the name of the person being quoted. In HTML, it is narrower than that. It marks the title of the work.

For example, Hamlet can be placed inside <cite> because it is the title of a play. Shakespeare's name should not be placed inside <cite>, because a person's name is not the title of a work.

The element can appear inside a bibliography, a paragraph, a caption, or a sentence that mentions a source. It does not create a link by itself. If the title should also link to the source, an <a> element is needed as well.

The <cite> element identifies the work, not the words quoted from it. Use <q> for a quotation within a sentence, or <blockquote> for a separate quotation block. The choice depends on how the quotation fits into the document, rather than its length.

The <cite> element is also different from the cite attribute on <q> and <blockquote>. The element marks a title in the content; the attribute holds a source URL and does not normally display a link. The same reference can use both.

Attributes: GLOBALS.

Typical layout:
<p>
  William Shakespeare wrote
  <cite>Hamlet</cite>.
</p>

Visual representation: