How to Cite a Website in LaTeX Using BibTeX and BibLaTeX

Citing websites in LaTeX can be done in several ways depending on the bibliography style you use. In this guide, we cover the three most common approaches: using BibTeX, BibLaTeX, and natbib. For the easiest and most efficient method, we recommend using CiteDrive, which automatically creates and manages citations in the correct format.

📌 The Easiest Way: Cite a Website in LaTeX with CiteDrive

📚 Method 1: Cite a Website Using BibTeX

If you’re using classic BibTeX, the @misc entry type is commonly used for web sources. You can specify the URL and access date in the note or howpublished fields. To render clickable links, include \usepackage{url} in your preamble.

Example with note:

@misc{CiteDrive2022,
  title        = {CiteDrive brings reference management to Overleaf},
  author       = {CiteDrive, Inc},
  year         = 2022,
  note         = {\url{https://www.citedrive.com/overleaf} [Accessed: 2025-05-29]}
}

Example with howpublished:

@misc{CiteDrive2022,
  title        = {CiteDrive brings reference management to Overleaf},
  author       = {CiteDrive, Inc},
  year         = 2022,
  howpublished = {\url{https://www.citedrive.com/overleaf}},
  note         = {Accessed: 2025-05-29}
}

✅ Method 2: Cite a Website Using BibLaTeX (Recommended)

BibLaTeX simplifies citing websites with the @online entry type, which includes native fields for url and urldate. This is the cleanest and most accurate way to cite web pages in LaTeX.

@online{CiteDrive2022,
  title     = {CiteDrive brings reference management to Overleaf},
  author    = {CiteDrive, Inc},
  year      = 2022,
  url       = {https://www.citedrive.com/overleaf},
  urldate   = {2025-05-29}
}

🧾 Method 3: Citing Websites in LaTeX with `natbib`

If you’re using natbib, it’s important to know that natbib formats in-text citations but still relies on BibTeX in the background. That means you cite web pages the same way as shown above—typically using the @misc entry.

You can then cite in your LaTeX document using:

\citet{CiteDrive2022}

\citep{CiteDrive2022}

🎓 Summary: Best Way to Cite Websites in LaTeX

Method	Entry Type	URL Field Support	Recommended
BibTeX	`@misc`	Manual (`note`)	✅ Good
BibLaTeX	`@online`	Built-in	✅✅ Best
natbib	`@misc`	Manual	✅
CiteDrive	All	Automatic	✅✅✅ Easiest

For academic users who frequently cite websites, BibLaTeX + CiteDrive is the most efficient, accurate, and modern workflow.