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<cite>

by Ross Shannon

The <cite> element represents a reference to a creative work. It is used for titles of books, films, songs, paintings, sculptures, plays, TV shows, games, and other works. Text is typically rendered in italics.

Clock This page was last updated on 2025-11-27


Syntax

<cite>Title of Work</cite>

Attributes

  • class - CSS class name
  • id - Unique identifier
  • style - Inline CSS styles
  • title - Advisory information
  • lang - Language of the title

Examples

Book title:

<p>I just finished reading <cite>The Great Gatsby</cite> by F. Scott Fitzgerald.</p>

Film reference:

<p>The movie <cite>Citizen Kane</cite> is considered a classic.</p>

With link:

<p>Read more in <cite><a href="https://example.com/article">The HTML5 Specification</a></cite>.</p>

After a blockquote:

<blockquote>
  <p>To be or not to be, that is the question.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>— <cite>Hamlet</cite>, William Shakespeare</p>

When to Use

Use <cite> for titles of creative works when you reference them in your text. This provides semantic meaning that helps search engines and assistive technologies understand that you are referring to a work's title rather than general text.

Note that in HTML5, <cite> should only be used for work titles, not for author names. To cite an author along with their work, include the author name outside the <cite> element. For example: <cite>War and Peace</cite> by Leo Tolstoy.