cite
elementHTMLElement
.The cite
element represents
the title of a work (e.g. a book, a paper, an essay, a poem, a
score, a song, a script, a film, a TV show, a game, a sculpture, a
painting, a theatre production, a play, an opera, a musical, an
exhibition, a legal case report, etc). This can be a work that is
being quoted or referenced in detail (i.e. a citation), or it can
just be a work that is mentioned in passing.
A person's name is not the title of a work — even if people call
that person a piece of work — and the element must therefore not be
used to mark up people's names. (In some cases, the b
element might be appropriate for names; e.g. in
a gossip article where the names of famous people are keywords
rendered with a different style to draw attention to them. In other
cases, if an element is really needed, the span
element can be used.)
This next example shows a typical use of the cite
element:
<p>My favorite book is <cite>The Reality Dysfunction</cite> by Peter F. Hamilton. My favorite comic is <cite>Pearls Before Swine</cite> by Stephan Pastis. My favorite track is <cite>Jive Samba</cite> by the Cannonball Adderley Sextet.</p>
This is correct usage:
<p>According to the Wikipedia article <cite>HTML</cite>, as it stood in mid-February 2008, leaving attribute values unquoted is unsafe. This is obviously an over-simplification.</p>
The following, however, is incorrect usage, as the
cite
element here is containing far more
than the title of the work:
<!-- do not copy this example, it is an example of bad usage! --> <p>According to <cite>the Wikipedia article on HTML</cite>, as it stood in mid-February 2008, leaving attribute values unquoted is unsafe. This is obviously an over-simplification.</p>
The cite
element is obviously a key part of any
citation in a bibliography, but it is only used to mark the
title:
<p><cite>Universal Declaration of Human Rights</cite>, United Nations, December 1948. Adopted by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III).</p>
A citation is not a quote (for
which the q
element is appropriate).
This is incorrect usage, because cite
is not for quotes:
<p><cite>This is wrong!</cite>, said Ian.</p>
This is also incorrect usage, because a person is not a work:
<p><q>This is still wrong!</q>, said <cite>Ian</cite>.</p>
The correct usage does not use a cite
element:
<p><q>This is correct</q>, said Ian.</p>
As mentioned above, the b
element might be relevant for marking names as
being keywords in certain kinds of documents:
<p>And then <b>Ian</b> said <q>this might be right, in a gossip column, maybe!</q>.</p>