URLs

A. The idea of underlining links is a good one—especially in web browsers. In a research paper or other manuscript, however, it is usually unnecessary. (If you’re writing for a class, ask your teacher or professor for his or her preference.) Your word processor may underline URLs by default, but you can change this.

A. In the case of Word, here are some tips (based on Word 2002; in Word 2007, you’ll need to click on the Office Button then Word Options then Proofing to find the AutoCorrect Options):

In the menu, in any open or blank document go to Tools / AutoCorrect Options / AutoFormat As You Type and uncheck the box next to “Internet and network paths with hyperlinks.” Then click on the AutoFormat tab and uncheck the box next to “Internet and network paths with hyperlinks” (yes, this must be done in both places, as far as I know).

This will prevent URL syntax from automatically becoming a link in any future work you do in that installation of Word, but it will not unlink those “live” links that are already in a document.

To unlink a URL in Word, right-click on it, and from the drop-down menu, choose “Remove Hyperlink” (which will remove the hyperlink attributes, making it regular text with the attributes of the surrounding text; it will not, as the nomenclature sort of implies, delete the hyperlinked text).

Or you can select text that contains a hyperlink or several hyperlinks and type Ctrl+Shift+F9 (i.e., hold down Ctrl and Shift and the F9 key)—this should eliminate the field associated with the link, turning it into plain text. In some documents you may also have to remove the hypertext character style, which can be done through the Format menu under Styles and Formatting.

A. Many URLs that include “www” have been designed to work without it; for example, paste “chicagomanualofstyle.org” into your address bar and you’ll automatically get redirected to “http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/” (followed, in this case, by “home.html”—the name of the home page document itself). This is not true for all addresses, however; ours, like many, has been programmed to do that. It is our recommendation, therefore, to include not only the full name of the domain server but also the protocol in any URL: for example, http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/ (note the final slash, which indicates a directory-level URL). This recommendation applies to scholarly writing and documentation. In journalism, it can be acceptable to abbreviate, especially in print. For a full discussion of URLs and related matters, see chapter 14 in the sixteenth edition of CMOS.

A. It is important to remember that the typical URL (uniform, or universal, resource locator) is essentially an address—something less than a permanent identifier for a source—and, like the Dewey decimal classification number on a book that sits on a library shelf, its primary function is to tell you where an item is, not what it is. A URL should never be the sole component in a citation: always include information such as author, title, and publication date to the extent these can be determined. The Post article cited above, for example, will continue to be findable from its title, author, and publication date—through a library database or a search engine—long after a particular URL for the source is dead. For less formally published sources, save or print out a copy of the source for your files. As for errors, authors and researchers should transcribe source information and include all the required elements as if there will be no opportunity to check for accuracy later. And if computers make some information ephemeral, they also help ensure that, for example, a typo in the volume number of a journal won’t provide an overwhelming obstacle to finding the article from the rest of the citation—or to checking the accuracy of the citation at manuscript stage. (See chapters 14 and 15 in CMOS for a full discussion of documentation, including information about how and when to incorporate URLs into citations.)

A. Cite the source as you normally would, then add the name of the database and, in parentheses, any accession number provided by the database. Some databases recommend a stable URL that you should use instead. Most databases, included EBSCO, include this information along with the items in their archives. For more information and some examples, see 14.271.

A. It’s better to put it at the beginning of the new line. If you put it at the end of a line, the reader might mistake it for a period and stumble when the next line doesn’t begin a new sentence. For more on URLs and line breaks, see CMOS 14.12.

A. Yes, you must put a period at the end of a sentence, even if the sentence ends with a URL (or e-mail address). If it’s essential that the link be clickable, make sure that the code that determines the hyperlink destination does not include the final period. (Most word-processing programs allow you to edit hyperlinks, even if they’ve been created automatically.) If you don’t have that option, then consider moving the URL so that it doesn’t fall at the end of a sentence or anywhere else that punctuation might be required.

A. We recommend breaking before a period and most other marks of punctuation—including a slash (but not a double slash; always break after “http://”). This helps make it clear that the URL has not come to an end. And yes, never add a hyphen to break a URL. For more detailed information, including examples, see paragraph 14.12 in CMOS 16.

A.We have embraced the view that punctuation marks following a URL will be readily enough perceived as belonging to the surrounding text. We do not recommend setting off a URL with angle brackets, which we allowed in the past; for one thing, angle brackets are used in some markup languages (see paragraph 14.11 in CMOS 16).