Q. Hello! Here’s a fun citation style question: How do you cite website content that’s accessible only through the Wayback Machine from Archive.org?
A. Cite the content as you normally would, but credit the Wayback Machine and include the URL for the archived page. For example, let’s say you were to mention the fact that Merriam-Webster.com still listed the hyphenated form e-mail in its entry for that term as late as January 2, 2021, with email offered as an equal variant (“or email”). You could cite your evidence in a footnote as follows (see also CMOS 14.233):
1. Merriam-Webster, s.v. “e-mail,” archived January 2, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, https://web.archive.org/web/20210102004146/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/e-mail.
Notice the URL, an unwieldy double-decker consisting of two consecutive URLs stitched together. If you wanted a shorter URL, you could cite only the second part (i.e., the original URL for the content), as follows:
1. Merriam-Webster, s.v. “e-mail,” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/e-mail, archived January 2, 2021, at the Wayback Machine.
That’s a bit more concise than the first example, but readers will need to enter the original URL at the Wayback Machine (which they’ll have to find on their own) and then use the date to get to the right version of the page.
Either approach is acceptable as long as you’re consistent.