How to cite a Wikipedia article

First: should you cite Wikipedia at all?

Ask your instructor. APA points out that Wikipedia is a secondary source and many instructors prefer primary sources, and Wikipedia itself says it often isn’t acceptable for academic work. A safer habit: use Wikipedia to find your way around a topic, then read and cite the sources listed at the bottom of the article.

If you do cite it, link to the exact version you read. Wikipedia articles change constantly. Open the article’s View history tab, pick the version you read, and use its link (it contains oldid=). The Permanent link option in the article’s tools menu does the same.

APA 7

Title of entry. (Year, Month Day). In Wikipedia. Permanent link URL

Glass frogs of the Veloria Highlands. (2025, March 4). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Glass_frogs_of_the_Veloria_Highlands&oldid=1234567890

• The entry title goes first, because Wikipedia articles have no named author. It isn’t italicized; the word Wikipedia is.
• The date is the date of the version you read.
• In-text: (“Glass Frogs of the Veloria Highlands,” 2025), with the title in quotation marks and title case.

(This example is made up; the article doesn’t exist.)

MLA 9

"Title of Entry." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Day Month Year, Wikimedia Foundation, URL.

“Glass Frogs of the Veloria Highlands.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, 4 Mar. 2025, Wikimedia Foundation, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_frogs_of_the_Veloria_Highlands.

• You may add “Accessed Day Month Year.” at the end. It’s especially useful for pages that change.
• In-text: (“Glass Frogs of the Veloria Highlands”).

Chicago

Chicago treats a Wikipedia article as website content, with the last-modified date and time.

Note: "Title of Entry," Wikimedia Foundation, last modified Month Day, Year, hh:mm (UTC), URL.

1. “Glass Frogs of the Veloria Highlands,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified March 4, 2025, 14:02 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_frogs_of_the_Veloria_Highlands.

In author-date style, list it under Wikimedia Foundation: (Wikimedia Foundation 2025).