How to Cite a Digitized Newspaper Article

You found your ancestor's obituary on Newspapers.com. Or a marriage notice on Chronicling America. Or a court report on GenealogyBank. Now you need to cite it — and newspaper citations trip up even experienced researchers because there are more layers to identify than you might expect.

The Two Things You Are Citing

When you cite a digitised newspaper article, you are citing two things at once: the original newspaper and the digital platform where you accessed it. The original source is the newspaper itself — the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the Chicago Tribune, the Macon Telegraph — published on a specific date. The platform — Newspapers.com, Chronicling America, GenealogyBank — is how you accessed it. Both belong in your citation.

This matters because the same article might be available on multiple platforms, and the quality of the digital image may vary. Someone following up on your research needs to know both where the article was originally published and where you found the digital version.

What to Include

A complete newspaper citation includes: the article title or headline (if it has one), the name of the newspaper, the city of publication, the date of publication, the page number and column if you can identify them, and where you accessed the digital image.

Many newspaper items — death notices, brief marriage announcements, legal notices — do not have headlines. That is fine. You cite the newspaper name, date, and page without a title. For obituaries, you might use the person's name as a descriptor rather than a formal title.

A digitised newspaper citation follows this pattern: "Article Title" (if any), Newspaper Name (City, State), Date, page and column; digital image, Platform Name (URL if available); accessed [date].

Common Mistakes

The most common mistake is citing only the digital platform and not the newspaper itself. A citation that says "Newspapers.com, accessed March 2026" tells a future researcher nothing useful. They need to know which newspaper, which date, and which page — otherwise they cannot find the article again if the platform changes its interface or if the article is removed.

The second most common mistake is omitting the page number. Newspapers are long documents, and telling someone an obituary appeared in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on March 14, 1903 is not enough if the paper had 20 pages that day. The page number and column narrow it down.

The third mistake is not noting when you accessed the digital version. Websites change. Content is added and removed. A URL that works today may not work next year. The access date establishes when the citation was valid.

Save or screenshot the articleDo not rely on the platform to keep the article available forever. Save a PDF, screenshot, or clipping of every newspaper article you cite. Digital platforms reorganise, re-index, and occasionally remove content. Your saved copy is your insurance.

When You Cannot Identify the Page

Some digital newspaper platforms show the article as a clipping without page numbers. In these cases, note what you can identify — the newspaper name, date, and platform — and describe the item. If you are looking at a clipping view on Newspapers.com, try clicking through to the full page view, which usually shows the page number at the top.

If you viewed the article on microfilm at a library rather than online, your citation changes slightly: instead of citing a digital platform, you cite the microfilm — the library where you viewed it and the microfilm roll number if available.

Obituaries vs. Death Notices

Obituaries and death notices are different things and should be cited accordingly. A death notice is a short, paid announcement — usually a few lines giving the name, death date, funeral arrangements, and surviving family. An obituary is a longer editorial piece — written by the newspaper staff or submitted by the family — that describes the person's life. Some newspapers published both for the same person, and each may contain different information.

When you cite one, specify which it is: "Death notice for Patrick O'Brien" or "Obituary of Patrick O'Brien." This helps future researchers know whether they are looking for a two-line notice or a full-column article.