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12. cite Element

The <cite> element represents a reference to a creative work, such as a book, article, song, or website. It’s used to mark up the title of a work being referenced. The cite element helps identify citations and improves semantic meaning.

<p>From <cite>The Book Title</cite> by Author Name.</p>
<p>As mentioned in <cite>HTML: The Complete Guide</cite>...</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Quoted content</p>
<footer>
<cite><a href="https://example.com/article">Article Title</a></cite>
</footer>
</blockquote>
<p>Reference: <cite>Website Name</cite></p>

Use cite for work titles, not author names:

<!-- Good: Work title -->
<p>From <cite>The Book Title</cite> by Author Name.</p>
<!-- Avoid: Author name -->
<p>From Book Title by <cite>Author Name</cite>.</p>