How to cite an archived page in school or work

Citing a web page has a built-in weakness: the page can change or disappear after you’ve cited it. Pointing to an archived copy as well as the original solves that, because the archived version stays exactly as it was when you read it. This guide covers what to include and how to find the details you need.

Why cite the archived copy too

Your reader sees what you saw. If the live page is edited later, the archived copy still matches your quote.
The reference keeps working. If the page is deleted or the site goes offline, the archive link still opens.
It shows when you looked. An archive link records the date and time of the capture, which supports your access date.

Many institutions and publications now encourage this, especially for news articles, reports and anything likely to change. Why links break over time explains how often references stop working without it.

Step 1: Make sure an archived copy exists

Before you cite, save the page or find an existing copy:

Paste the page’s address into byepaywall and open the Wayback Machine or archive.today to see whether a copy exists.
If there isn’t one, or the newest copy is older than the version you read, save a fresh copy. How to save a copy of a page walks through both services.
Open the copy and check it shows the content you’re citing.

Step 2: Find the capture date

Both archives put the date in the link itself.

Wayback Machine links look like this:

https://web.archive.org/web/20260412093015/https://example.org/report

The long number after /web/ is the capture date and time in the format year, month, day, hour, minute, second: here, 12 April 2026 at 09:30:15. The time is in UTC.

archive.today gives each snapshot a short link, such as https://archive.ph/AbC12. The snapshot page shows the capture date at the top. It also has a longer form with the date in it, in the same year-month-day format as the Wayback Machine. Either link works in a citation.

Wayback Machine vs archive.today explains the differences between the two if you’re deciding which copy to cite.

Step 3: Build the citation

Citation styles differ in the details, so always check the style your school, journal or employer uses. Most references to an archived page include the same core parts:

Author (person or organisation), if known
Title of the page or article
Site or publisher name
Date published or last updated, if shown
Original address (URL)
Archived address, and the capture date
Date you accessed it, if your style asks for one

A general pattern

Author. “Title of the page.” Site Name, publication date. Original URL. Archived at archive URL on capture date.

An example

Example Research Group. “Annual Report 2025.” Example Research Group, 3 March 2026. https://example.org/report. Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20260412093015/https://example.org/report on 12 April 2026.

Some styles put the archived link in place of the original. Others ask for both, or include it in a note. If yours doesn’t say, including both is the safest choice: the original shows where the page lived, and the archive shows what it said.

On Wikipedia

Wikipedia’s citation templates have dedicated fields for this: archive-url and archive-date, alongside the original url. Editors use them to keep references working after the original page goes offline.

Citing archived pages at work

Workplace documents rarely follow a formal citation style, but the same idea applies. A link in a report, a slide deck or an internal wiki is only useful while it still shows what you were pointing to.

Reports and briefings: put the original link in the text and the archived link in a footnote or source list, with the capture date.
Slides: add a small source line under a quote or figure, and keep the full archived link in the notes or an appendix.
Internal wikis and tickets: paste both links. When someone reads the page months later, the archived one will still match what was discussed.
Anything that may be disputed, such as published prices, policies or terms: save a public copy and keep a dated PDF as well, so you have both a shareable link and a file of your own.

Tips that save trouble later

Archive when you first use a source, not at the end of a project. Pages can change in the meantime.
Check what the archive actually captured. A copy of a sign-in screen or an error page isn’t useful as a reference.
Keep a list of original and archived links as you go, so building the reference list at the end is quick.
Don’t archive private pages. Public archives make copies visible to anyone. For personal documents, keep a PDF on your own device instead.

For anything else about how byepaywall opens these services, see the byepaywall FAQ.