Is the word "accessed" optional?

By cathy.ball@com… on Wed, 08/19/2026 - 05:53

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In Evidence Explained (4th edition), a citation involving a URL usually includes the word "accessed" before the date accessed, but sometimes "accessed" is omitted. Example below from 12.9, p. 482. Does this mean the word "accessed" is optional?

1. U.S. National Archives, National Archives Catalog, database with images (https://catalog.archives.gov/id/305820 : 1 October 2023) > NA Identifier (NAID) 305820: “Contraband Quarters, Mason’s (Roosevelt) Island, Washington, D.C.,” 1 image; citing Post and Reservation Maps, 1820–1905, Record Group 92: Records of the War Department Office of the Quartermaster General 1914–09/18/1947, National Archives, College Park, Maryland.

 

Submitted byEEon Thu, 08/20/2026 - 11:15

Hello, Cathy,

Thanks for flagging this omission. I have now flagged it on my master copy to add when the book is reprinted.  

EE's instruction on the recording of dates for websites is detailed in two places: Chapter 2 "Fundamentals of Citation" and Chapter 3, the tutorial "Building a Citation." Specifically the two key passages are these:

2.33 “Basic Elements to Cite”

Online sources are publications, with the same basic elements as print publications … Therefore we cite …

  • author/creator/owner
  • title of website in italics
  • type of item ….
  • publication place : date … the date identified as the day posted, updated, copyrighted, or accessed. Recording an access date is a safeguard against the significant likelihood that a website disappears or our link develops link-rot. That access date creates a reference point we or others can use to retrieve the material from an Internet cache such as WayBack Machine …

3.10 "Block 6: Date or Year of Creation or Publication

"Web pages, websites, and online blogs may (or may not) carry a creation, publication, or revision date. If one is stated, we cite that date and say what the date represents. If we cannot discern a date, then we cite our date of access. Web-based materials are also edited frequently and often silently. The access date identifies which version we used. Therefore, it is useful to record both the publication or revision date and the access date—with the latter indicating that the information we are citing still existed online “as late as” that access date."

 

As a general rule, when questioning whether something is optional in a citation, we can ask ourselves this:  If I omit this, is the situation entirely clear or might someone misinterpret what is meant here?

Elizabeth