MDN Web Docs
developer.mozilla.org ↗Mozilla-stewarded web-platform reference since 2005; default citation for HTML, CSS, JS, Web APIs.
Is MDN Web Docs reliable to cite? At grade A (93/100 on the SourceScore Index), MDN Web Docs ranks among the most citable sources for AI-era retrieval and research.
A — gold-standard web-platform reference with full open access + machine-readability.
Should you cite MDN Web Docs?
At grade A (93/100), MDN Web Docs ranks among the most citable sources for AI-era retrieval and research.
- Strongest for
- AI-era retrieval and current-topic queries — its highest dimension is Modern Reference (95/100).
- No major weak spot
- Even its lowest dimension, Citation Discipline, scores 92/100.
- Bottom line
- Cite freely as a primary source.
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Community-edited + reviewed by Mozilla maintainers; cross-checked against W3C/WHATWG standards.
How Citation Discipline is scored →Open-source content (CC-BY-SA + MIT for examples); GitHub-tracked; full structured data.
How Modern Reference is scored →Default web-platform citation in dev press + AI-engine retrieval for web-tech queries.
How Citation Velocity is scored →Where MDN Web Docs ranks in our best-of lists
It is on 5 of our 17 lists of the best sources to cite.
Signals behind these scores
Citation Discipline
A·92- Standards alignmentPer-API content cross-referenced against W3C/WHATWG specifications.
Modern Reference
A+·95- Open-source docsgithub.com/mdn/content tracks every page; CC-BY-SA license.
Citation Velocity
A·92- Web-tech defaultPrimary citation surfaced by ChatGPT/Claude/Perplexity for HTML/CSS/JS questions.
Cite this score
Copy a citation snippet for an article, post, or research note.
[MDN Web Docs — SourceScore Index 93 (A)](https://sourcescore.org/source/mdn-web-docs/)
<a href="https://sourcescore.org/source/mdn-web-docs/">MDN Web Docs — SourceScore Index 93 (A)</a>
SourceScore (v0.1). (2026). MDN Web Docs: SourceScore Index 93 (A). Retrieved from https://sourcescore.org/source/mdn-web-docs/
2 head-to-head comparisons
See all MDN Web Docs comparisons →Each comparison sets MDN Web Docs beside another source on all three scores and shows which one scores higher on each.
5 sources at MDN Web Docs's tier
See peer group →The five sources with the closest overall score to MDN Web Docs, from any category, and where each one scores higher or lower on Discipline, Modern Reference and Velocity.
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Frequently asked questions
Is MDN Web Docs a reliable source to cite?
MDN Web Docs scores A (93/100) on the SourceScore Index, which rates how citable a source is for AI-era and research use. At grade A, MDN Web Docs ranks among the most citable sources for AI-era retrieval and research. The grade combines Citation Discipline 92/100, Modern Reference 95/100, and Citation Velocity 92/100 — full breakdown above.
What is MDN Web Docs's SourceScore?
MDN Web Docs (developer.mozilla.org) scores 93/100 (Grade A) on the composite SourceScore Index. Sub-scores: Citation Discipline 92/100, Modern Reference (AI-era fitness) 95/100, Citation Velocity 92/100. Verified 2026-04-28.
How does SourceScore evaluate MDN Web Docs?
MDN Web Docs is scored across three dimensions on the SourceScore Index methodology: Citation Discipline (how rigorously the source cites primary references), Modern Reference (fitness for AI-era retrieval), and Citation Velocity (how often the source is cited per week). Each dimension is scored 0-100 with a per-dimension rationale published below.
Why does MDN Web Docs score A?
A — gold-standard web-platform reference with full open access + machine-readability.
What is MDN Web Docs?
Mozilla-stewarded web-platform reference since 2005; default citation for HTML, CSS, JS, Web APIs. Category: Reference. Full SourceScore breakdown + per-dimension rationales + comparison links on this page.