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Chicago style

Chicago citations appear in a research paper as notes as well as and at the end of the paper as references to books, articles, or any other type of source you have used in your paper.

Citing with Chicago

Notes

Notes are detailed bibliographic citations of information sources that may appear as footnotes or endnotes. As their name suggests, footnotes appear at the foot of a page. In a journal, endnotes appear at the end of an article; in a book at the end of a chapter or at the back of the book. Notes are integrated into the text making interesting reading and allowing immediate knowledge of the sources.

Bibliographies

Bibliographies are alphabetical lists of all the sources from which you quoted, summarized or paraphrased an idea. They provide the authors, the titles, and the publication information of the sources. However, since full details of the sources are given in notes, Chicago style recommends that there could be several types of bibliographies that serve a particular purpose. The kinds of bibliographies can be:

  • Full bibliography: includes all works cited, it may include works consulted but not mentioned in the text.
  • Selected bibliography: includes the sources the author wishes to list.
  • Annotated bibliography: each source listed is followed by annotations.
  • Bibliographic essay: sources for which the author wishes to express his thoughts in a formal and orderly way.
  • List of works by one author: includes the works of a particular author arranged chronologically.

Book citations described with the Chicago style, basically, consist of three elements: the author, the title, and the publication information of the source. 

Click on the collapsible panel to see examples based on the type of book you want to cite or its special characteristics and find out how you should form the citation.

When you cite a book, provide the name of the author in normal form. Reverse the author's name only in the bibliography entry. Continue providing the title of the book italicized and the publication information of the book. Include page numbers only in the notes entry. If page numbers are not available then provide the chapter. If you accessed the book online, conclude providing the DOI based URL when this is available. If a DOI is not available and you accessed the book from an online database, provide the name of the database. If you accessed the book from the web and the DOI is not available then conclude with the source URL.
Online database/web with DOI
Online database without DOI
Online web without DOI
Print format
When you cite a chapter in an edited book, provide the name of the author in normal form. Reverse the author's name only in the bibliography entry. Continue giving the title of the chapter in quotation marks followed by the word in, the title of the book italicized, the editor's name, and the publication information of the book. Page numbers should be mentioned in both entries. If you accessed the book online conclude providing the DOI based URL when this is available. If a DOI is not available and you accessed the book from an online database, provide the name of the database. If you accessed the book from the web and the DOI is not available then, conclude with the source URL.
Online database/web with DOI
Online database without DOI
Online web without DOI
Print format
When you cite an authored encyclopedia entry provide the name of the author in normal form. Reverse the author's name only in the bibliography entry. Continue providing the title of the entry in quotation marks followed by the word in, the title of the book italicized, the editor's name, and the publication information of the book. Page numbers are mentioned both in notes and bibliography entries if they are available. If you accessed the encyclopedia entry online from the library's databases, conclude providing the DOI based URL when this is available. If a DOI is not available and you accessed the book from an online database, provide the name of the database. If you accessed the book from the web and the DOI is not available then, conclude with the source URL.

When you cite entries with no particular author from well-known reference works, such as the Encylopedia Britannica or Grove Music Online cite them in notes rather than in bibliographies. For more info on how to cite major reference works consult paragraphs 14.232, 14.233, and 14.234 of the Chicago Manual.


Online database/web with DOI
Online database without DOI
Online web without doi & author

Well-known reference works, such as the Encylopedia Britannica or Grove Music Online are normally cited in notes rather than in bibliographies. In such a case you can also provide the access date of the source. The entry should also be preceded by the initials s.v. from the latin words sub verbo meaning under the word.

Print format

Article citations described with the Chicago style, basically consist of three elements: the author, the title, and the publication information of the source.

Click on the collapsible panel to see examples based on the type of article you want to cite or its special characteristics and find out how you should form the citation.

When you cite a journal article, provide the name of the author in normal order. Reverse the author's name only in the bibliography entry. Continue providing the title of the article in quotation marks, the title of the periodical italicized, followed by volume and issue numbers, the publication date and pages. If you accessed the journal article online, conclude providing the DOI based URL when this is available. If a DOI is not available and you accessed the article from an online database, provide the name of the database. If you accessed the article from the web and the DOI is not available then conclude with the source URL.
Online database/web with DOI
Online database without DOI
Online web without DOI
Print format
When you cite a magazine article this is usually described only in notes. Provide the name of the author in normal order. Continue with the title of the article in quotation marks, followed by the title of the magazine italicized. Continue with the publication date of the source. Omit any volume or issue numbers even if they are available. Provide the page number if any. If you accessed the article from an online database, conclude the entry with the name of the database. If you accessed the magazine article from the web conclude with the source URL. If you want to include a citation in the bibliography as well, cite the magazine article as you would normally do for journal articles.
Online database
Online web
Print
When you cite a newspaper article this is usually described only in the notes. Provide the name of the author in normal order. Continue with the title of the article in quotation marks, followed by the title of the newspaper italicized. Continue with the publication date of the source. Omit any volume or issue numbers even if they are available. Provide the page number if any. If you accessed the article from an online database, conclude the entry with the name of the database. If you accessed the newspaper article from the web conclude with the source URL. If you want to include a citation in the bibliography as well, cite the newspaper article as you would normally do for journal articles.
Online database
Online web
Print

Website citations or citations of any other type of source described with the Chicago style, basically consist of three elements: the author, the title, and the publication information of the source.

Click on the collapsible panel to see examples based on the type of source you want to cite and find out how you should form the citation.

When you cite a webpage provide the title of the webpage in quotation marks, the title of the website followed by the owner or sponsor of the website. Provide also the last modified or revision date of the page. If such a date is not available provide the date of access. Conclude the entry with the source URL.

Citations of webpage content are often cited only in the notes. However, if a work has no notes you could include the citation in the bibliography. In this case begin the entry of the bibliography with the website owner or sponson and then provide the rest of the elements.

When you cite a blog post provide the name of the author. Continue providing the title of the blog post in quotation marks. Continue with the title of the blog in italics followed by the word "blog" in parenthesis and the title of the publication in italics. Provide also the date of the blog post. Conclude the entry with the source URL. Citations of blogs or blog posts are often cited only in the notes. However, if a work has no notes you could include the citation in the bibliography.
When you cite social media content provide the name of the author. List the real name if known, followed by a screen name (if any) in parenthesis. Continue providing the text of the post in quotation marks. Provide the name of the social media service and include a description if relevant. Provide the date of the post. Conclude the entry with the source URL. Citations of posts posts are often cited only in the notes. However, if a work has no notes you could include the citation in the bibliography.
When you cite a report, provide the name of the author in normal form. Reverse the author's name only in the bibliography entry. Continue providing the title of the report italicized and the publication information of the report. If you accessed the online, conclude providing the URL of the source. If you accessed the report from an online database, provide the name of the database.
Online web
Online database
When you cite a thesis or a dissertation provide the name of the author reversed only in the bibliography entry. Continue providing the title in quotation marks followed by the phrase PhD diss. or master's thesis, the name of the granding institution and the submission date. Conclude the entry with the source URL. For documents retrieved from databases conclude with the name of the database and any identification number provided by the database.
Online web
Online database abstract
When you cite an image accessed online from the library's databases, give the creator's name and the title of work. Proceed with the date the source was accessed, the name of database and any identification number of the image.