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Chicago Citations

Note: Always read your assignments carefully and defer to your instructors’ guidelines if they differ from Chicago. Instructors may have their own preferences about citing and formatting. This page represents the standard Chicago style according to The Chicago Manual of Style 18th Edition. A printable version of this information is available here.

If you are required to use the previous 17th edition, use this link to access a printable version of the CMoS 17th edition.

If you need more help, schedule an appointment at your writing center!

Formatting Chicago Papers

How to set up the title page and first page for a Chicago paper

Image of a student Chicago title page and paper. The title page has the paper’s title about 7 lines from the top. About 12 lines beneath the title is the student’s name, class, and date in month, day, year format with a comma between the day and year. The title page is double spaced. The information on the page can vary depending on the instructor. If the instructor does not require a title page, the information is included at the top of the first page.For specifics on the title page  contents and page number  location, consult your instructor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image of the second page of a student Chicago paper. The page number 1 is in the top right corner.

Indent paragraphs AND  footnotes. (Tip: Use the Tab key, not the space bar!)Body text is double spaced.  Footnotes are single spaced.Footnote numbers in the text  are superscrpt and come after  all punctuation.Footnote numbers in the  footnotes are the same size as the rest of the text.

How to make a hanging indent for the Bibliography Page

A hanging indent is when the first line of a paragraph is flush against the left margin and the following lines in the paragraph come in half an inch. For the Bibliography page, this means the authors' last names stick out and are easy to locate and read.

  • Microsoft Word Software: Select the sources you are ready to format. On your Home tab, click the arrow to the right of the word Paragraph (it is pointing down and to the right). This will open a new menu. Look for the Indentation section and the option Special. Click the Special dropdown, and select Hanging.
  • Word Online: Select the sources you are ready to format. Type "hanging indent" into the search bar at the top of the page, and click on it. The selected text will now be in hanging indent.
  • Google Docs: Select the sources you are ready to format. Click on the Format menu at the top of the page, then Align & Indent, and click on Indentation options at the bottom of the menu. This will open a pop-up window. Click the selection bar under Special indent, and select Hanging. Click on Apply.

Footnotes vs. Endnotes

Footnotes use a small number in the body of the text to draw the reader's attention to the bottom of the page to see the citation. Endnotes use the same numbering in the body; however, all notes are found at the end of the paper just before the bibliography.

The below information applies specifically to footnotes. The same guidelines apply to endnotes, but endnotes come at the end of a chapter, paper, or book and not at the bottom of each page.

For more information on footnotes, see the Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS), pages 783-809.

Footnote Basics

Footnotes, for the first time a source is mentioned, have the same order as the bibliography (author, title, facts of publication) except:

  • commas instead of periods to separate information
  • standard indention instead of hanging indention
  • author's first name is first
  • colon precedes page numbers for journal citations
  • publication facts are enclosed in parentheses
  • order is based on when they come on the page, not alphabetically
  • the first line is indented half an inch, rather than in hanging indent

If you have footnotes on multiple pages, the footnote numbers continue throughout the paper; they do not reset to 1 on each page.

The second time a source is mentioned, you only have include

  • the author's last names (up to three authors)
  • a shortened version of the title (this can be skipped, unless you have included more than one source by the same author)
  • page number, as applicable

Book, one author (CMoS p. 785)

First Reference:

          1. Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild (Anchor Books, 1997), 84-85.


Second Reference:

          2. Krakauer, Into the Wild, 23.

Book, two authors (CMoS p. 786)

First Reference:

          1. Pablo Rio and Ollie Tru, Lies (Arty Books), 301.


Second Reference:

          2. Rio and Tru, Lies, 117.

Journal article, one author (CMoS p. 787)

First Reference:

          1. Regina M. Schwartz, "Nationals and Nationalism: Adultery in the House of David," Critical Inquiry 19, no. 1 (1992): 131-32. https://doi.org/12.532343/5334.


Second Reference:

          2. Schwartz, "Nationals and Nationalism," 131.

Journal article, three or more authors (CMoS p. 786)

First Reference:

          1. Felisha Dressher et al., "Will It Float: Buoyancy in Today's Market," JMPQ 12, no. 4 (2020): 532. https://www.jmpq.au/23.


Second Reference:

          2. Dressher et al., "Will It Float," 532.

Lecture, Meeting, or Presentation (CMoS p. 931)

First Reference:

          1. Trey Aronson, "Why Psychology Matters Today" (lecture presented at PSYCH 2100, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, September 2019).


Second Reference:

          2. Aronson, "Why Psychology Matters."

Website with Accessed Date (CMoS p. 900-1)

First Reference:

          1. "Balkan Romani," Endangered Languages Project, First Peoples' Cultural Council and ELCat/ELP, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, accessed July 10, 2024, https://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/5342.


Second Reference:

          2. "Balkan Romani."

Journal Article with Article Number (CMoS p. 885)

First Reference:

          1. Emily Habart, "Structure of Star-Forming Regions Revealed Through Hyperspectral Image Fusion," Star Gazer TLD 10, no. 5 (2024): 12, e0124310, https://doi.org/10.2.....234.


Second Reference:

          2. Habart, "Structure of Star-Forming Regions," 9.

A note on shortened citations vs. ibid.

After a source is cited for the first time, a shortened or abbreviated version is used for the rest of the times it is cited.

The Chicago Manual of Style no longer recommends the use of ibid. (CMoS p. 791).

Shortened citations: Examples (CMoS pp. 790-3)

NOTE: If you have footnotes on multiple pages, the footnote numbers continue throughout the paper; they do not reset to 1 on each page.

  1. William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom! (Vintage International, 1990), 127.
  2. Faulkner, Absalom, 15.
  3. Faulkner, Absalom, 270.
  4. Robin Freed and Karen Rossi, "Unreliable Narrators for the Loss," Narrations 7, no. 7 (2015): 26.
  5. Freed and Rossi, "Unreliable Narrators," 98.
  6. Faulkner, Absalom, 36-40.
  7. William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying (Vintage International, 1990), 152.
  8. Faulkner, As I Lay Dying, 66-67.
  9. Faulkner, Absalom, 40.
  10. Freed and Rossi, "Unreliable Narrators," 118-22.
  11. Freed and Rossi, 117.

Bibliography

General order of information, including punctuation

Book:

Author Last Name, First Name. Book Title. Publisher, Year.

Journal:

Author Last Name, First Name. "Title of article." Title of Periodical volume number, no. issue number (Date): page numbers. doi/URL.

Style, formatting, and capitalization

  • Titles of books, journals, magazines, websites, etc., are italicized. Chapter titles, lecture titles, episode titles, etc., are not italicized but are enclosed in quotation marks.
  • The volume number comes immediately after the Journal Title with no punctuation nor identifier. The issue number is preceded by no. (Example: Ethics 125, no. 2)
  • If there is more than one author, only the first one is listed in reverse order. All subsequent authors will be listed First Name Last Name.

Examples

Type/Notes: (where to find more examples in The Chicago Manual of Style)

Bibliography

Lecture/Meetings (p. 931)

Aronson, Trey. "Why Psychology Matters Today." Lecture presented at PSCH 2100, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, September 2019.

Journal Article (pp. 882-4)

Bagley, Benjamin. "Loving Someone in Particular." Ethics 125, no. 2 (January 2015): 477-507.

Website with Accessed Date (pp. 900-1)

"Balkan Romani." Endangered Languages Project, First Peoples' Cultural Council and ELCat/ELP, University of Hawai'i at Manoa. Accessed July 10, 2024, https://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/5342.

Photographs and Artwork (p. 917)

Dali, Salvador. The Persistence of Memory. 1931. Oil on canvas, 9.5 x 13". Museum of Modern Art, New York, object no. 162.1934. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79018.

Social Media Postings (p. 903-4)

 

Gates, Bill. (@BillGates). "Polio is 99% eradicated. Join me & @FCBarcelona as we work to finish the job and #EndPolio. VIDEO: http://b-gat.es/X75Lvy." Twitter (now X), February 26, 2013, 4:13 p.m. https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/306
195345845665792.

Book Chapter, multiauthor book (pp. 853-4)

Gould, Glenn. "Streisand as Schwarzkopf." In The Glenn Gould Reader, edited by Tim Page. Vintage Books, 1984.

Book by Two Authors (p. 821)

Grazer, Brian, and Charles Fishman. A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life. Simon & Schuster, 2015.

Journal Article with Article Number (p. 885)

Habart, Emily. "Structure of Star-Forming Regions Revealed Through Hyperspectral Image Fusion." Star Gazer TLD 10, no. 5 (2024): e0124310. https://doi.org/10.2.....234.

Musical Recording
(pp. 930-1)

Handel, George Frideric. Messiah. Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Chorus. Robert Shaw. Recorded December 19, 1987. Video Artist International, 1988, 1 compact disc.

Online Newspaper or Magazine
(pp. 893-4)

Lorenz, Taylor. "Where Everyone's an Influencer." The Atlantic, July 31, 2019. https://www.theatlantic.com /technology/archive/2019/07/where-everyones-an-influencer/595213/.

Online E-Book (p. 877)

Lystra, Karen. Dangerous Intimacy: The Untold Story of Mark Twain's Final Years. University of California Press, 2004. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/130 30/kt8779q4kr/.

Book by Single Author (pp. 820 & 849ff)

Strayed, Cheryl. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. Alfred A. Knopf, 2012.

Blog Entry (Same as online newspaper articles, p. 902)

Tobias, Jennifer. "Modernism in the Air." Inside/Out (blog), The Museum of Modern Art, August 29, 2016. https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_ out/2016/08/29/ modernism-in-the-air/.

No Listed Author, Initial Article Ignored in List (p. 822)

A True and Sincere Declaration of the Purpose and Ends of the Plantation Begun in Virginia, of the Degrees Which It Hath Received, and Means by Which It Hath Been Advanced. London, 1610.

Business/
Organization/
Corporate Author (pp. 791 & 890)

University of Chicago Press. The Chicago Manual of Style. 18th ed. University of Chicago Press, 2024.

Episode of TV Series (p. 932)

Yaitanes, Greg, dir. Lost. Season 1, episode 14, "Special." Aired January 19, 2005, on ABC.

More than 6 Authors, only list first 3 followed by et al. (p. 786)

Zimmer, Maddison, Cressida Goldman, and Asher Taylor et al. "Mutations of Red Roots." Biology Weekly 88, no. 4 (2021): 156-233.

Author-Date References

An alternative to footnotes and endnotes is the parenthetical author-date citation system.

Parenthetical citations

Parenthetical citations come at the end of the sentence but before the final punctuation mark. They include the last name of the author(s), the publication year, and a page number when available.

Note: There is no comma between the author's name and the publication year, but there is a comma separating the year and the page number(s) (Chicago Manual of Style, p. 833-9).

Examples:

The primary texts have similar writing styles but have stark incongruencies regarding primary facts (McMadden and Douglas 2019, 45). These inconsistencies led some to challenge the validity of the Green Papers as a true primary source (Davies et al. 2015, 7-10).


If the source (usually a website) has no clear date of publication, use the abbreviation n.d. In this case, include a comma between the author name and n.d. (CMoS, p. 871).

Example:

(Undergraduate Writing Center, n.d.)

References

Instead of Bibliography, use the title References at the top of your reference list.
The other main difference is the publication year comes immediately after the author name(s) instead of with the publication details (Chicago Manual of Style, p. 840).

Example:

Unger, Roberto Mangabeira, and Lee Smolin. 2014. The Singular Universe and the Reality of Time A Proposal in Natural Philosophy. Cambridge University Press.

If the reference is for a newspaper article or a similar publication with a day and month, only include the year after the author name but include all three with the publication information.
Example:

Corrazzo, Jo. 2008. "Grass Is Not the Starting Place for Greener Homes." EnviroBuild, May 8, 2008, 17-19.

For a website that might change its content, add "accessed" and the date.

CivicPlus Content Management System. n.d. City of Ithaca, New York (website). Accessed June 19, 2023. http://www.....org/.

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