How to Cite in Chicago Manual of Style Format

Guide Note

Follow the examples on this page for information on How to Cite in Chicago Manual of Style Format. Also see Mahalo's guides for How to Cite in APA Format and How to Cite in MLA Format.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chicago Citation Methods

Author-Date System

  • The Author-Date system is similar to the MLA style in which the citations are broken up into In-Text citations and a References list. This style is most commonly used by writers in the social sciences, although there is no hard and fast rule that says they have to. Here is a brief description of how to use the Author-Date system:

Text Citations

  • The text citations that are used in the Author-Date system are nearly identical to those used in the MLA style:
    1. Always use parentheses () around your citation information.
    2. Include the author's last name and the date of publication.
    3. No punctuation between the name and date.
  • Examples:

Reference List

  • Just like the other bibliographies discussed on this page, the Reference List is a collection of all of the works that have been cited in the paper. The entries in the references list should include the following:
    1. The author(s) or editor(s) of the book, essay or article
    2. The date the work was published
    3. The complete title of the work (italicized)
    4. The Publication title (for articles and periodicals only)
    5. The Volume number (for articles and periodicals only)
    6. The edition (if applicable)
    7. The place where it was published
    8. The publisher
    9. The specific pages referenced (if applicable)
  • Examples:
    • When a work has one author:
      • Bradley, Geoff. 2002. How I learned to stop worrying and love cheese. Chicago: Chicago Press.
    • When a work has two authors:
      • Kettler, Sara and Andrew Marcus. 2008. How to write a how to. Los Angeles: Mahalo Press.
    • When citing a magazine article or journal:
      • Brown, Evan Michael. 2007. How to write a love song. Songwriter Weekly 26: 57-58.

Documentary Note Style

  • The citation style that is most closely associated with the Chicago style (and the one that varies the most from the previous styles we've discussed) is the Documentary Note (or Humanities Style) of citation. In this style, footnotes are used throughout the paper in order to identify citations (rather than the In-text citations that other styles use). Like the Author-Date system, the Documentary Note style also includes a bibliography at the end of the paper that compiles all of the citations that were used in the paper.

Footnotes

  • Each footnote that is used throughout your paper should include both a superscript number [1] next to the passage being cited, and a corresponding note at the bottom of the page that includes more detailed citation information.
    • The superscript number should be used as following:
      • Research suggests that a solution is imminent.[2] Whether or not this is true is yet to be seen.
    • The corresponding footnote at the bottom of the page should then be as follows:
      • 2. Bobby Gordon, Whose got the solution? (New York: Oxford UP, 2004), 67.
  • Here are few rules regarding footnotes:
    1. The superscript numbers should be listed sequentially.
    2. If you've already cited a source once, you can shorten the footnote for any following citations.
    3. The number that begins the footnote should be regular sized.
  • Examples:
    • When a work has one author:
      • 1. Bob Thomas, The shape of things to come: A Prediction (Los Angeles: Kirkus, 2007), 29.
    • When a work has two authors:
      • 2. John Porter and Michael Gallagher, A tale of two video editors (London: Oxford, 2008), 68.
    • When citing a magazine or journal article:
      • 3. Nicole Gustas, "How to propose," Mahalo Daily 28, (1999):339.
    • When citing an edited book:
      • 4. Jason Calacanis, ed., Taurus & Fondue: A tale of two bulldogs (Los Angeles: Taurus Press, 2008), 25 - 30.
    • When citing an online article or resource:
      • 5. C.K. Sample, "I've read more books than you," Sample the Web, February 20, 2007, 29, http://www.sampletheweb.com/.

Bibliography

  • The bibliography section that is used in the Documentary Note style is nearly identical to the Reference List section in the Author-Date system. The only major difference is that the publication date comes at the end of each bibliography entry (in the Documentary style bibliography) instead of directly after the author (as in the Author-Date system). Here are a couple of examples:
  • Examples:
    • When a work has one author:
      • Lodge, Michael. A Limey in LA. London: Pembridge Press, 2004.
    • When a work has two authors:
      • Kasparov, Gary, and Bobby Fischer. Chess for dummies, dummy!. Florida: Checkmate Press, 2008.
    • More examples

Resources