These simple guides (updated in 2017) will show you how to properly cite in Chicago style format.
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BroadcastWhile not as familiar to students as APA or MLA style, The Chicago Manual of Style is actually over 125 years old. It can trace its history to the beginning of the University of Chicago Press, which established a uniform set of rules to eliminate stylistic inconsistencies in its publications. This style sheet eventually evolved in The Chicago Manual of Style. Currently in the 17th edition, this style manual is the go-to choice for many writers and editors.
While both APA and MLA are used for specific-types of publications, one of the benefits of Chicago style is that it is appropriate for any type of writing. That said, it is important to realize that there are actually two Chicago Citation Styles. The notes-bibliography style is generally used in the humanities. The author-date system is used in the sciences.
The Notes-Bibliography Chicago Citation Style is used for the humanities, and is most frequently used for history papers. It allows the writer to choose footnotes or endnotes and to include supplemental information in those notes, going beyond the bibliographical information. While a bibliography is not required in a notes-bibliography approach, it is recommended because it allows all of the notes to be concise and is generally considered easier for the reader.
The Author-Date system is used for the sciences. This involves in-text citations, which are also called parenthetical citations. These in-text citations require the author’s last name, the year of publication, and the page number when it is available and when it is required. These in-text citations are paired with a reference page or works cited list, where the reader can find the full bibliographic information for that source.
You may have been asked to write your paper in Turabian, and, after doing a little research, found sources that tell you that Turabian and Chicago are the same style. This is mostly true. In reality, there is no Turabian Style. Kate Turabian wrote a style manual that, in many people’s opinions, does a better job explaining Chicago Style for writers than the actual Chicago Manual does.
It is important to keep in mind that Chicago Style was developed initially for the University of Chicago Press. Its general manuscript rules are still tailored towards writers who are submitting their articles for publication through that press. Therefore, while these are general rules, they may not apply to you in your academic writing. If you have specific questions about these rules, the best thing to do is to consult your professor, your teaching assistant, or your school’s writing lab, if available, for clarification of the rules your institution has about manuscript format.
Citations According to Source:
In this section, we will examine how to properly cite sources according to Notes-Bibliography (NB) and the Author-Date System with a works cited page.
Book with a Single Author
B-N First Time:
First Last, Title of Book (City of Publication: Publisher, Publication Date), pages.
Example:
Sharon Pape, Sketch Me if You Can (New York: Penguin 2010), 34.
Subsequent B-N Entries:
Last, Title, pg.
Example:
Page, Sketch Me if You Can, 34.
Bibliography/ Reference List/ Works Cited Entry:
Last, First. Title. City of Publication: Publisher, Publication Date.
Pape, Sharon. Sketch Me if You Can. New York: Penguin, 2010.
In-text Citation:
(Last Year, pages).
Example:
“Rory was tempted to say that she would go back to her parents’ home for at least one more night” (Pape 2010, 34).
Book with Multiple Authors
B-N First Time:
First Last, First Last, and First Last. Title of Book (City of Publication: Publisher, Publication
Date), pages.
Example:
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Crimson Shore. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2015.
Subsequent B-N Entries:
Last and Last, Title, pg.
Example:
Preston and Child, Crimson Shore, 221.
Bibliography/ Reference List/ Works Cited Entry:
Last, First and First Last. Title. City of Publication: Publisher, Publication Date.
Example:
Preston, Douglas and Lincoln Child. Crimson Shore. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2015.
In-text Citation:
(Last and Last Year, pages).
Example:
“He froze. The sounds of the night wood had suddenly ceased” (Preston and Child 2015, 221).
Chapter in an Anthologies or Collection
B-N First Time:
First Last of Author, “Name of Work,” in Title of Book, ed. First Last of Editor (City of Publication: Publisher, Publication Date), pages.
Example:
Jan Burke, “Stepping into the Dead Zone,” in Games Creatures Play, eds. Charlaine Harris and Toni Kelner (New York: Ace Books 2014), 40-67.
Subsequent B-N Entries:
Last of Author, “Name of Work,” pg.
Example:
Burke, “Stepping into the Dead Zone,” 48.
Bibliography/ Reference List/ Works Cited Entry:
Last, First of Author, “Name of Work,” in Title of Book, ed. First Last of Editor, pgs. City of Publication: Publisher, Publication Date.
Example:
Burke, Jan, “Stepping into the Dead Zone,” in Games Creatures Play, eds. Charlaine Harris and Toni Kelner, 40-67. New York: Ace Books, 2014.
In-text Citation:
(Last Year, pages).
Example:
“He tried to hide his fear that Mike would now just take off and leave him trapped. Mike didn’t do that, of course- had never done anything like that” (Burke 2014, 46).
Translated Books with Authors
B-N First Time:
First Last of Author, Title of Book, trans. First Last of Editor (City of Publication: Publisher, Publication Date), pages.
Example:
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. 100 Years of Solitude, trans. Gregory Rabassa (New York: Harper Collins, 1970), 3-6.
Subsequent B-N Entries:
Last of Author, “Name of Work,” pg.
Example:
Marquez, 100 Years of Solitude, 48.
Bibliography/ Reference List/ Works Cited Entry:
Last, First of Author, Title of Book, Translated by First Last of Editor. City of Publication: Publisher, Publication Date.
Example:
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. 100 Years of Solitude, Translated by Gregory Rabassa. New York: Harper Collins, 1970.
In-text Citation:
(Last Year, pages).
Example:
“On the first contact the bones of the girl seemed to become disjointed with a disorderly crunch like the sound of a box of dominoes” (Marquez 1970, 33).
E-Readers
Oftentimes, you will not have a hard copy of a book, but an electronic copy. For books consulted online, you will include the URL or the name of the database. For other types of e-books, including Kindle and Nook, name the format. If there are no fixed page numbers, you can site to a section, title, line number, or simply omit the page number requirement.
Note that many books on Kindle and Nook are self-published. If a book is self-published and you have the information about the publication, you can include that in the publication information. However, if you have to guess about publication information, omit it.
B-N First Time:
First Last of Author, Title of Book (City of Publication: Publisher, Publication Date), chapter/section/line number, Format.
Example:
Barbara Tatum, Tween, Twixt, Twisted (Richmond: Barbara Tatum, 2014), 318, Kindle.
Subsequent B-N Entries:
Last of Author, Title, chapter/section/line number.
Example:
Tatum, Tween, Twixt, Twisted, 318.
Bibliography/ Reference List/ Works Cited Entry:
Last, First. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Publication Date. Format.
Example:
Tatum, Barbara. Tween, Twixt, Twisted. Richmond: Barbara Tatum, 2015. Kindle.
In-text Citation:
(Last Year, lines/chapters/sections).
Example:
“Not little nightmare frightened, but SCARED” (Tatum, 2015, 2-3).
Tatum, Barbara. Tween, Twixt, Twisted. Kindle Edition. 2014.
Website citation format
B-N First Time:
First Last, “Title of Article,” date created, modified, or accessed, URL
Example:
Enrique Andres Patel, “Tropical Storm Nate Kills 22 in Central America Before Taking Aim at U.S,” October 6, 2017, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tropical- storm-nate-central-america_us_59d72a2fe4b0f6eed34f70a4?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
Subsequent B-N Entries:
Last, “Title of Article.”
Example:
Patel, “Tropical Storm Nate.”
Bibliography/ Reference List/ Works Cited Entry:
Last, First. “Title of Article,” date created, modified, or accessed, URL
Example:
Patel, Enrique Andres. “Tropical Storm Nate Kills 22 in Central America Before Taking Aim at U.S.” October 6, 2017, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tropical- storm-nate-central-america_us_59d72a2fe4b0f6eed34f70a4?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
In-text Citation:
(Last Year).
Example:
“Tropical Storm Nate killed at least 22 people in Central America on Thursday as it pummeled the region with heavy rain while heading towards Mexico’s Caribbean resorts and the U.S. Gulf Coast, where it could strike as a hurricane this weekend” (Patel 2017).
Note that the citation does not include a page number, because the article was all presented on a single page of the website.
Article from an Online Periodical (Magazine or Non-Scholarly Journal)
B-N First Time:
First Last, “Title of Article,” Newspaper or Magazine Name, Date of Publication, URL if accessed online.
Example:
Alana Abramson, “Outgoing Senator Calls White House an ‘Adult Day Care Center’ After Trump Twitter Attack.” Time Magazine, 8 October 2017. http://time.com/4973803/donald-trump-bob-corker-twitter-iran-deal/?xid=homepage.
Subsequent B-N Entries:
Last, Title, pg.
Example:
Abramson, “Outgoing Senator Calls White House.”
(There is no page number because there was no page number at the URL).
Bibliography/ Reference List/ Works Cited Entry:
Last, First. Year. “Title of Article.” Newspaper or Magazine Name, Date of Publication, URL if accessed online.
Example:
Abramson, Alana. 2017. “Outgoing Senator Calls White House an ‘Adult Day Care Center’ After Trump Twitter Attack.” Time Magazine, 8 October 2017. http://time.com/4973803/donald-trump-bob-corker-twitter-iran-deal/?xid=homepage.
In-text Citation:
(Last Year, pages).
Example:
Trump’s attack comes just four days after Corker subtly criticized the president by praising his cabinet officials (Abramson 2017).
Article from an Online Scholarly Journal
B-N First Time:
First Last, “Title of Article,” Journal Vol, no. (Year): Page, doi or URL is accessed online.
Example:
Godfrey David Pearlson. “Applications of Resting State Functional MR Imaging to Neuropsychiatric Diseases.” Neuroimaging Clinics 27, 4 (2017): 709-732, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nic.2017.06.005.
Subsequent B-N Entries:
Last, Title, pg.
Example:
Pearlson, “Applications of Resting State,” 728.
Bibliography/ Reference List/ Works Cited Entry:
Last, First. Year. “Title of Article.” Journal Vol (number): pages. Doi or URL
Example:
Pearlson, Godfrey David. 2017 “Applications of Resting State Functional MR Imaging to Neuropsychiatric Diseases.” Neuroimaging Clinics 27, 4: 709-732, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nic.2017.06.005.
In-text Citation:
(Last Year, pages).
Example:
According to Pearlson, neuropsychiatric diseases can impair the brain’s normal functional communication patterns (2017, 709).
Many students find Chicago or Turabian style challenging when they initially institute it. In reality, it is no more challenging than APA or MLA style. In fact, if you are incorporating footnotes or endnotes into your paper, then Chicago Style can actually be much easier to use than MLA or APA. In addition, Chicago’s approach to websites is much simpler than either the APA or MLA approach, which can make it a great choice of style if your sources are heavy on websites or other internet-available documents.
One of the things to keep in mind is that there are two different Chicago styles. This can actually make a critical difference when you are documenting your sources. While the works cited page entry and the first B-N entry are generally similar, they differ in how they present the author’s name and, frequently, in where the date of publication is presented. Knowing this, you should always check your sources to make sure you have correctly included the author’s name and the publication date.
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