This guide is developed in line with The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017.
What is Chicago Citation Style?
The Chicago style is mostly used for books and other long publications, where it is inconvenient to go to the end every time you want to check a reference. As such, it features a detailed reference to the source in a footnote at the bottom of the page as well as the page number (if applicable). However, if you want to write a shorter paper using the format, there is an Author-Date version that functions in the same manner as APA and Harvard. The footnote-based variation is somewhat similar to Oxford due to its use of the same basic principles.
The Importance of Citing and Referencing
You may wonder why correct referencing is generally considered so important, taking precedence over most other aspects. Here are some reasons why this is usually the case, even in essays that may not seem so serious or important:
- Fundamentally, a person’s internal knowledge does not enable him or her to be at the forefront of research on his or her own. As such, references show that you know this and use others’ writings to help you.
- You show that your information comes from a source that can be considered trustworthy and unbiased by various scholars who read your work. Many readers will frown upon the use of data from websites unless they belong to large-scale agencies.
- To supplement this point, you have to format your references correctly due to the possibility that a wrongly formatted link will point to a nonexistent work. Referring to a fake work in the hopes that no one will check is a severe offense.
- Most organizations disapprove of plagiarism strongly, and citations are intended to prevent it. The practice can lead to consequences up to and including expulsion from whatever organization you write for and permanent reputation damage.
General Principles of Chicago Style Formatting
- The margins for Chicago style should be 1″ (2.54 cm) on all sides.
- Use Arial 12 pt. font (unless the instructions require a different font), double-spaced.
- Name reference list either “References” or “Works Cited”
- Alphabetize the sources on the reference list by the last names of the authors (or, if no author or editor is given, by the title or, failing that, a descriptive phrase).
- For successive entries by the same author(s), translator(s), editor(s), or compiler(s), a 3-em dash replaces the name(s) after the first appearance. The entries are arranged chronologically by year of publication in ascending order, not alphabetized by title
Chicago Title Page
The title is placed in the center of the page and written in UPPERCASE. Use a colon to separate the main title from the subtitle. The subtitle (if any) should be written below the title line.
Student’s name, tutor’s name, other class information, date, and year are located in the lower part of the page, written in sentence case.
There should be no page numbers on the title page or page with the table of contents/outline.
Chicago (Author-Date) Outline
There are 2 basic types of outlines for you to choose (unless your tutor gives you a template)
Simple outline (either alphanumeric or decimal)
Example of alphanumeric outline
Example of decimal outline
Example of full sentence outline
Chicago Headings and Subheadings
Level 1: Centered, Bold, Each Word is Capitalized
Level 2: Centered, Non-Emphasized Font, Capitalized
Level 3: Flush Left, Bold, Capitalized
Level 4: Flush left, regular font, sentence case
Level 5: Placed at the beginning of the paragraph. Can be italicized or bold, sentence case. A period is used to separate the subheading and the rest of the text in the paragraph.
Chicago Reference List
The reference list is inserted at the end of your paper; any source that you use needs to be included in the reference page and cited in the text.
Indent all lines after the first line in the entry (hanging indent); the lines should be indented one-half inch (1.27 cm) from the left margin of your paper.
- Do not forget to invert authors’ names: Last Name, First Name. Example: Clifton, Lucille.
- The reference list is always alphabetized by the first word in the reference entry (from A to Z).
- When alphabetizing titles or group names as authors, go by the first significant word (disregard a, an, the)
- In the titles of your sources in the text and on a reference page in chicago style, all words except for articles and prepositions should be capitalized.
- Italicization is applied to books and periodical journals’ titles.
- Double quotation marks are used for the titles of articles and book chapters.
Chicago Style References
Chicago Book Citation
General format
One author
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. Title of the Book. Publisher’s Location: Publisher’s Name.
Example:
Clifton, Lucille. 1993. The Book of Light. Washington: Copper Canyon Press.
Two to ten authors
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name, and First Name Last Name. Year of Publication. Title of the Book. Publisher’s Location: Publisher’s Name.
Example:
Lechner, Mildred, and Ralph Lechner. 1998. The World of Salt Shakers: Antique & Art Glass Value Guide. Paducah: Collector Books.
Budker, Dmitry, Derek F. Kimball, and David P. DeMille. 2004. Atomic Physics: An Exploration through Problems and Solutions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
More than ten authors
The names of first ten authors are listed and then “et al.” is added.
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name, First Name Last Name, First Name Last Name, First Name Last Name, First Name Last Name, First Name Last Name, First Name Last Name, First Name Last Name, First Name Last Name, First Name Last Name et al. Year of Publication. Title of the Book. Publisher’s Location: Publisher’s Name.
Example:
Mehrer, Mark, John Flatman, Natt Flemming, Jill Baxter, Caleb Orser, Keit Wescot, Din Dale, Derek F. Kimball, Ralph Lechner, David Morgan et al. 2015. Molecular Biology of the Cell. 6th ed. New York: Garland Science.
Corporate author
Structure:
Organization Name. Year of Publication. Title of the Book. Publisher’s Location: Publisher’s Name.
Example:
World Health Organization. 2006. Comprehensive Cervical Cancer Control: A Guide to Essential Practice. Geneva: World Health Organization.
No author
Articles at the beginning of book titles are omitted to maintain alphabetical order.
Structure:
Title of the Book. Year of Publication. Publisher’s Location: Publisher’s Name.
Example:
Mythology: Myths, Legends and Fantasies. 2003. Sydney: Hodder Headline Australia.
Multiple works by the same author
The works are arranged in chronological order. A 3-em dash and period replace the author’s name in every subsequent reference entry.
Fromm, Erich. 1942. The Fear of Freedom. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
—. 1987. The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
—. 1992. The Art of Being. New York: Continuum.
Multiple works published in the same year by the same author
The works are arranged in alphabetical order by title. The letters “a,” “b,” “c,” etc. follow the year of publication in each entry. These assist readers in distinguishing the sources cited parenthetically.
Brodsky, Joseph. 2011a. Less than One: Selected Essays. London: Penguin Press.
—. 2011b. On Grief And Reason: Essays. London: Penguin Press.
Edition other than first
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. Title of the Book. # ed. Publisher’s Location: Publisher’s Name.
Example:
Alberts, Bruce. 2015. Molecular Biology of the Cell. 6th ed. New York: Garland Science.
Reprint edition
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. (Year of Initial Publication) Year of Reprint Publication. Title of the Book. # ed. Initial Publisher’s Location: Initial Publisher’s Name. Reprint Publisher’s Location: Reprint Publisher’s Name. Citations refer to Reprint edition.
Example:
Austen, Jane. (1813) 2003. Pride and Prejudice. London: T. Egerton. Reprint, New York: Penguin Classics. Citations refer to the Penguin edition.
An edited book with no author
Structure:
Editor’s Last Name, First Name, ed. Year of Publication. Title of the Book. Publisher’s Location: Publisher’s Name.
Example:
Monanty, Chandra Talpade, Ann Russo, and Lourdes Torres, eds. 1991. Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Multivolume works
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Years of Publication. Title of the Book. # vols. Publisher’s Location: Publisher’s Name.
Example:
Nichols, Bill, ed. 1985. Movies and Methods. Vol. 2 of An Anthology. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Tillich, Paul. 1951–63. Systematic Theology. 3 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
A translated book
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Years of Publication. Title of the Book. Translated and edited by Editor/Translator’s First Name Last Name. Publisher’s Location: Publisher’s Name.
Example:
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. 1992. The Idiot. Translated and edited by Alan Myers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Encyclopedia/dictionary
Structure:
Editor’s Last Name, First Name, ed. Year of Publication. Title of the Book. Publisher’s Location: Publisher’s Name.
Example:
Swators, William H., Peter Kivisto, Barbara J. Denison, and James McClennon, eds. 1998. Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press.
Chapter in an edited book
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Years of Publication. “Chapter Title.” In Title of the Book, edited by Editor’s First Name Last Name, pages–pages. Publisher’s Location: Publisher’s Name.
Example:
Balsamo, Anne. 1995. “Forms of Technological Embodiment.” In Cyberspace/Cyberbodies/Cyberpunk: Cultures of Technological Embodiment, edited by MikeFeatherstone and Roger Burrows, 215–237. London: Sage Publications.
E-book / Online Book
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. Title of the Book. Publisher’s Location: Publisher’s Name. E-book Format.
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. Title of the Book. Publisher’s Location: Publisher’s Name. E-library Name.
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. Title of the Book. Publisher’s Location: Publisher’s Name. URL.
Example:
Austen, Jane. 2007. Pride and Prejudice. New York: Penguin Classics. Kindle.
Borel, Brooke. 2016. The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ProQuest Ebrary.
Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel. 2001. The Hobbit or There and Back Again. New York: Harper Collins. https://www.readanybook.com/ebook/the-hobbit-17.
Chicago Article Citation
Journal article in print
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. “Title of the Article.” Full Title of the Journal volume number (issue number): page numbers.
Example:
Seaton, Philip, and Takayoshi Yamamura. 2015. “Japanese Popular Culture and Contents Tourism – Introduction.” Japan Forum 27 (1): 1–11.
Meyerovitch, Eva. 1959. “The Gnostic Manuscripts of Upper Egypt.” Diogenes, no. 25, 84–117.
Note:
- If there is no volume but only an issue, write “no.” before the issue.
Online journal article
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. “Title of the Article.” Full Title of the Journal volume number (issue number): page numbers. doi / URL.
Example:
Spielmann, Katherine, Matthew Peeples, Donna Glowacki, and Andrew Dugmore. 2016. “Early Warning Signals of Social Transformation: A Case Study from the US Southwest.” Plos ONE 11 (10): 1–18. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0163685.
Newspaper and magazine articles in print
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. “Title of the Article.” Full Title of the Newspaper/Magazine, Month Date, Year,page numbers.
Examples:
Burchard, Hank. 1998. “Van Gogh: The Full Palette.” The Washington Post, October 2, 1998, 24–25. New York Times. 2002. “In Texas, Ad Heats Up Race for Governor.” July 30, 2002, 12–14.
Note:
- If there is no author, the magazine/newspaper title stands for the author.
Online newspaper and magazine articles
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. “Title of the Article.” Full Title of the Newspaper/Magazine, Month Date, Year. URL.
Examples:
Bressan, David. 2017. “From Art to Myth, the Relationship of Our Ancestors with Volcanoes.” Forbes, January 19, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2017/01/19/from-art-to-myth-the-relationship-of-our-ancestors-with-volcanoes/#418763153b6b.
Meikle, James. 2015. “Nearly 75% of Men and 65% of Women in UK to Be Overweight by 2030—Study.” Guardian (UK edition), May 5, 2015. http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/05/obesity-crisis-projections-uk-2030-men-women.
Note:
- State edition of the magazine in parentheses after the magazine title.
Chicago Conference Citation
Conference proceedings/presentations
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. “Title of the Paper.” Paper presented at Conference, City, State/Country, Month Date(s).
Example:
Dally, David, and Paul Gross. 2003. “Modernization Concepts: Utilizing Bayer Countercurrent Packed Bed Technology.” Paper presented at the 64th Annual International Water Conference, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 19-23.
Chicago Dissertation Citation
Thesis or dissertation
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. “Title of the Paper.” Degree statement, University.
Example:
Hernandez, Ivonne. 2014. “Acculturation, Self-Efficacy and Breastfeeding Behavior in a Sample of Hispanic Women.” PhD diss., University of South Carolina.
Rutz, Cynthia Lillian. 2013. “King Lear and Its Folktale Analogues.” PhD diss., University of Chicago.
Note:
- If the thesis / dissertation contains a title of the book, write only the book name in Italics.
Chicago Lecture Citation
Lecture/presentation
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. “Title of the Paper.” Course Title, Course Code, Month Date, Year.
Example:
Mahoney, Karen Murrey. “Overview of the Over-the-Counter Drug Monograph Process.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, June 10, 2016.
Chicago Website Citation
Entire website: corporate author
Structure:
Organization Name. Year. Name of the Website (website). Accessed Month Date, Year. URL.
Example:
WHO. 2017. World Health Organization (website). Accessed March 22, 2018. http://www.who.int/en/.
Website (no date)
Structure:
Organization Name. n.d. Name of the Website (website). Accessed Month Date, Year. URL.
Example:
CivicPlus Content Management System. n.d. City of Ithaca, New York (website). Accessed April 6, 2018. http://www.cityofithaca.org/.
Page from a website
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year. “Title of the Page.” Name of the Website. Accessed Month Date, Year. URL.
Example:
Frank, Anne. 2017. “Education.” AnneFrankHouse. Accessed April 3, 2018. http://www.annefrankhouse.org/en/Education/.
Page with unknown author
Structure:
Organization Name. Year. “Title of the Page.” Name of the Website. Last modified Month Year. Accessed Month Date, Year. URL
Example:
Oath Inc. 2018. “Privacy Center.” Privacy & Terms. Last modified April 2018. Accessed December 7, 2018. https://policies.oath.com/us/en/oath/privacy/index.html.
Note:
- Use website name as author
Image
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year. “Image Title.” Accessed Month Date, Year. URL.
Example:
Jean, James. 2014. “MIZU”. Accessed January 24, 2018. http://www.jamesjean.com/work2014/2quig9crt4wfqa7io7w42ak3a0e3ah.
Blog
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year. “Title of the Post.” Name of the Website (blog). Accessed Month Date, Year. URL.
Examples:
Germano, William. 2017. “Futurist Shock.” Lingua Franca (blog), Chronicle of Higher Education. Accessed February 15, 2017. http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2017/02/15/futurist-shock/.
Saunders, Rip. 2017. “Fintech Groups Express Support for OCC Charter,” RipSaunders (blog). Accessed January 20, 2017. http://ripsaunders.livejournal.com/375181.html.
Social media
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name (nickname). Year. “Title of the Post.” Name of Social Media, Month Date, Year of access. URL
Examples:
Díaz, Junot. 2016. “Always surprises my students when I tell them that the ‘real’ medieval was more diverse than the fake ones most of us consume.” Facebook, February 24, 2016. https://www.facebook.com/junotdiaz.writer/posts/972495572815454.
O’Brien, Conan (@ConanOBrien). 2015. “In honor of Earth Day, I’m recycling my tweets.” Twitter, April 22, 2015, 11:10 a.m. https://twitter.com/ConanOBrien/status/590940792967016448.
Souza, Pete (@petesouza). 2016. “President Obama bids farewell to President Xi of China at the conclusion of the Nuclear Security Summit.” Instagram photo, April 1, 2016. https://www.instagram.com/p/BDrmfXTtNCt/.
YouTube
Structure:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year. “Title of the Video.” YouTube video. Accessed Month Date, Year. URL.
Example:
Jones, Steve. 2013. “Accounting Basics.” YouTube video. Accessed May 24, 2018. http://youtube.com/watch?v=mpNmcFzy6-22.
Video/film
Structure:
Title of the Video. Directed by First Name Last Name. Year of Production. City: Company, Year of Release. DVD.
Example:
Akira. Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo. 1987. London: Manga Entertainment, 2003. DVD.
Chicago Government Document Citation
Government publication/standard
Structure:
Organization Name. Year. Title of Government Publication. Number. URL.
Example:
U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2011. Let’s Eat for the Health of It. No. 232-CP. https://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/27_DGCB-LEFTHOI.pdf.
Chicago Style In-Text Citation
Books: one author
Note that no punctuation is used between the name and the date, but page number is separated by a comma.
Example: According to the observations, “traditional industrial psychology no longer met the variedneeds of organizations” (Gallos 2006, xv).
When the information from the source is paraphrased, the page number is not required.
Example: The most commonly used definition of organization development is unsuitable forcontemporary corporate reality (Gallos 2006).
Two or three authors
All authors are listed after the citation in the same order as in the references list. The word “and” is used to separate the authors.
Example: “Morality, it could be argued, represents the way that people would like the world to work —whereas economics represents how it actually does work” (Levitt and Dubner 2005, 11).
More than three authors
List only the first of the authors from the list followed by et al.
Example: There is a visible shift towards the experience-based incentives in the HRM field (Sunderset al. 2012).
Chapter in an edited book
Provide the name of the chapter’s author.
Example: Applicability of school education is currently a priority among educators (Savery 2014).
Multiple sources
If more than one source is cited in the same sentence, list them alphabetically and separate with a semicolon.
Example: Most definitions characterize OD as managed vertically (Chang 2009; Smith 2013; Wright2010).
Different authors with same surnames
Use initials before last names to distinguish between the authors.
Example: Globalization is credited for fueling the off-shore practices (H. Wang 2012). However,according to Y. Wang (2012), its impact on diversification of markets is often overlooked in this context.
Same year/same author
If an author has more than one publication in one year, write author’s last name followed by the date and a corresponding letter from the references list.
Example: Perceived conflict is a stage at which the events are identified as a source of disturbance(Finkelman 2012a).
Source with no date
If the date of publication cannot be ascertained, write the author’s last name followed by
Example: Despite the best efforts of the researchers, the neither of these claims was corroborated(Maxwell n.d.).
Source quoted in another work
Example: The original work by Einstein contained numerous arithmetical errors (as cited in Aslan2013).
Scholarly journal article
Journal citation shares citation style with books but requires mentioning the page.
Example: There is a direct relation between employee engagement and productivity (Johnson et al. 2014, 533).
Newspaper article
Example: The procession participants were “treated in the most unacceptable way” (Barber2011,D2).
Entire website
Use the name of the website followed by the date of publication or the date of accessing the source.
Example: The rules of the site explicitly forbid using it only for business purposes (WHO 2016).
Page from a website
Include the name of the author instead of the name of the resource.
Example: Value added may or may not result in changes of the product’s price (Stephens 2016).
Corporate author
If the information comes from an organization or other corporate entity, list its name in the place of the author.
Example: Privacy and integrity are the focus of the new regulations (British Government 2014).
Page with unknown author
Use the name of the website in an in-text citation.
Example: (Oath Inc. 2018).
Page with unknown author and date
Use the name of the website followed by n.d.
Example: Despite the best efforts of experts, the content of the manuscript remains unknown (WHO n.d.).
Video/film
List title of the video and a publication/access date.
The absurdity of the situation reaches its peak in apprehension scene (Boyz n the Hood 1991).
Lecture/presentation
Write lecture author and date.
Example: Economies of scale have strong influence on off-shoring practices (Donnerly 2014).
Government publication/standard
List the name of the organization followed by the year of publication.
Example: Ethylmercury in standard doses has no known effect on health (USFDA 2014).
Social media
Example: (Díaz, 2016)
(O’Brien 2015)
(Souza 2016)
Dissertation / thesis
List author name and publication date.
Example: Traditional shrimp industry was the first to feel the impact of globalization (Janet 2005).
Conference proceedings
Authors’ names are followed by the year of the publication.
Example: Critical approach was considered evident only in a fraction of cases (Gentry and Simmons2001).
Tables and Figures in Chicago Style
The Chicago citation style demands that figures and tables be treated slightly differently, though overall, their use is similar. You should place both types of object in the paper’s body, between separate lines of text. However, while you are free to put tables wherever they are most appropriate, you have to present figures immediately after they have been mentioned for the first time (see figure 1).
Figure 1: Glass World.
Source: Glass World, digital image, EnvironmentalScience, accessed August 18, 2019, https://www.environmentalscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/NEPA-CEQA-640×425.jpeg
You introduce a figure by inserting a note immediately below it that says “Figure #:” and is followed by a description. Below it, you write “Source:” (the italics are required) and add a reference, formatted the same way as though it is a standard footnote citation. With tables, you insert the table number and a short description of the contents above the object and add “Source:” with a reference below. Note that both the title nor the source line should be single-spaced, regardless of how you format the rest of the paper. In both cases, you have to duplicate the reference to the source in your bibliography. The author-date variation of the Chicago style functions similarly, but you replace the in-text citations with ones more appropriate for the style, namely the author’s name and the year.
Reference List
Glass World. Digital image. EnvironmentalScience. Accessed August 18, 2019. https://www.environmentalscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/NEPA-CEQA-640×425.jpeg
Chicago A-D Format Essay Examples
- A Christmas Carol by Dickens
- A Lesson Before Dying: Summary, Characters, Theme, and Personal Opinion
- Causes and Effects of Child Labor
- Life of Pi: Key Characters, Plot, and Themes
- Moral of Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- The Bluest Eye by Tony Morrison
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
- The Main Characters and Themes of The Bluest Eye