This is a simple guide to citing sources using Chicago style. If you want more detailed information, take a look at the Chicago Manual of Style Citation Guide.
Citations in Your Paper (In-text Citation)
Chicago style has two different ways methods of in-text citation: footnotes and parenthetical citation (author-date). Since Chicago style is mainly used when footnote citation is preferred, and since the author-date style is very similar to APA (with the exception of lacking “p.” for page numbers), here we will only deal with footnote style.
The first time you refer to a source, you need a footnote with full information. Here is an example:
1. Barbara J. Haywain, Love’s Revenge: a tale of passion and intrigue (New York: Bodice Books, 1988), 35.
(Formats for different types of sources will be shown later.) The good news is that you only need to do this once; for later footnotes, you just need the author’s surname and the page number, e.g.
3. Haywain, 126.
If you refer to two or more different sources by the same author, put in the title, or a shortened version of the title, e.g.
4. Haywain, Love’s Revenge, 126.
If you refer to the same source two or more times in a row, then you can just use “Ibid.” (short for Latin ibidem) to mean “this is from the same source,” e.g.,
5. Ibid., 126.
If you are referring not only to the same source but to the same page as before, then “Ibid.” is enough; you do not need to repeat the page number.
The general policy of the Chicago Manual of Style is to keep footnotes to a minimum, so if what you are referring to is clear from the context, then ask yourself if you really need a footnote. For example, in this case you do not, because the author and title are there in the sentence:
Kant and the Platypus presents Umberto Eco’s views on the problems of categorisation.
Citations at the End of Your Paper (Works Cited page or Bibliography)
Chicago style has three alternatives for citations at the end of your paper.
- If you cite all sources you used while researching the paper, even if you didn’t refer to them, use the title Bibliography.
- If you only cite the sources that you refer to in your paper, use the title Works Cited
- Sometimes if you give full footnote citations, it is not necessary to include citations at the end of the paper.
Make sure you know which is required of you; option #3 looks attractive but could lose you grades if your teacher wants a full bibliography!
Some general principles:
- Citations are in alphabetical order by author’s surname.
- First names are given as they appear in the publication; titles (such as Dr., Prof., Sir, PhD.) are not included.
- Citations are in hanging indent format (i.e., the second and subsequent lines of a citation are indented, not the first one).
- Titles of complete works (books, journals, etc.) should be in italics.
- Titles of articles, chapters etc. go in quotation marks.
- The format is generally the same as that for a footnote, except that
- authors’ surnames come first, not first names;
- items are separated by full stops, not commas;
- there are no parentheses;
- page numbers are only used for articles in journals, chapters in books etc.
Formats
Books
Footnote
Footnote#. Author’s First name(s) Surname, Title (Place: Publisher, Year), page(s).
1. Barbara J. Haywain, Love’s Revenge: a tale of passion and intrigue (New York: Bodice Books, 1988), 25.
Bibliography Entry
Author’s Surname, first name(s). Title. Place: Publisher, Year.
Barbara J. Haywain, Love’s Revenge: a tale of passion and intrigue. New York: Bodice Books, 1988.
Chapters or essays in books
Footnote
Footnote#. Author’s First name(s) Surname, “Title of essay.”, in Title of Book, ed. Editor’s name (Place of Publication: Publisher, year), page(s).
2. Juliet Kristova, “The submerged feminine in Haywain’s novels,” in Postmodernism and Popular Romance, ed. Roland O’Rorty (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 27
Bibliography Entry
Author’s Surname, first name(s). Title of essay. In Title of book, edited by Editor’s name, pages. Place: Publisher, Year.
Kristova, Juliet. “The submerged feminine in Haywain’s novels.” In Postmodernism and Popular Romance, edited by Roland O’Rorty, 23–45. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Notice how in the footnote, the page number comes at the end, while in the bibliography entry, it comes before the publication information. It’s just one of those Chicago things.
Articles in academic journals
Footnote
Footnote#. Author’s First name(s) Surname, “Title of article,” Name of Journal Volume# no. Issue# OR JUST Issue# (date): page(s).
3. Marcus Johnson, “The Bodice in the Mind: conceptual metaphor in Haywain,” Cognitive Literary Studies 2 no. 1 (1999): 244.
Bibliography Entry
Author’s Surname, first name(s). “Title of article.” Name of Journal Volume# no. Issue# OR JUST Issue# (date) pages.
Johnson, Marcus “The Bodice in the Mind: conceptual metaphor in Haywain.” Cognitive Literary Studies 2 no. 1 (1999): 231–250.
If you accessed the journal on-line, then it is normal to add the URL and the date you accessed it (in parentheses), e.g..
Johnson, Marcus “The Bodice in the Mind: conceptual metaphor in Haywain.” Cognitive Literary Studies 2 no. 1 (1999): 231–250. http://www.brummage.ac.uk/cls/vol2/1/johnson.pdf (June 18, 2009).
The Chicago Manual of Style does not require URLs to be printed in a fixed-width font (Courier, in this case) but it is good practice in general.
Articles in popular magazines
Footnote
Footnote#. Author’s First name(s) Surname, “Title of article,” Name of Magazine, month day, year, page(s).
4. Janice Fluff, “Barbara Haywain, a Reborn Romantic,” Readers’ Digest, April 15, 1989, 12.
Bibliography Entry
Author’s Surname, first name(s). “Title of article.” Name of Magazine. month day, year.
Fluff, Janice. “Barbara Haywain, a Reborn Romantic” Readers’ Digest, April 15, 1989.
Note that page numbers are not needed for popular magazines, only for academic journals.
Articles in newspapers
Footnote
Footnote#. Author’s First name(s) Surname, “Title of article,” Name of Newspaper, month day, year, Section, Edition.
5. James S. Liebestod, “Haywain’s New Novel Breaks Best-seller Record,” New York Times, November 23, 2001, Arts section, Midwest edition.
Bibliography Entry
In Chicago style, it is not considered necessary to put newspaper articles in the bibliography, but if you need to do it …
Author’s Surname, first name(s). “Title of article.” Name of Newspaper. month day, year, Section, Edition.
Liebestod, James S. “Haywain’s New Novel Breaks Best-seller Record.” New York Times, November 23, 2001, Arts section, Midwest edition.
Note that, like magazines, page numbers are not needed for newspapers.
Film, television, etc.
Footnote
Footnote#. Title, medium, directed by Director (Original release year; City: Studio/distributor, Video/DVD Release Year.)
6. Love Down Under, DVD, directed by Bruce J. Gibson (2003; Sydney: Oz Home Video, 2005).
Bibliography Entry
Title. medium. Directed by Director. Original release year. City: Studio/distributor, Video/DVD, release year.)
Love Down Under. DVD. Directed by Bruce J. Gibson. 2003. Sydney: Oz Home Video, 2005.
Website
Footnote
Footnote#. Author’s First name Surname, “Title of page,” Name of website, URL (accessed date).
7. Penny Jejeune, “Julia’s Fate,” Haywain Fanfic, http://www.hayfic.com/juliasfate.html (accessed February 3, 2009).
If you can’t find all of that information, so just put in as much as you can. The Chicago Manual of Style does not require the access date, but we put it in here because some publishers, universities or teachers want it.
Bibliography Entry
In Chicago style, it is not considered necessary to put web pages in the bibliography, but if you need to do it …
Author’s Surname, First name. “Title of page.” Name of website. URL (accessed month day, year).
Jejeune, Penny. “Julia’s Fate.” Haywain Fanfic, http://www.hayfic.com/juliasfate.html (accessed February 3, 2009).
Comments on blogs, forums etc.
Footnote
Footnote#. Author’s First name Surname, comment on “Title of blog entry / forum thread,” Name of website, comment posted month day, year, URL (accessed month day, year).
8. Graham Smith, comment on “Is the Romantic Novel Dead?” LitBlog, http://litblog.livejournal.com/495876.html (accessed May 23, 2009).
As with websites, the Chicago Manual of Style does not require the access date.
Bibliography Entry
Again, according to the CMS it is not considered necessary to put blogs and forums in the bibliography, but if you need to do it …
Name of website. URL (accessed date).
LitBlog, http://litblog.livejournal.com/495876.html (accessed May 23, 2009).
Citing Sources by Two or More Authors
If there are two authors, then in the footnote you just join them with “and”, e.g. “John Smith and Gordon Brown”. In the bibliography, only the first author has the surname first, e.g., “Smith, John, and Gordon Brown”. If there are four or more authors, then in the footnote use “et al.” (short for et alia, which is Latin for “and others”, e.g., “William Friedman et al.” but in the bibliography give all of the authors.