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Citing Others' Work

Notes & Bibliography in Chicago Style

Chicago style follows a "notes and bibliography" format. This means that unlike MLA and APA styles, which use parenthetical in-text citations, Chicago style makes heavy use of footnotes (see examples below).

There are small but important differences in punctuation and format between:

  • N: note citations occurring throughout a document, and 
  • B: bibliography citations occurring at the end of the document

Key differences include:

  • note (footnote) entries format authors' names as First M. Last, while bibliography entries format names as Last, First M.
  • note (footnote) entries include the added element of relevant page numbers where the cited information was drawn from the source
  • note (footnote) entries use commas in many places where corresponding bibliography entries use periods (see examples below)

Book Examples (Chicago)

Basic Format for Books (Chicago)
 
N: Author First Last, Title, (Publisher City: Publisher, Year), page(s).
B: Author Last, Author First. Title. Publisher City: Publisher, Year.

 
Book
 
One Author
 
N: 1. Milton Rokeach, TheThree Christs of Ypsilanti, (New York: New York Review of Books, 2011), 97.
B: Rokeach, Milton. The Three Christs of Ypsilanti. New York: New York Review of Books, 2011.
 
Two Authors 
 
N: 2. Williamson Murray and Allan Reed Millett, A War to be Won: Fighting the Second World War, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009), 229-231.
B: Murray, Williamson, and Allan Reed Millett. A War to be Won: Fighting the Second World War. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009.
 
Editor(s)
 
N: 3. Steven J. Dick and Roger D. Launius, ed., Societal Impact of Spaceflight, (Washington: Government Printing Office, 2007), 147-148.
B: Dick, Steven J., and Roger D. Launius, ed. Societal Impact of Spaceflight. Washington: Government Printing Office, 2007.
  

 

Work in Anthology or Collection (or Single Chapter in Edited Volume)
 
N: 4. James A. Vedda, "The Role of Space Development in Globalization," in Societal Impact of Spaceflight, ed. Steven J. Dick and Roger D. Launius, (Washington: Government Printing Office, 2007), 195-196.
B: Vedda, James A. "The Role of Space Development in Globalization." In Societal Impact of Spaceflight, edited by Steven J. Dick and Roger D. Launius, 193-206. Washington: Government Printing Office, 2007.
 

 

Introduction, Preface, Forward or Afterward
   
N: 5. Bill McKibben, foreword to Diet for a Hot Planet, by Anna Lappe (New York: Bloomsbury, 2010), xi.
B: McKibben, Bill. Foreword to Diet for a Hot Planet by Anna Lappe, xi-xii. New York: Bloomsbury, 2010.
 

 

Periodical Examples (Chicago)

Magazine Article (Chicago)
 
N: Daniel Fisher, "A Brief History of Energy Boondoggles," Forbes, November 24, 2008, https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/1124/082.html#595dc6162865. 
B: Fisher, Daniel. "A brief history of energy boondoggles." Forbes, November 24, 2008. https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/1124/082.html#595dc6162865.
 
For official online publications (e.g. established magazines), Chicago style does not require you to note the date of access.
   

 

Scholarly Journal Article
 
N: 1. Lara  E. Ewens, "Seed Wars: Biotechnology, Intellectual Property and the Quest for High Yield Seeds," Boston College International and Comparative Law Review 23, (2000): 292.
B: Ewens, Lara E. "Seed Wars: Biotechnology, Intellectual Property and the Quest for High Yield Seeds." Boston College International and Comparative Law Review 23, 285-310.
 
Newspaper Article
 
N: 2. Bernard Weinraub, “U.S. Agronomist Gets Nobel Peace Prize,” New York Times, October 22, 1970, 1
B: Weinraub, Bernard. “U.S. Agronomist Gets Nobel Peace Prize.” New York Times (New York, NY), Oct. 22, 1970.
 
***If a newspaper article is carefully and thoroughly cited in a footnote, you may omit it from your bibliography.

 

Primary Sources

For help citing primary sources (e.g. letters, interviews, oral histories), see the "Chicago Style Cheat Sheet" linked in the box on the top of this page.

Notes and Bibliography in Context

Below you can see examples of footnotes used in the body of a paper and their corresponding entries in a bibliography section added to the end of the same paper.

chicago footnotes exampleChicago bibliography example