If your instructor’s preferred style differs from this suggested style, always follow your instructor’s directions.
Chicago uses title case for everything and uses the complete name of the author as provided by the item.
First notes have most elements separated by commas; bibliographies have most elements separated by periods.
Use a comma between the volume and issue number, but don't use a comma if there is no issue number.
The numbered note in the running text is superscript with no period, but the matching numbered note itself is full sized and is followed by a period.
Each note is indented on the first line, while the each bibliography entry is a hanging indent.
Each note is single-spaced with a blank line between each entry.
Each entry in the bibliography is single-spaced with a blank spae between each entry.
Do not indent the first line in each bibliographic citation, but indent all the following lines (a hanging indent, or Ctrl+T).
Continue page numbering into the bibliography.
Put quotation marks around article titles.
Brief titles of articles or books remove a, an, and the if it is the first word in the title.
Brief titles of articles or books are four or fewer words in length.
Italicize journal and book titles.
For essay in an edited book, the “in” the first note is lowercase, while the “in” in the bibliography is title case.
In a note or shortened note, if a work has two authors, list both; for more than two, list only the first, followed by et al. (Latin for "and others").
In the bibliography, list up to six authors; if there are more than six, list only the first three, followed by et al.
For online materials, include a DOI URL or persistent URL. No persistent URL or DOI is avalable, you may use name of the database where you found the article.
End the citation with a period even if it ends in a URL or DOI.
There should never be more than one superscripted note number at a time, though the note itself can contain more than one citation.
Use of "Ibid." for repeated footnote references is no longer encouraged by the CMOS. However, it still provides rules for its use (see CMOS 13.37). Instead, use the shortened version of the note.
Similarly, CMOS used to recommend that repeated bibilography entries by the same author could substitute an em-dash (---) for the name after the first entry. This is no longer recommended; just list the author's name as per usual.
| Citation Type | Example |
|---|---|
|
First (long) note |
#. Lastname, Firstname, and Firstname Lastname. "Title of Article in Title Case in Firstname Lastname and Firstname Lastname, "Title of Article in Title Case and with Quotation Marks," Name of Journal in Italics and Title Case volume#, no. x (yyyy): p#, https://doi.org/DOI. 1. Brent Singleton and Eva Sorrell, "Hate Crimes and Discrimination Against Muslim Converts in Late Victorian Liverpool," Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 37, no. 1 (2017): 10, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2017.1294376. Months or Seasons of publication are not needed if the journal has both volume and issue numbers. If there is no issue number, include the Month or Season for clarity. If our example above did not have an issue number, we would do this: 1. Brent Singleton and Eva Sorrell, "Hate Crimes and Discrimination Against Muslim Converts in Late Victorian Liverpool," Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 37 (January 2017): 10, https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2017.1294376. |
|
Second (short) note |
#. Lastname and Lastname, "Brief Title of Article in Title Case with Quotation Marks," p#. 2. Singleton and Sorrell, "Hate Crimes," 13. Shortened forms of notes omit author first names. Shorten the full title of the work to only its most important words. |
|
Bibliography |
Lastname, Firstname, and Firstname Lastname. "Title of Article in Title Case in Quotation Marks." Journal/Magazine Name in Title Case and Italics volume#, no. issue# (yyyy): p#-p#. doi:DOI OR http://www.site.here Singleton, Brent, and Eva Sorrell. "Hate Crimes and Discrimination Against Muslim Converts in Late Victorian Liverpool." Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 37, no. 1 (January 2017): 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2017.1294376. Full names and full titles are always used in the Bibliography entries. |
| Citation Type | Example |
|---|---|
|
First (long) note |
#. Firstname Lastname, Title of Book in Italics (Publisher, yyyy), pp-pp. 3. Lisa Bartle, The Best Book of Children’s Literature: An Introduction (Academic Press, 2017), 22-23. |
|
Second (short) note |
#. Lastname, Brief Title of Book in Italics, p. 4. Bartle, Best Book, 27. Words The, A, or An at the beginning of a shortened title are omitted. If the full title is no more than four words, it usually is not shortened. |
|
Bibliography |
Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book in Italics. Publisher, yyyy. Bartle, Lisa. The Best Book of Children's Literature: An Introduction. Academic Press, 2017. Full names and full titles are always used in the Bibliography entries. |
| Citation Type | Example |
|---|---|
|
First (long) note |
#. Firstname Lastname et al., “Title of Essay or Chapter in Title Case with Quotation Marks,” in Title of Book in Italics and Title Case, ed. Firstname Lastname (Publisher, yyyy), p. 5. Frederick X. Gibbons at al., "Self-Perception and Self-Deception: The Role of Attention in Suggestibility Processes," in Human Suggestibility: Advances in Theory, Research, and Application, ed. John F. Schumaker (Routledge, 1991), 205. In notes, if there are more than 2 authors, list only the first one followed by the abbreviation et al. Note that "al." is always followed by a period, because it is the abbreviated word alia/aliae/alium. |
|
Second (short) note |
#. Lastname, "Brief Title of Essay," p. 6. Gibbons et al., "Self-Perception and Self-Deception," 203. In notes, if there are more than 2 authors, list only the first one followed by the abbreviation et al. Note that "al." is always followed by a period, because it is the abbreviated word alia/aliae/alium. |
|
Bibliography |
Lastname, Firstname, Firstname Lastname, and Firstname Lastname. “Title of Essay or Chapter in Title Case with Quotation Marks." In Title of Book in Italics and Title Case, edited by Firstname Lastname. Publisher, YYYY. Gibbons, Frederick X., Susan B. McCoy, and Fred Flintstone. "Self-Perception and Self-Deception: The Role of Attention in Suggestibility Processes." In Human Suggestibility: Advances in Theory, Research, and Application, ed. John F. Schumaker (Routledge, 1991). In the bibliography, up to 6 authors of a work are listed out. If there are more than 6 authors, list only the first thrree, followed by et al. |
| Citation Type | Example |
|---|---|
|
First (long) note |
#. Firstname Lastname, "Title of Web Page," Web Site Title If Present, updated [or accessed] Month dd, yyyy. http://URLhere.com. 5. Lisa R. Bartle, "Explanation of Awards," Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature, updated April 17, 2020. http://www.dawcl.com/explanation.html. In notes, if there are more than 2 authors, list only the first one followed by the abbreviation et al. Note that "al." is always followed by a period, because it is the abbreviated word alia/aliae/alium. |
|
Second (short) note |
#. Lastname, "Brief Title of Page." 5. Bartle, "Explanation of Awards." |
|
Bibliography |
Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Web Page in Title Case." Web Site Title If Present. Updated [or Accessed] Month dd, yyyy. http://URLhere.com. Bartle, Lisa R. "Explanation of Awards." Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature. Updated April 13, 2020. http://www.dawcl.com/explanation.html. Web sites frequently lack author information! If there is no named author, in the notes, the title will usually come first; in a bibliography entry, the source should be listed under the owner or sponsor of the site. |
| First note |
6. "Microsoft Privacy Statement," Microsoft, updated February 2023, https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement. |
| Bibliography |
Microsoft Corporation. "Microsoft Privacy Statement." Updated February 2023.https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement. |
Citing a YouTube video or similar source starts with the same pieces as previous examples. You need author, date, title, source (YouTube), and URL. For more information, see CMOS 14.167 Online Videos.
| Citation Type | Example |
|---|---|
|
First (long) note |
7. Stacy Magedanz, "Understanding the Ins and Outs of Zotero," posted March 20, 2023, by Pfau Library, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jidePhEnQxs. |
|
Second (short) note |
8. Magedanz, "Understanding Zotero." |
|
Bibliography |
Lastname, Firstname. "Title of Video in Quotation Marks and Title Case." Posted [by organization or channel, if available] Month date, YYYY. YouTube. http://URL here. Magedanz, Stacy. "Understanding the Ins and Outs of Zotero." Posted March 20, 2023, by Pfau Library. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jidePhEnQxs. |