The Chicago Manual of Style provides guidelines for two styles of citation: author-date and notes and bibliography:
- In notes and bibliography style (mostly used in the humanities), you use footnotes or endnotes to cite sources.
- In author-date style (mostly used in the sciences), you use brief parenthetical references to cite sources in the text.
In both styles, full source citations are listed in an alphabetized bibliography or reference list.
The Chicago Manual of Style is regularly updated. Our examples are all based on the 17th edition, which is the most recent (published in 2017).
Chicago Notes and Bibliography
| Footnote or endnote format |
Author first name last name, Title of Book (Place of publication: publisher, year), page number(s). |
| Full note (first mention) |
Albert Einstein, The Meaning of Relativity (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1923), 44–45. |
| Short note (subsequent mentions) |
Einstein, The Meaning of Relativity, 89. |
| Bibliography format |
Author last name, first name. Title of Book. Place of publication: publisher, year. |
| Bibliography example |
Einstein, Albert. The Meaning of Relativity. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1923. |
Chicago Author-Date
| In-text citation format |
(Author last name year, page number(s)) |
| In-text citation example |
(Einstein 1923, 44–45) |
| Reference list format |
Author last name, first name. Year. Title of Book. Place of publication: publisher. |
| Reference list example |
Einstein, Albert. 1923. The Meaning of Relativity. Princeton: Princeton University Press. |
Chicago Notes and Bibliography
| Footnote or endnote format |
Author first name last name, “Title of Article,” Name of Journal volume, no. issue (month and year): page number(s). DOI if applicable. |
| Full note (first mention) |
Morris Dickstein, “A Literature of One’s Own: The Question of Jewish Book Awards.” Princeton University Library Chronicle 63, no. 1–2 (Winter 2002): 71. https://doi.org/10.25290/prinunivlibrchro.63.1-2.0070. |
| Short note (subsequent mentions) |
Dickstein, “A Literature of One’s Own,” 73. |
| Bibliography format |
Author last name, first name. “Title of Article.” Name of Journal volume, no. issue (month/season year): page range of article. DOI if applicable. |
| Bibliography example |
Dickstein, Morris. “A Literature of One’s Own: The Question of Jewish Book Awards.” Princeton University Library Chronicle 63, no. 1–2 (Winter 2002): 70–74. https://doi.org/10.25290/prinunivlibrchro.63.1-2.0070. |
Chicago Author-Date
| In-text citation format |
(Author last name year, page number(s)) |
| In-text citation example |
(Dickstein 2002, 71) |
| Reference list format |
Author last name, first name. Year. “Title of article.” Name of journal volume, no. issue (month/season): page range of article. DOI if applicable. |
| Reference list example |
Dickstein, Morris. 2002. “A Literature of One’s Own: The Question of Jewish Book Awards.” Princeton University Library Chronicle 63, no. 1–2 (Winter): 70–74. https://doi.org/10.25290/prinunivlibrchro.63.1-2.0070. |
Linking to online journal articles
When citing online journal articles, use the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or a stable URL, not the URL that appears in the address bar.
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Chicago Notes and Bibliography
| Footnote or endnote format |
“Title of Page,” Website, accessed month date, year, URL. |
| Full note (first mention) |
“About the UvA,” University of Amsterdam, accessed July 24, 2018, http://www.uva.nl/en/about-the-uva. |
| Short note (subsequent mentions) |
“About the UvA.” |
| Bibliography format |
Website. “Title of Page.” Accessed month date, year. URL. |
| Bibliography example |
University of Amsterdam. “About the UvA.” Accessed July 24, 2018. http://www.uva.nl/en/about-the-uva. |
Chicago Author-Date
| In-text citation format |
(Website n.d.) |
| In-text citation example |
(University of Amsterdam n.d.) |
| Reference list format |
Website. n.d. “Title of work.” Accessed month date, year. URL. |
| Reference list example |
University of Amsterdam. 2018. “About the UvA.” Accessed July 24, 2018. http://www.uva.nl/en/about-the-uva. |
Authors and dates in website citations
If the web page has a named author, use this at the start of the citation as you would for any other source. If there is a date of publication or last revision, include this instead of the access date.
Chicago Notes and Bibliography
| Footnote or endnote format |
Author first name last name, “Title of Article,” Name of Publication, month date, year, page number or URL. |
| Full note (first mention) |
Alex Marshall, “Graphic Novel in Running for Man Booker Prize for First Time,” New York Times, July 23, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/23/books/booker-prize-graphic-novel-ondaatje.html. |
| Short note (subsequent mentions) |
Marshall, “Graphic Novel in Running for Man Booker Prize.” |
| Bibliography format |
Author last name, first name. “Title of Article.” Name of Publication, month date, year. URL if applicable. |
| Bibliography example |
Marshall, Alex. “Graphic Novel in Running for Man Booker Prize for First Time.” New York Times, July 23, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/23/books/booker-prize-graphic-novel-ondaatje.html. |
Chicago Author-Date
| In-text citation format |
(Author last name year, page number if applicable) |
| In-text citation example |
(Marshall 2018) |
| Reference list format |
Author last name, first name. Year. “Title of Article.” Name of Publication, month date, year. URL if applicable. |
| Reference list example |
Marshall, Alex. 2018. “Graphic Novel in Running for Man Booker Prize for First Time.” New York Times, July 23, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/23/books/booker-prize-graphic-novel-ondaatje.html. |
Chicago Notes and Bibliography
| Footnote or endnote format |
Channel name, “Video Title,” month date, year, video, length, URL. |
| Full note (first mention) |
MSNBC, “The Rachel Maddow Show: ‘Never Stop Asking,’” July 23, 2018, video, 0:30, https://youtu.be/_biV0Pa5I1E. |
| Short note (subsequent mentions) |
MSNBC, “Never Stop Asking.” |
| Bibliography format |
Channel name. “Video Title.” Month date, year. Video, length. URL. |
| Bibliography example |
MSNBC. “The Rachel Maddow Show: ‘Never Stop Asking.’” July 23, 2018. Video, 0:30. https://youtu.be/_biV0Pa5I1E. |
Chicago Author-Date
| In-text citation format |
(Channel name year) |
| In-text citation example |
(MSNBC 2018) |
| Reference list format |
Channel name. Year. “Video Title.” Month date, year. Video, length. URL. |
| Reference list example |
MSNBC. 2018. “The Rachel Maddow Show: Never Stop Asking.” Video, July 23, 2018. https://youtu.be/_biV0Pa5I1E. |
4 comments
Rob Adams
May 6, 2022 at 6:40 AMHow do I capitalize the "www" in a URL if it's at the beginning of a sentence? Is it "Www.scribbr.com is a useful tool," or "www.scribbr.com is a useful tool." The capital letter looks weird.
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr Team)
May 6, 2022 at 12:04 PMHi Rob,
I would suggest you just avoid placing a URL at the start of a sentence. It's best to place URLs in parentheses if they need to appear in the main text at all, e.g., "Scribbr (www.scribbr.com) is a useful tool."
James B White
November 21, 2020 at 11:33 PMThis is a very helpful article. How do I cite a page number for a Kindle page when it only lists "location"?
Shona McCombes (Scribbr Team)
December 8, 2020 at 7:45 PMHi James,
Like most style guides, Chicago doesn't recommend adding Kindle locations, as these vary across devices. You may use a different locator, such as a chapter number, instead. You can see some examples of Chicago e-book citations here.
Hope that helps!