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Chicago citation style

A guide to citing sources using the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition

Chicago Notes-Bibligraphy guides

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For more comprehensive information, see the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition.

General rules

In notes-bibliography style, when information is quoted or referred to in a paper, insert a superscript number that directs the reader to a note that contains the citation information.

Sample in-text citation:

According to O'Flaherty, "the spread of electric lights through rural Newfoundland was destined to be slow and uneven."1

Notes

The footnote or endnote identifies the source of the quotation or information. The format and content of footnotes and endnotes are the same. It is the location of the note in your paper that determines whether it is an footnote or an endnote. Footnotes are placed at the "foot", or bottom, of the same page where the information is quoted or referred to; are separated from the text of the paper by a short line; and let the reader refer to your citation without having to flip to the back of the paper. Endnotes are placed at the end of your paper with the heading "Notes". Each note should be single spaced, with one line between notes.

Sections 14.43-14.45 discuss the pros and cons of footnotes vs. endnotes.

Sample note:

1. Patrick O'Flaherty, Lost Country: The Rise and Fall of Newfoundland, 1843-1933 (St. John's, NL: Long Beach Press, 2005), 218.

Bibliography

Usually, a bibliography is also included at the end of the paper. The bibliography is the full list of works used to write the paper; it may include works that you consulted but did not cite. It is arranged alphabetically by authors' last name. Each entry is single spaced, with double-spacing between entries. Some instructors may prefer double-spacing throughout.

Shortened notes

If you’ve cited a source once and need to cite it again, you can use a shortened citation in your footnote/endnote. A shortened citation is just the authors last name, a shortened title, and the page number. If your title is 5 or more words long, use a shortened title. A shortened title uses one or two keywords from the original title (14.29-14.30).

Sample notes:

2. Kirk R. Butt, Early Settlers of Bay St. George, 2nd ed. (Whitby, ON: Boonen Books, 2007), 29.

3. Gene Allen, Making National News: A History of Canadian Press (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012), 30.

4. Butt, Early Settlers, 54.

Ibid.

Previous editions of the Chicago Manual of Style recommended the use of "Ibid." when a note referred to a source directly above. The 17th edition discourages the use of "Ibid." in favour of shortened notes (14.34).

Components of a Chicago style citation

The following is a list of commonly-used elements in Chicago style. Not every element is needed in each type of citation. See individual format recommendations for specific guidance for the type of source you want to cite.

Author

The author(s) or creator(s) of the work. Consists of a first name and last name, and sometimes middle initials.

Title of article, chapter, or webpage

Title of the work. Subtitles are included after the main title, and separated from the main title using a colon.

Title of journal, book, or website

The name of the journal, website, newspaper, etc. that contains the work you are referring to. 

Other contributors

This refers to other people who were involved with the work, such as an editor, narrator, or translator.

Version

Use this when your source indicates it is a different version from the original, e.g., revised edition, 8th edition, or director's cut.

Number

This element is used to refer to volume numbers in books, volume and/or issue numbers in journals, seasons and episodes in television shows, etc.

Publisher

The publisher is the organization responsible for making the source available to the public, whether in print or online.

Date

The date when the source was published. In the case of online resources, date can also be used to indicate the date the information was last updated or accessed.

Publication place

The city or place the source was published.

Pages

This refers to the page location of your source. For example, the page numbers of an article in a journal or magazine, or the pages of a chapter in a book.

URL or DOI

For online resources, use the URL to indicate where you found the article. Wherever possible, use a persistent or stable URL, or "permalink". Many resources found using Library Databases have been assigned a DOI. In cases where both URL and DOIs are available, use the DOI instead. 

Format

When citing audiovisual media, including CDs, DVDs, film, and digital formats such as MPEG, MP3, as well as ebook formats for specific devices like the Kobo ereader, the format of the resources are included in the citation.