Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide

The Chicago Manual of Style presents two basic documentation systems: (1) notes and bibliography and (2) author-date. Choosing between the two often depends on subject matter and the nature of sources cited, as each system is favored by different groups of scholars.

The notes and bibliography style is preferred by many in the humanities, including those in literature, history, and the arts. This style presents bibliographic information in notes and, often, a bibliography. It accommodates a variety of sources, including esoteric ones less appropriate to the author-date system.

The author-date system has long been used by those in the physical, natural, and social sciences. In this system, sources are briefly cited in the text, usually in parentheses, by author’s last name and date of publication. The short citations are amplified in a list of references, where full bibliographic information is provided.

Aside from the use of notes versus parenthetical references in the text, the two systems share a similar style. Click on the tabs below to see some common examples of materials cited in each style, including examples of common electronic sources. For numerous specific examples, see chapters 14 and 15 of the 16th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style.

Footnotes – Chicago Bibliography

• In Chicago style, footnotes or endnotes are used to reference pieces of work in the text.
• To cite from a source a superscript number is placed after a quote or a paraphrase.
• Citation numbers should appear in sequential order.
• Each number then corresponds to a citation, a footnote or to an endnote.
• Endnotes must appear on an endnotes page. The page should be titled Notes (centered at top). This page should appear immediately before the bibliography page.
• Footnotes must appear at the bottom of the page that they are referred to.  

Example: 
Cole found that "The bones were very fragile".1

Each superscript then refers to a numbered citation in the footnotes or endnotes.
 

Footnotes/endnotes:

The first time the in-text reference is cited you must include, author's first name, author's last name, title, place of publication, publisher name, year and referenced pages. e.g.

1. James Smith, The first and last war, (New York, Hamilton, 2003), 2.

If the citation has already been cited it may be shortened to author's last name, shortened title, and page referenced number. e.g.

2. Smith, The first, 220-221.

If the citation has been referenced immediately prior, the note may be shortened even further to ibid with the page number. e.g.

3. Ibid., 786.

"In-Text Citations – Bibliography | Chicago Style Guide | Citefast." Cite Fast. Accessed February 24, 2019. https://www.citefast.com/styleguide.php?style=Chicago&sec=inte.