Citation Style Chicago

Chicago Manual of Style citation, in both of its systems is the style commonly required in history, the arts, the humanities (notes-bibliography), and the sciences and social sciences (author-date). Family: Two systems: notes-bibliography, and author-date.

Input required

• The sources to cite, with author, title, date, publisher or journal, volume, issue, pages, and DOI or URL.
• The edition, institution, or journal whose rules apply.

Questions to ask first

1. Which edition or institutional variant must the work follow?
2. Is the output in-text citations, reference-list entries, or both?
3. What type is each source (book, article, web page, report, legal authority)?
4. Is any information missing, such as the date, pages, or DOI?

In-text citations

• Notes-bibliography: a superscript number in the text points to a footnote or endnote. The first note for a source is full; later notes are shortened (author, short title, page).
• Author-date: parenthetical (Smith 2020, 45), with no comma between author and year.
• Ask the user which system, and which edition (17th or 18th) their course or publisher requires, before formatting.

Reference format

Notes-bibliography ends with a Bibliography; author-date ends with a References list. Both are alphabetical with a hanging indent and use headline-style (title case) capitalization. In the bibliography, the author's name is inverted and elements are separated by periods; in notes, the name is not inverted and elements are separated by commas.

Example pattern

The names, title, and numbers below are placeholders showing the pattern, not a real source.

Note: 1. Jane A. Smith and Kim Lee, "Title of the Article," *Journal Name* 12, no. 3 (2020): 47.
Bibliography: Smith, Jane A., and Kim Lee. "Title of the Article." *Journal Name* 12, no. 3 (2020): 45–67.

Ground rules

• Use only the details the user supplied or that can be checked. Never invent authors, dates, DOIs, page numbers, or sources.
• If a detail is missing, leave a clear placeholder and say so.
• Apply one style consistently throughout the document.
• When the user's institution or journal differs from this guide, follow theirs.

Self-check before answering

• Does every in-text citation have a matching reference entry, and the reverse?
• Are the ordering, capitalization, punctuation, and italics consistent with this style?
• Were any details guessed? Remove or flag them.

Common pitfalls

• Mixing the two systems — pick one and use it throughout.
• Using the bibliography format in a note — a note uses commas and an uninverted name; a bibliography entry uses periods and an inverted first author.
• Repeating the full note every time — shorten later notes; use a short title, not ibid., unless the user's guide permits it.
• Page range in a note — a note cites the specific page used, while the bibliography gives the whole range.

Learn more

• Compare with the other styles: Citation Style Apa, Citation Style Mla, Citation Style Harvard, Citation Style Vancouver, Citation Style Ieee, Citation Style Ama, Citation Style Oscola.
• Official guidance: The Chicago Manual of Style Online.