Chicago Style (16th Edition)

Chicago Style has two systems for citation: (1) Notes and Bibliography or (2) Author-Date. This handout describes the Notes and Bibliography system, which is commonly used in history and the humanities.

When using Chicago's Notes and Bibliography (NB) system, you will use superscripts within the text to refer to citations in the footnotes or endnotes. You will also cite all sources from the text in a Bibliography at the end of the document.

Superscripts

Chicago uses superscript numbers (1, 2, 3) within the text to guide readers to the citation in either a footnote or endnote. You will use each superscript number only once.

Within your text, place superscript numbers at the end of the clause or sentence and after all punctuation, including commas, periods, and quotation marks.

The Titanic sank on her maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg on April 14, 1912.1

Footnotes and Endnotes

Footnotes list citations at the bottom of the page for information cited on that page. Endnotes list all citations at the end of the document. The general formatting of a citation is the same for both footnotes and endnotes, depending on which you choose.

  • Begin the citation with the appropriate number in regular font or in superscript, followed by a period.
    • 1. James Smith...
    • 1. James Smith...
  • Indent the first line of each citation half an inch. The following lines for the same citation will be flush left.
  • Begin the citation with the author(s). Write all author names in normal order (FirstName LastName).
    • For 2 to 3 authors, include all of the author names and combine them with "and."
    • For 4 or more authors, include only the first author followed by "et al." (meaning "and everyone else"). Place a period after "al." and do not use a comma between the author's name and "et al." (James Smith et al.)
  • Provide the page number(s) for only the specific quotation or fact you are citing in that particular sentence. The page range for full articles will appear on the Bibliography.
  • When citing a source for the first time, include all needed information. When citing the same source additional times, include only the author's last name, shortened title of the work, and page number(s) for that quotation or fact.
    • 2. AuthorLastName, Shortened Book Title, #.
    • 2. AuthorLastName, "Shortened Article or Webpage Title," #.
  • When citing the same source consecutively, use the word “Ibid.” (meaning "in the same place"), instead of repeating the author’s name or title of work. Include the page number if it is different from the previous citation.
    • 3. Ibid., #.

The information provided in each of your citations will be different for each type of source. You can check this format at the Purdue OWL. Here are some examples of footnotes/endnotes for common types of sources:

Book

General Format

#. AuthorFirstName LastName, Title of Book in Italics (City of publication: Publisher, year of publication),

page number for quotation/fact.

Example, First Time Cited

1. Walter Lord, The Night Lives On: The Untold Stories and Secrets Behind the Sinking of the "Unsinkable"

Ship—Titanic (New York: Open Road Integrated Media, 2012), 7.

Example, Additional Times Cited

13. Lord, Night Lives On, 20.

Article or Chapter in an Edited Book

General Format

#. AuthorFirstName LastName, "Title of Article in Quotation Marks," in Book Title in Italics, ed. EditorFirstName

LastName (City of Publication: Publisher, year of publication), page number for quotation/fact.

Example, First Time Cited

2. Lawrence Beesley, "The Loss of the S. S. Titanic, Its Story, and Its Lessons," in The Story of the Titanic: As Told

by Its Survivors, ed. Jack Winocour (New York: Dover Publications, 1960), 46.

Example, Additional Times Cited

15. Lawrence, Loss of the S. S. Titanic, 40.

Article in a Journal

General Format

#. AuthorFirstName LastName, "Title of Article in Quotation Marks," Journal Title in Italics volume#, no. issue#

(year of publication): page number for quotation/fact.

Example, First Time Cited

3. Bruno S. Frey, David A. Savage, and Benno Torgler, "Interaction of Natural Survival Instincts and Internalized

Social Norms Exploring the Titanic and Lusitania Disasters," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107, no. 11

(2010): 4862.

Example, Additional Times Cited

17. Frey, Savage, and Torgler, "Interaction," 4863.

Article in a Newspaper

General Format

#. AuthorFirstName LastName, "Title of Article in Quotation Marks," Newspaper Title in Italics, Month Day, Year

of publication, http://www.fullURL.com/ (for online newspapers).

Example, First Time Cited

4. William J. Broad, "A New Look at Nature's Role in the Titanic's Sinking: The Iceberg Was Only Part of It,"

The New York Times, Apr. 9, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/10/science/a-new-look-at-natures-role-in-the-

titanics-sinking.html?_r=0.

Example, Additional Times Cited

19. Broad, "A New Look."

Website

General Format

#. AuthorFirstName LastName, "Title of Webpage in Quotation Marks," Website Name in Italics, Month Day, Year

of publication, http://www.fullURL.com/.

Example, First Time Cited

5. National Geographic Channel, "Titanic Facts: Some Fast Facts about Her Builders, Her Victims, and Her Survivors,"

National Geographic Channel, Dec. 12, 2012, http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/titanic-100-years/articles/titanic-the-

final-word-with-james-cameron-facts/.

Example, Additional Times Cited

21. National Geographic Channel, "Titanic Facts."

Bibliography

The Bibliography lists the full citation of each source used in your paper and can also include additional readings that you found helpful. Follow these general notes on Chicago format:

  • Start your Bibliography on a new page. Write "Bibliography" at the top of the page and center it, with no bold or italics.
  • Create a hanging indent for all citations, so every line after the first will be indented half an inch. Follow these steps in Microsoft Word:
    1. Highlight all of the citations on your Bibliography.
    2. Right-click and select “Paragraph.”
    3. Under “Indentation,” go to “Special” and select “Hanging” from the drop-down menu.
  • Alphabetize sources by the author's last name. If there is no author, alphabetize by the first major word in the title.
  • Begin the citation with the author(s). Write the first author's name in inverted order (LastName, FirstName), but write every following author's name in normal order (FirstName LastName).
    • For 4 to 7 authors, include all names in the Bibliography.
    • For 8 or more authors, list the first 7 names and then "et al." (Allison, Lorraine, Molly Brown, Noelle Rothes, Gladys Cherry, Jacob Astor, Emily Page, Lucille Gordon, et al.)
  • Italicize books and journals, and place quotation marks around article and webpage titles. Fully capitalize all titles (except for articles and prepositions).
    • "An Article Title Will Look Like This."
    • A Book Title Will Look Like This.
  • When asked to provide a month of publication, abbreviate the month according to the following standards:
    • Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May, Jun., Jul., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.

The information provided in each of your citations will be different for each type of source. You can check this format at the Purdue OWL. Here are some examples of Bibliography citations for common types of sources:

Books

General Format

AuthorLastName, FirstName. Book Title in Italics. City of publication: Publisher, year of publication.

Example

Lord, Walter. The Night Lives On: The Untold Stories and Secrets Behind the Sinking of the "Unsinkable"

Ship—Titanic. New York: Open Road Integrated Media, 2012.

Article or Chapter in an Edited Book

General Format

AuthorLastName, FirstName. "Title of Article in Quotation Marks." In Book Title in Italics, edited by EditorFirstName

LastName, page range for article. City of Publication: Publisher, year of publication. 

Example

Beesley, Lawrence. "The Loss of the S. S. Titanic, Its Story, and Its Lessons." In The Story of the Titanic: As Told

by Its Survivors, edited by Jack Winocour, 1-110. New York: Dover Publications, 1960.

Article in a Journal

General Format

AuthorLastName, FirstName. "Title of Article in Quotation Marks." Journal Title in Italics volume#, no. issue#

(year of publication): page range for article.

Example

Frey, Bruno S., David A. Savage, and Benno Torgler. "Interaction of Natural Survival Instincts and Internalized Social

Norms Exploring the Titanic and Lusitania Disasters." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107, no. 11

(2010): 4862-4865.

Article in a Newspaper

General Format

AuthorLastName, FirstName. "Title of Article in Quotation Marks." Newspaper Title in Italics, Month Day, Year

of publication. http://www.fullURL.com/ (for online newspapers).

Example

Broad, William J. "A New Look at Nature's Role in the Titanic's Sinking: The Iceberg Was Only Part of It."

The New York Times, Apr. 9, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/10/science/a-new-look-at-natures-

role-in-the-titanics-sinking.html?_r=0.

Website

General Format

AuthorLastName, FirstName. "Title of Webpage in Quotation Marks." Website Name in Italics. Month Day, Year

of publication. http://www.fullURL.com/.

Example

National Geographic Channel. "Titanic Facts: Some Fast Facts about Her Builders, Her Victims, and Her Survivors."

National Geographic Channel. Dec. 12, 2012. http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/titanic-100-years/articles/

titanic-the-final-word-with-james-cameron-facts/.

Style and Format

In Chicago, quotations that extend 5 or more lines should be formatted as block quotations. This means the quotation will have no quotation marks, be single spaced, and be completely indented half an inch from the rest of the paragraph. For example:

Many scholars continue to prefer humans over computers:

The human brain, with its flexibility and capacity to imagine, is still superior in many ways to the electronic model. The computer is never tired or preoccupied or careless, so it is wonderful at remembering and observing rules. But it doesn’t have the imagination of even a very young human brain—which not only can forget the rules, but can find in them loopholes and options. Electronic intelligence can process information like a house afire, but it still can’t think. 22

Section Headings

The format for each heading level in Chicago can be seen below. All headings should be in the same font size and type.

Level 1 Heading: Centered, Bold or Italicized, and Fully Capitalized

Level 2 Heading: Centered, Fully Capitalized, with No Bold/Italic

The paragraph text for a Level 2 section will begin on the next line.

Level 3 Heading: Left-Aligned, Bold or Italic, and Fully Capitalized

The paragraph text for a Level 3 section will begin on the next line.

Level 4 heading: Left-aligned and lowercased, with no bold/italic

The paragraph text for a Level 4 section will begin on the next line.

Level 5 heading: Left-aligned, lowercased, bold or italic, and followed by a period. The paragraph text for a Level 5 section will begin on the next line.

Additional Resources


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