Chicago documentation style has been published by the Chicago University Press since 1906. This style incorporates rules of grammar and punctuation common in American English, and it presents two basic documentation systems:
Each system is favored by different groups of scholars.
Kate Turabian's Manual for Writers of Research Papers is an introduction to Chicago-style formatting and citation. Designed to aid students, the Turabian manual is shorter and does not contain information about preparing manuscripts for publication.
1. Katie Kitamura, A Separation (Riverhead Books, 2017), 25.
2. Sharon Sassler and Amanda Jayne Miller, Cohabitation Nation: Gender, Class, and the Remaking of Relationships (University of California Press, 2017), 114.
3. Kitamura, Separation, 91–92.
4. Sassler and Miller, Cohabitation Nation, 205.
Kitamura, Katie. A Separation. Riverhead Books, 2017.
Sassler, Sharon, and Amanda Jayne Miller. Cohabitation Nation: Gender, Class, and the Remaking of Relationships. University of California Press, 2017.
For books consulted online, include a URL or the name of the database. For other types of ebooks, name the format. If no fixed page numbers are available, cite a section title or a chapter or other number in the notes or, if possible, track down a version with fixed page numbers.
1. Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, trans. Constance Garnett, ed. William Allan Neilson (P. F. Collier & Son, 1917), 444, https://archive.org/details/crimepunishment00dostuoft.
2. Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the American Meal (Houghton Mifflin, 2001), 88, ProQuest Ebrary.
3. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (Penguin Classics, 2007), chap. 3, Kindle.
4. Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, 504–5.
5. Schlosser, Fast Food Nation, 100.
6. Austen, Pride and Prejudice, chap. 14.
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Penguin Classics, 2007. Kindle.
Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. Translated by Constance Garnett, edited by William Allan Neilson. P. F. Collier & Son, 1917. https://archive.org/details/crimepunishment00dostuoft.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the American Meal. Houghton Mifflin, 2001. ProQuest Ebrary.
1. Jhumpa Lahiri, In Other Words, trans. Ann Goldstein (Alfred A. Knopf, 2016), 146.
2. Lahiri, In Other Words, 184.
Lahiri, Jhumpa. In Other Words. Translated by Ann Goldstein. Alfred A. Knopf, 2016.
In a note, cite specific pages. In the bibliography, include the page range for the chapter or part.
1. Mary Rowlandson, “The Narrative of My Captivity,” in The Making of the American Essay, ed. John D’Agata (Graywolf Press, 2016).
2. Rowlandson, “Narrative,” 48.
Rowlandson, Mary. “The Narrative of My Captivity.” In The Making of the American Essay, edited by John D’Agata. Graywolf Press, 2016.
To cite an edited book as a whole, list the editor(s) first.
1. John D’Agata, ed., The Making of the American Essay (Graywolf Press, 2016), 19–20.
2. D’Agata, American Essay, 48.
D’Agata, John, ed. The Making of the American Essay. Graywolf Press, 2016.
1. Alison E. Stout, “Cats and Coronaviruses: One Health in the Age of COVID-19” (PhD diss., Cornell University, 2021), 39–40, ProQuest (28490261).
2. Stout, “Cats and Coronaviruses,” 39–40.
Stout, Alison E. “Cats and Coronaviruses: One Health in the Age of COVID-19.” PhD diss., Cornell University, 2021. ProQuest (28490261).
In a note, cite specific page numbers. In the bibliography, include the page range for the whole article. For articles consulted online, include a URL or the name of the database. Many journal articles list a DOI (Digital Object Identifier). A DOI forms a permanent URL that begins https://doi.org/. This URL is preferable to the URL that appears in your browser’s address bar.
1. Ashley Hope Pérez, “Material Morality and the Logic of Degrees in Diderot’s Le neveu de Rameau,” Modern Philology 114, no. 4 (2017): 874, https://doi.org/10.1086/689836.
2. Huma Akram and Shengji Li, “Understanding the Role of Teacher-Student Relationships in Students’ Online Learning Engagement: Mediating Role of Academic Motivation,” Perceptual and Motor Skills 131, no. 4 (2024): 1415–1438, https://doi.org/10.1177/00315125241248709.
3. Peter LaSalle, “Conundrum: A Story about Reading,” New England Review 38, no. 1 (2017): 95, Project MUSE.
4. Pérez, “Material Morality,” 880–81.
5. Huma Akram and Shengji Li, “Understanding the Role,” 1422.
6. LaSalle, “Conundrum,” 101.
Akram, Huma, and Shengji Li. “Understanding the Role of Teacher-Student Relationships in Students’ Online Learning Engagement: Mediating Role of Academic Motivation.” Perceptual and Motor Skills 131, no. 4 (2024): 1415–1438. https://doi.org/10.1177/00315125241248709.
LaSalle, Peter. “Conundrum: A Story about Reading.” New England Review 38, no. 1 (2017): 95–109. Project MUSE.
Pérez, Ashley Hope. “Material Morality and the Logic of Degrees in Diderot’s Le neveu de Rameau.” Modern Philology 114, no. 4 (2017): 872–98. https://doi.org/10.1086/689836.
Journal articles often list many authors, especially in the sciences. In the bibliography, up to six authors may be listed. For more than six authors, list the first three followed by et al. (meaning “and others”).
In a note, if a work has two authors, list both. If it has more than two, list only one author followed by et al.
1. Jesse N. Weber et al., “Resist Globally, Infect Locally: A Transcontinental Test of Adaptation by Stickleback and Their Tapeworm Parasite,” American Naturalist 189, no. 1 (2017): 45, https://doi.org/10.1086/689597.
2. Weber et al., “Resist Globally,” 48–49.
Weber, Jesse N., Martin Kalbe, Kum Chuan Shim, et al. “Resist Globally, Infect Locally: A Transcontinental Test of Adaptation by Stickleback and Their Tapeworm Parasite.” American Naturalist 189, no. 1 (2017): 43–57. https://doi.org/10.1086/689597.
Articles from newspapers or news sites, magazines, blogs, and the like are cited similarly. Page numbers, if any, can be cited in a note but are omitted from a bibliography entry. If you consulted the article online, include a URL or the name of the database.
1. Farhad Manjoo, “Snap Makes a Bet on the Cultural Supremacy of the Camera,” New York Times, March 8, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/technology/snap-makes-a-bet-on-the-cultural-supremacy-of-the-camera.html.
2. Erin Anderssen, “Through the Eyes of Generation Z,” Globe and Mail (Toronto), June 25, 2016, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/through-the-eyes-of-generation-z/article30571914/.
3. Rob Pegoraro, “Apple’s iPhone Is Sleek, Smart and Simple,” Washington Post, July 5, 2007, EBSCOhost.
4. Vinson Cunningham, “You Don’t Understand: John McWhorter Makes His Case for Black English,” New Yorker, May 15, 2017, 85.
5. Dara Lind, “Moving to Canada, Explained,” Vox, September 15, 2016, https://www.vox.com/2016/5/9/11608830/move-to-canada-how.
6. Manjoo, “Snap.”
7. Anderssen, “Generation Z.”
8. Pegoraro, “Apple’s iPhone.”
9. Cunningham, “Black English,” 86.
10. Lind, “Moving to Canada.”
Anderssen, Erin. “Through the Eyes of Generation Z.” Globe and Mail (Toronto), June 25, 2016. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/through-the-eyes-of-generation-z/article30571914/.
Cunningham, Vinson. “You Don’t Understand: John McWhorter Makes His Case for Black English.” New Yorker, May 15, 2017.
Lind, Dara. “Moving to Canada, Explained.” Vox, September 15, 2016. http://www.vox.com/2016/5/9/11608830/move-to-canada-how.
Manjoo, Farhad. “Snap Makes a Bet on the Cultural Supremacy of the Camera.” New York Times, March 8, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/technology/snap-makes-a-bet-on-the-cultural-supremacy-of-the-camera.html.
Pegoraro, Rob. “Apple’s iPhone Is Sleek, Smart and Simple.” Washington Post, July 5, 2007. LexisNexis Academic.
Readers’ comments are cited in the text or in a note but omitted from a bibliography.
1. Eduardo B (Los Angeles), March 9, 2017, comment on Manjoo, “Snap.”
1. Fernanda Eberstadt, “Gone Guy: A Writer Leaves His Wife, Then Disappears in Greece,” review of A Separation, by Katie Kitamura, New York Times, February 15, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/books/review/separation-katie-kitamura.html.
2. Eberstadt, “Gone Guy.”
Eberstadt, Fernanda. “Gone Guy: A Writer Leaves His Wife, Then Disappears in Greece.” Review of A Separation, by Katie Kitamura. New York Times, February 15, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/books/review/separation-katie-kitamura.html.
Locate the following pieces of information about any multimedia material you want to cite:
Provide information about paintings, photographs, sculpture, and other works of art within your text, or, If a more formal citation is needed, list the following details:
Lange, Dorothea. Black Maria, Oakland. 1957, printed 1965. Gelatin silver print, 39.3 × 37 cm. Art Institute of Chicago, ref. no. 2013.1220. https://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/220174.
In the bibliography, start with the name of the composer, performer, or other primary contributor (e.g., conductor), depending on which person's contribution is the primary focus of your discussion. Follow with these additional details:
In a note, the citation may begin with a title instead of a person's name.
Eilish, Billie. When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? Produced by Finneas O’Connell. Darkroom / Interscope Records (US); Polydor Records (UK). Released March 29, 2019. Spotify.
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. Don Giovanni. Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Sir Colin Davis. With Ingvar Wixell, Luigi Roni, Martina Arroyo, et al. Recorded May 1973. Philips 422 541-2, 1991, 3 compact discs.
Any facts relevant to identifying the item should be included.
de Blasio, Bill. “Mayor de Blasio Delivers State of the City Address.” NYC Mayor’s Office. Streamed live on January 10, 2019. YouTube video, 1:22:40. https://youtu.be/aZZYlpfZ-iA.
Lyiscott, Jamila. “3 Ways to Speak English.” TED Talk, New York, NY, February 2014. 4 min., 16 sec. https://www.ted.com/talks/jamila_lyiscott_3_ways_to_speak_english.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. Sony Pictures Classics, 2007, 1 hour 36 minutes. Academic Video Online.
