The Chicago Style has two citation versions: the Notes & Bibliography style (examples) and the Author-Date style (last name and year of publication, examples). Which one you choose depends on the subject and the sources you have used.
The Humanities (including Literature, History and the Arts) prefer the Notes & Bibliography style. In this system numbered footnotes or endnotes refer to the used sources. Each note corresponds with a superscript number in the text. Sources are usually listed in a separate reading list.
The concise Author-Date system is used in the Natural Sciences and the Social Sciences. In this system the sources are briefly represented in the text by last name of the author and year of publication in brackets. In the reading list the full bibliographic details are given.
See also the Chicago Manual of Style (e-book in the library collection).
If you relied on content generated by a chatbot or similar AI tool you must make it clear how the tool has been used (either in the text or in a preface or the like). Any specific content, whether quoted or paraphrased, should be cited where it occurs, either in the text or in a note. Like personal communications and social media posts, chatbot conversations are not usually included in a bibliography or reference list. See the Style Guide.
Cited in the text:
The following recipe for pizza dough was generated on December 9, 2023, by ChatGPT-3.5.
If for any reason an AI conversation is included in a bibliography or reference list, cite it under the name of the publisher or developer rather than the name of the tool and include a publicly available URL.
Example:
ChatGPT, response to “Explain how to make pizza dough from common household ingredients,” OpenAI, March 7, 2023, https://chat.openai.com/chat.
Note to students: teachers may request additional information from you when using GenAI, such as an explanation of what you did and why or even your specific prompts. Check with your teacher if, how and where you need to add this information.
For more information and, for example, the use of chatbots in the Chicago style, see the online guide or the Chicago style blog.
In the boxes below you will find some examples of references in the Chicago style.
For a complete overview go to the Chicago Manual of Style 18th (or 17th) edition (e-book in the library collection) or the Turabian Manual of Style.
The Crafting a Paper option is a useful tool for students.
Find out which style must be used in your study programme.
In the reading list (in alphabetical order) you include the paging of the entire article, in the reference in the text you put the page(s) of the quote. In the case of online articles also give the URL or preferably (if present) the DOI (Digital Object Identifier). A DOI is a sustainable URL that starts with https://doi.org/.
Journal articles often have more than one author. In the 18th edition you list up to 6 authors in the bibliography. If more than 6 authors, only the first three are listed followed by "et.al". In a shortened note or an author-date text citation, up to two authors are listed (18th ed.); if more than two, only the first is listed, followed by “et al.”
[17th ed: If there are up to ten authors you mention them all in your reading list, in the reference in the text you only give the name of the first author, followed by et al. ( "and others"). In the case of more than ten authors you only mention the first seven in your reading list, followed by et al.]
Author-date style (see quick guide)
In the reading list ( place in alphabetical order):
Month or season can usually be omitted, but in numbered issues with no volume number it can be helpful to include a month or seascon in addition to the year (see style guide):
References in the text:
(Dittmar and Schemske 2023, 480)
(Beattie 1974, 47)
Notes & bibliography style (see quick guide)
Notes:
1. Emily L. Dittmar and Douglas W. Schemske, “Temporal Variation in Selection Influences Microgeographic Local Adaptation,” American Naturalist 202, no. 4 (2023): 480, https://doi.org/10.1086/725865.
2. Benjamin Lindquist, “The Art of Text-to-Speech,” Critical Inquiry 50, no. 2 (2023): 230, https://doi.org/10.1086/727651.
Shortened notes
3. Dittmar and Schemske, “Temporal Variation,” 480.
4. Lindquist, “Text-to-Speech,” 231–32.
In the case of online books (ebooks), give the URL in the reading list.
Author-date style (in quick guide)
Note that a place of publication is no longer required in book citations in the 18th edition.
In the reading list (in alphabetical order):
Binder, Amy J., and Jeffrey L. Kidder. 2022. The Channels of Student Activism: How the Left and Right Are Winning (and Losing) in Campus Politics Today. University of Chicago Press.
Smith, Zadie. 2016. Swing Time. Penguin Press.
In-text citations:
(Binder and Kidder 2022, 117–18)
(Smith 2016, 315–16)
Notes & bibliography style (in quick guide)
Notes:
1. Zadie Smith, Swing Time (Penguin Press, 2016), 315–16.
2. Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman, A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life (Simon & Schuster, 2015), 12.
Shortened notes:
3. Smith, Swing Time, 320.
4. Grazer and Fishman, Curious Mind, 37.
Author-date style (in quick guide)
In the 18th edition the page range for a cited chapter in an edited book is no longer required in a bibliography or reference list entry (though a page range is still required for most journal articles). In the text, cite specific pages as applicable.
Thoreau, Henry David. 2016. “Walking.” In The Making of the American Essay, edited by John D’Agata. Graywolf Press.
In-text citation:
(Thoreau 2016, 177–78)
Notes & bibliography style (in quick guide)
In a note , cite specific pages as applicable.
Note:
1. Henry David Thoreau, “Walking,” in The Making of the American Essay, ed. John D’Agata (Graywolf Press, 2016), 177–78.
Shortened note:
2. Thoreau, “Walking,” 182.
Do you want to see more examples or get more information about, for instance, referring to doctoral theses, interviews, websites and social media sources? Please consult the Chicago Manual of Style.
The Chicago style and the Turabian style are almost identical. The difference lies mainly in the numbering of the notes.
The Turabian style uses superscript 1 for endnotes and footnote numbers, both in the text and in front of each note.
In the Chicago style the number is put in front of the notes in the text between brackets (1). in the list of endnotes the number is followed by a full stop and interspacing.
Example:
1. Chicago
1Turabian
See also the Turabian Manual of Style.
Cultural Anthropology follows the American Anthropological Association (AAA) and so uses the 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style (Author-Date style).