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Citation Styles
Chicago 18th edition (notes and bibliography)

Chicago Manual of Style 18th edition (notes and bibliography)

Anthropology, Communications, Geography, History, Humanities, Law, Linguistics, Literature, Philosophy, Political Science, Science, Social Science, Sociology, Theology

Cite a source in Chicago now

Chicago notes and bibliography is preferred by many in the humanities, literature, history and the arts among them. You cite each source in a numbered footnote or endnote and list them all in a bibliography at the end.

Chicago’s other system, author-date, cites in brackets in the text instead, as (Watson and Crick 1953, 737). Many in the sciences and social sciences use it.

See the Chicago author-date guide.

Every example is a real source, checked where it was published. Check the finer points against the guide your course or journal uses. Review formatting support and known limitations.

Chicago bibliography entries, part by part

Real sources, set as Citation Creation sets them in Chicago 18th edition (notes and bibliography). Choose one to see what each part follows.

Watson, James D., and Francis H. C. Crick. “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid.” Nature 171, no. 4356 (1953): 737–38. https://doi.org/10.1038/171737a0.

First note, at page 737: James D. Watson and Francis H. C. Crick, “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid,” Nature 171, no. 4356 (1953): 737, https://doi.org/10.1038/171737a0.
Later notes, with a short title: Watson and Crick, “Molecular Structure,” 737.

Watson, James D., and Francis H. C. Crick.: The bibliography turns only the first author’s name round, surname first, so the list can run in alphabetical order. Up to six authors are named; from seven, the first three and et al.
“Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid.”: An article’s title goes in quotation marks, with capitals on its main words, and the full stop that ends the part goes inside the closing mark.
Nature 171, no. 4356 (1953):: The journal’s name is in italics, then the volume, “no.” and the issue, and the year in brackets before a colon. The 18th edition lets you leave the month out.
737–38.: The bibliography gives the pages of the whole article, the second number cut to two digits where it can be: 737–38, not 737–738. A note gives only the page you cite.
https://doi.org/10.1038/171737a0.: An article read online ends with a link, best one made from its DOI. A published article needs no date of access.

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. J. B. Lippincott, 1960.

First note, at page 23: Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (J. B. Lippincott, 1960), 23.
Later notes, the title whole: Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, 23.

Lee, Harper.: The author’s surname comes first, so the bibliography can run in alphabetical order. A full stop ends this part, as it ends every part of the entry.
To Kill a Mockingbird.: A book’s title is in italics, with capitals on its main words, whatever the cover does.
J. B. Lippincott,: The 18th edition no longer asks for the city a book was published in, so the publisher follows the title: J. B. Lippincott, not Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott.
1960.: The year the book came out closes the entry, after a comma. A note puts the publisher and year in brackets instead: (J. B. Lippincott, 1960).

World Health Organization. “Climate Change.” October 12, 2023. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health.

First note: World Health Organization, “Climate Change,” October 12, 2023, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health.
Later notes: World Health Organization, “Climate Change.”

World Health Organization.: A web page is listed under the owner or sponsor of the site. Here that is the World Health Organization, which publishes the page.
“Climate Change.”: The page’s title goes in quotation marks, with capitals on its main words, even where the site writes it “Climate change”.
October 12, 2023.: The date the page was published, month first. Because the page gives a date, no access date is needed.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health.: The page’s address comes last, followed by a full stop.

Chicago footnotes

One note number in one place

Chicago puts one note number at a time in your text, never 1,2. To cite several sources at that point, put them all in one note, separated by semicolons.

Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, 23; Watson and Crick, “Molecular Structure,” 737.

A note can comment too

A note can say more than where a source is. Give the citation, then your comment as a sentence of its own.

Elton John, Me (Macmillan, 2019), 279. The original version of the song, recorded in 1973 for the album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, paid tribute to Marilyn Monroe.

Found it in another book? Say so

Chicago expects you to read what you cite. If you cannot get the original, cite it and then the work you found it in, joined by “quoted in”.

Louis Zukofsky, “Sincerity and Objectification,” Poetry 37 (February 1931): 269, quoted in Bonnie Costello, Marianne Moore: Imaginary Possessions (Harvard University Press, 1981), 78.

Named in your sentence, not in the footnote

What your sentence already gives, such as the author’s name, can often be left out of a footnote, though not usually out of an endnote. After “Phil Withington cautions against …”, the footnote can begin with the title.

“Where Was the Coffee in Early Modern England?,” Journal of Modern History 92, no. 1 (2020): 48, https://doi.org/10.1086/707339.

Full notes, no bibliography

If every source is given in full in your notes, you may not need a bibliography, though it helps your reader and your course may ask for one. A short note always needs the full form somewhere, in an earlier note or in the bibliography.

Short notes from the first

With a bibliography that gives each source in full, Chicago allows every note to be short, the first one too. Ask your instructor before you do.

Watson and Crick, “Molecular Structure,” 737.

Before you hand it in

Full note first, then a short one

The first note gives the source in full. Later notes give the surnames, a short title and the page: Watson and Crick, “Molecular Structure,” 737. Chicago prefers this to ibid., even straight after a note to the same source.

The page you cite goes in the note

A note gives the page you are citing, such as 737. The bibliography gives the article’s whole range, 737–38.

Notes and bibliography differ

A note keeps names in their usual order and joins its parts with commas. The bibliography reverses only the first author’s name, puts full stops between its parts and goes in alphabetical order.

Where the note number goes

Put the number at the end of the sentence or clause, after any punctuation except a dash. Chicago accepts footnotes or endnotes, so check which your course wants.

An access date only when undated

Give the date you looked at a web page when it shows no date of publication or revision. A published journal article usually needs none.

Emails and conversations

A personal communication, such as an email or a conversation, is cited in a note or in the text, and rarely has a bibliography entry.

Note and bibliography, side by side

Each source is cited three ways: in full in its first note, short in each note after, and once in the bibliography. Here are the three sources above, each in all three forms.

Journal Article

First note: James D. Watson and Francis H. C. Crick, “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid,” Nature 171, no. 4356 (1953): 737, https://doi.org/10.1038/171737a0.
Later notes: Watson and Crick, “Molecular Structure,” 737.
Bibliography: Watson, James D., and Francis H. C. Crick. “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid.” Nature 171, no. 4356 (1953): 737–38. https://doi.org/10.1038/171737a0.

Book

First note: Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (J. B. Lippincott, 1960), 23.
Later notes: Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, 23.
Bibliography: Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. J. B. Lippincott, 1960.

Website

First note: World Health Organization, “Climate Change,” October 12, 2023, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health.
Later notes: World Health Organization, “Climate Change.”
Bibliography: World Health Organization. “Climate Change.” October 12, 2023. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health.

Names. The first note gives each name as written: James D. Watson and Francis H. C. Crick. The bibliography turns only the first round, Watson, James D., and the short note keeps the surnames alone: Watson and Crick.
Punctuation. A note is one sentence, with commas between its parts and a full stop only at the end. The bibliography puts a full stop after each part, so “…Nucleic Acid,” in the note becomes “…Nucleic Acid.”
Brackets. A note puts a book’s publisher and year in brackets, (J. B. Lippincott, 1960), and the bibliography sets them on their own: J. B. Lippincott, 1960.
Pages. Each note ends with the page you cite, 737 or 23. The bibliography gives the article’s whole range, 737–38, and no page for a book. A web page has none, so its notes end without one.
Short titles. The short note keeps only the surnames, a short title and the page. A title of more than four words is cut to its key words, “Molecular Structure”, and To Kill a Mockingbird, four words, stays whole.
Web pages. Chicago’s guide usually starts a web page’s first note with its title: “Climate Change,” World Health Organization, October 12, 2023. We start it with the organisation, so move it by hand if your course follows the guide closely.

Ibid. or a short note?

When a note cites the same source as the note just before it, the 18th edition prefers a short note to ibid. It also allows a shorter form there: the author alone, or the title alone.

Ibid. is still allowed if your course or publisher wants it. It can only point to the note straight before, and only when that note cites one source. Anywhere else, use the short note. Here is that next note in each version of Chicago you can choose here.

Author and short title, Chicago’s usual form: Watson and Crick, “Molecular Structure,” 737.
Author only: Watson and Crick, 737.
Title only: “Molecular Structure,” 737.
Ibid.: Ibid., 737.

What changed in the 18th edition

Fewer names before et al. A note names up to two authors, then the first and et al. The bibliography lists up to six, then the first three and et al.
No city for books: “Pantheon Books, 2024”, not “New York: Pantheon Books, 2024”.
The bibliography repeats an author’s name for each of their works, where it used a long dash.
The month of a journal issue can usually be left out: Nature 171, no. 4356 (1953).
In place of ibid., the note after one to the same source can give the author and title, the author alone or the title alone.

How Citation Creation handles Chicago

For each source you get the full note for the first time you cite it, the short note for each time after, and the bibliography entry. Add a page number to the citation and it goes into both notes.
The 18th edition prefers the short note to ibid., so where the note before cites the same source, you get the short note again. For ibid., choose Chicago Manual of Style 18th edition (notes and bibliography, subsequent ibid.) with Change style. Versions with subsequent author-only and title-only citations are there too.
The short note uses the Short title you give a source. Leave it empty and the whole title is used, however long it is. Chicago shortens a title of more than four words to its key words, so fill it in for those.
The 18th edition leaves the city out of a book. If your course still wants it, the “classic variants” version of Chicago prints it: Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1960.
To cite several sources in one note, put them in one row on the Writing order tab, free with an account, or use Join the footnote above. They print in one footnote, separated by semicolons, in the order you list them.
A personal communication gets its note and no bibliography entry, and is marked “Cited in the notes only”.

Cite a source in Chicago now

How to cite each source in Chicago 18th edition (notes and bibliography)

Website Book Journal Article Newspaper Article Book Chapter Thesis/Dissertation Report Video Podcast/Broadcast Magazine Article Software Dataset Patent Legal Case Legislation Bill Regulation Hearing Standard Treaty Conference Paper Manuscript Review Book Review Classic Work Reference Entry Dictionary Entry Encyclopedia Entry Periodical Collection Interview Speech Song Musical Score Graphic Figure Map Performance Event Pamphlet Preprint Document Post Blog Post Personal Communication Generative AI

Quick Facts

Full Name:: Chicago Manual of Style 18th edition (notes and bibliography)
Citation Format:: Note
Style Class:: Footnotes/Endnotes
Fields:: Anthropology, Communications, Geography, History, Humanities, Law, Linguistics, Literature, Philosophy, Political Science, Science, Social Science, Sociology, Theology
Documentation:: View style guidelines