The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) provides a set of rules for formatting, writing, and citing your research for an academic paper or project. This style offers two distinct documentation methods: Author-Date and Notes-Bibliography. This citation guide will focus primarily on Notes-Bibliography, since that is the CMOS method most commonly used in Lone Star College classes.
Chicago Manual of Style has specific rules for formatting the title and body pages of student papers. Below you will find basic parameters for both, but more detailed information can be found within our "Key Resources" side menu. Instructor guidelines supersede Chicago Style, so always check for any special requirements that are set for assignments.
Alignment: Information on the Title Page is Centered Horizontally.
Paper Title: The paper's title is positioned one third down the page.
Additional Information: The Student's Name, the Course's Subject, Number and Name, and the Due Date are included in that order two-thirds of the way down the page.
Instructors' guidelines supersede Chicago Style. Please double-check with your professor for any specific requirements for your paper.
Margins: Use 1 in. margins on all sides of the paper.
Font: Use a readily-available unicode font, regular sized. 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Calibri or Aptos (Microsoft default fonts).
Spacing: Double-spacing the body of the paper. Indent the first line of each paragraph by 1/2-inch (tab). Left-align the body of the paper. Do not add blank lines before or after headings. Do not add extra spacing between paragraphs.
Page Numbers: Number each page in the top, right corner. Count the title page as number one, but DO NOT number it. Numbering begins with page two on the first page of the body. Student papers do not require a running head on any page.
Notes: Format note numbers as superscripts in the text of the paper. Footnotes are indented like a paragraph and double spaced like the rest of the paper.
Chicago Style provides brief citations in footnotes within the text of the document that direct the reader to a full citation entry in a reference list (Bibliography) at the end of the paper. Cite only ideas and works that are incorporated into your paper. Each citation element below (author, date, title, and source) provides basic information and examples.
| Types of Authors | Examples |
| Individual Author(s): List the author's last name, followed by the first and middle name(s). Place a comma between the surname and initials. Place a period and space after each initial. Only the first author's name is inverted. Separate each author with a comma. Include "and" before the last authors' name. After the author's portion of the citation, end with a period. |
Bilias-Lolis, Evelyn Schwartz, R. C., and Martin Sweezy Abdel Hadi, Sascha, Andreas Mojzisch, Stacy L. Parker, and Jan Alexander Hausser Schmid, Hans-Jorg, ed. |
| Username: Provide the username, including @ if part of the name. If both a username and an actual name are known, place the username in parenthesis after the actual name. Place a period at the end. |
Vogue (@voguemagazine). Lebron James (@KingJames). |
| Group Author: Provide the full name of the group. Place a period after the group name. |
Merriam-Webster. World Health Organization. |
Note: If there is no Author, begin the reference with the work's title.
Note: Adapted to Chicago Style from APA Style scaffolded reference elements worksheet, by American Psychological Association, 2021, APA, https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/scaffolded-reference-elements-worksheet.pdf
| Types of Dates | Examples |
| Year Only: Use the year for most works (e.g., journal article, book). End with a period. | 2020. |
| Specific Date: Include a more specific date (e.g., month and year or month, day, and year) for works published on a regular basis. Include the specific date in the entry, place a comma, and then the year. Spell out month names in full. Place the date in parentheses and follow with a colon if page numbers are listed. End with a period. |
(April 6, 2016). (July 2018). |
| No Date: If there is no date for the work, write “n.d.”. | n.d. |
Note: Adapted to Chicago Style from APA Style scaffolded reference elements worksheet, by American Psychological Association, 2021, APA, https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/scaffolded-reference-elements-worksheet.pdf
| Types of Titles | Examples |
| Works that stand-alone (e.g., book, report, film, social media post, webpage): Italicize the title, and capitalize it using title case, capitalizing all of the major words. Follow with a period. Any identifying information (e.g., edition, volume, report number) follow the title with a period afterwards. Do not italicize the period or identifying information. | Entrenchment and the Psychology of Language Learning: How we Reorganize and Adapt Linguistic Knowledge. Practical Ethics for Psychologists: A Positive Approach. 3rd ed. Guide to Patient and Family Engagement: Environmental Scan Report. Publication no. 12-0042-EF. Tim Urban | Inside the mind of a master procrastinator |
| Works that are part of a greater whole (e.g., journal article, edited book chapter, TV episode): Write the title in title casing and without italics, place it in quotations with a period inside the closed quotation mark. Episodes follow the italicized (without quotation marks) title of the series with a comma after the episode number, and then the title of the episode in quotation marks. | "Experimental Evidence for the Effects of Job Demands and Job Control on Physical Activity After Work." "Mindful Gratitude in the Schools: Building Capacity Across the Tiers." Lost. Season 4, episode 5, "The Constant." |
Note: Adapted to Chicago Style from APA Style scaffolded reference elements worksheet, by American Psychological Association, 2021, APA, https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/scaffolded-reference-elements-worksheet.pdf
| Types of Sources | Examples |
| Works that stand-alone (e.g., book, report, film, social media post, webpage): The source is the publisher of the work, database or archive, social media site, or website, plus any DOI or URL. | Imagine Entertainment. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/ CGDaLBKplB-/ |
| Works that are part of a greater whole (e.g., journal article, edited book chapter, TV episode): The source is the greater whole (e.g., journal, book, TV show), plus any DOI or URL. | Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 88, no. 5, (2020): 445–454. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000494 The Clinician’s Guide to Anxiety Sensitivity Treatment and Assessment, 179-193. Elsevier Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/ B978-0-12-813495-5.00009-7 |
| Periodicals (e.g., journal, magazine, newspaper, blog): Provide the periodical name, volume number, issue number (if present), and page range or article number. Capitalize the title of the periodical using title case, italicize it, and place a comma (not italicized) after it. For a journal article, place the volume number immediately after the title without punctuation in-between, followed by "no." and then the issue number. Place the year in parentheses, followed by a colon. Include page ranges using an en dash and follow by a period. Specific page numbers are included in footnotes. If the work is an advance online version, write “ahead of print” after the journal information. Follow with a comma, and the date with a period. End with any DOI written as a hyperlink in the format: https:// doi.org/xxxxx Articles from magazines newspapers do not include page numbers, volume numbers, or issue numbers. The page numbers will be cited in footnotes. The volume and issue numbers will be identified by the month, day, and year they were published and follows after the publication name. |
Social Psychology 51, no. 4 (2015): 219–238. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/ Journal of Affective Disorders 273 (2020): 265–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.03.182 Assessment & Development Matters 17, no. 2 (2025): 4-7. doi:10.53841/bpsadm.2025.17.2.4. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, ahead of print, https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000333 Time, August 2, 2010. 40–50. |
| Books: Provide the publisher name as shown on the work, without italics, followed by a comma and the year of publication. The publication location for books is not required. When the author is the same as the publisher use "published by the author". Omit self-publishing platforms, such as Amazon. | Ballantine Books, 2022. Published by the author, 2024. |
| Edited book chapters: The source is the book of which the chapter is a part. After the Title of the chapter in quotes, list the word “In” then the title of the book followed by a comma, then “edited by.” then the names (not inverted) of the editor(s), followed by a period and the publisher name, a comma and the date. The page range is not required. End with a period and any DOI or URL. | In Haiku, edited by Peter Washington. Everyman's library, 2003. |
| Webpages: If more information about a website source is needed beyond referencing it within the content of the text, then in the bibliography, provide the website name within quotation marks, without italics. The title of a blog, can be treated like the title of a periodical and put in italics. The title of a blog post can be put in quotation marks. End with the URL. Include an access date only if a publication date is not available. | Yale University. "About Yale: Yale Facts." Accessed July 23, 2025. https://www.yale.edu/about-yale/yale-facts. |
Note: Adapted to Chicago Style from APA Style scaffolded reference elements worksheet, by American Psychological Association, 2021, APA, https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/scaffolded-reference-elements-worksheet.pdf
In-text citations are created as numbered notes (footnotes or endnotes) that are in the order they appear in the document.
In the text: Citations are identified in the text with a superscript number that follows the period or quotation mark, which should appear sequentially, starting with 1.
Example: Bennett says, “The only way to be successful in college is to go to class.”1
In the notes: The footnote is indented like a paragraph, and a corresponding number is followed by the bibliography entry. If the bibliography contains full citations in the document, then a shortened version of the bibliography entry is permissible. This shortened version contains the author name(s), an abbreviated version of the title followed by page numbers, if relevant. Reminder: Book titles should be italicized.
Footnote Example: 1. Pete Bennett, How to Survive and Thrive in College (Canyon Press, 2022) 55.
Shortened Note Example: 2. Bennett, How to Survive, 55.
