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Citation Guide

Chicago Citation Style

Chicago Style

Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) allows a lot of versatility and mixing of different formats. This guide is designed to help you ensure that your paper meets the guidelines established by the Chicago Manual of Style.

Writers using Chicago Style must strive to use language that is free of bias and avoid perpetuating prejudicial beliefs or demeaning attitudes in their writing. Just as you have learned to check your writing for spelling, grammar, and wordiness, practice reading your work for bias. Please visit the Chicago Manual of Style website for more information about their specific guidelines. 

The Seventeenth Edition of CMOS was designed with modern word processing programs in mind. Most default settings in programs like Microsoft Word and Google Docs already comply with CMOS. There are a few adjustments you may need to make.

Document Formatting

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 online at the link provided both below and on the Additional Resources tab for CMOS.

 

Alignment: Information on the Title Page should be Centered Horizontally.

Paper Title: The paper's title should be one third of the way down the page.

Additional Information: The Student's Name, the Course's Subject, Number and Name, and the Due Date should be 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 your paper.

Font: Use a legible font. Times New Roman or Palatino is preferred. Use a font size of at least 10 but 12 is recommended. The default font on your word processing program is acceptable. 

Line Spacing: Use double-spacing for the body of the paper. Do not add blank lines before or after headings. Do not add extra spacing between paragraphs. 

Page Numbers: Put a page number in the top right corner of every page, but NOT the cover page. Student papers do not require a running head on any page.

Instructors' guidelines supersede Chicago Style. Please double-check with your professor for any specific requirements for your paper.

Formatting Elements of a Citation

Chicago Style uses the author-date citation system, where a brief citation directs the reader to a full reference list entry. Cite only those ideas and works that you have incorporated into your paper. Use the following information to help you create complete reference list entries. For each reference element (author, date, title, and source), basic information and examples are shown. Use this information to identify the reference elements for your own work. Visit Chicago Style Citation Examples for more information on how to set up your citation for different types of resources.

 

Types of Authors Examples
Individual Author(s): Write the author's last name, followed by the first and middle name(s).  Put a comma between the last name and initials.  Put a period and space after each initial.  Only the first author's name is inverted. Separate each author with a comma.  Put an "and" before the last authors' name.  Indicate any specialized role in parentheses after the author's name and 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 a real name are known, put the username in parenthesis after the real name.  Put a period at the end.

Vogue (@voguemagazine).

Lebron James (@KingJames).
Group Author:  Provide the full name of the group.  Put a period after the group name.

Merriam-Webster.

World Health Organization.

Note: If there is no Author, start 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: Use a more specific date (e.g., month and year or month, day, and year) for works published on a regular basis.  Write the specific date, a comma, and then the year.  Write out month names in full.  Put the date in parentheses and follow with a colon only if followed by other information such as page numbers, access date or a URL.  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 headline 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 without italics. Put it in quotations and capitalize all of the important words. For episodes, follow the of the series title with a comma, the season a comma, and episode number in quotes the title of the episode. Put a period after, but not before, the closing quotation mark. 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.

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



For a magazine published weekly, monthly, or bimonthly do not include volume or issue and identify it only by the month and year followed by a period. For a magazine the month and year are not put inside parentheses.
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, 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 put the volume number immediately after the title with no punctuation inbetween. Put "no." and then the issue number. Put the month and year in parentheses followed by a colon. Separate the page numbers by an en dash and follow with a period. If the work is an advance online version, write “Advance online publication” in place of the journal information. Follow with a period. End with any DOI written as a hyperlink in the format: https:// doi.org/xxxxx

For a magazine published weekly, monthly, or bimonthly do not include the volume or issue numbers. Instead they will be identified only by the month and year they were published. This follows after the comma after the title is not placed in parentheses. If included separate the page numbers by an en dash and follow with a period. 		Social Psychology 51, no.4 (January 2015): 219–238. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/

Journal of Affective Disorders 273 (August 2020): 265–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.03.182

PLoS ONE 15, no.8 (August 2020) Article. https:// doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238415

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied . Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000333

Time, September 2010, 40–50.
Books and reports: Write the publisher name as shown on the work and without italics, followed by a period. If two or more publishers are listed, include only the one most relevant to the user's location. When the author is the same as the publisher use "self-published" or "printed by author". End with any DOI or URL. The Guilford Press. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. https://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/ final-reports/ptfamilyscan/index.html

American Psychological Association; De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1037/15969-000
 
Edited book chapters: The source is the book of which the chapter is a part. Write the word “In” then the title of the book followed by a comma. Put “(ed.).” then the names (not inverted) of the editor(s). Then put a comma and the page number, page range (separated by an en dash) or the number of the chapter. Enter the city of publication, a colon, and the name of the publisher. End with a period and any DOI or URL. In Applying Psychology in the Schools. Promoting Mind–Body Health in Schools: Interventions for Mental Health Professionals, ed. Cheryl Maykel and Mark-Anthony Bray, 161–172. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000157-011
Webpages: Provide the website name in title case 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. If you're unclear on whether to consider it a blog or a website treat the title like that of a website. End with the URL. In most cases, do not include a retrieval date. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/mental_health/ evidence/special_initiative_2019_2023/ en/

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

Formatting a Bibliography Page

  • Label the first page of list of sources cited “Bibliography,” “Works Cited,” or “Literature Cited.”  
  • Two blank lines should be left between the label and the first entry. Leave one blank line between entries.
  • List entries in letter-by-letter alphabetical order according to the first word in each entry starting with the authors' names.
  • Entries should have a hanging indentation.  This video should explain how to create a hanging indentation on both PC and Mac: How to Create a Hanging Indent in Word on Mac and PC

 

Formatting In-Text Citations in Chicago Style

In the Notes & Bibliography version of Chicago style the in-text citations are created as notes (either footnotes or endnotes). They are identified with a superscript number after the period or quotation mark. The numbers should appear sequentially starting with 1.  In the notes a corresponding number will be followed by an abbreviated version of the bibliography entry.  This will just be the author or authors names, an abbreviated version of the title followed by page numbers, if relevant. If the title is a book it should be in italics.

For example, if our text says this:

Bolger says “Normal childhood developmental milestones are taught at every level of medical training.”1

Then our endnote would look like this:

1. Bolger, Normal Childhood Development, 57-62.

 

Citing Artificial Intelligence

Use this format when citing AI in an in-text citation:

For example, if our text says this: "The following was generated by ChatGPT."

Then our endnote would look like this:

1. Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, March 7, 2023, https://chat.openai.com/chat

If the prompt has not been included in the text, it can be included in the note:

1. ChatGPT, response to "Explain how to make pizza dough from common household ingredients," OpenAI, March 7, 2023.

 

Additional Resources