Citation Resources: Chicago In-text Citations

The following examples illustrate the use of notes for in-text citations. The notes allow space for unusual types of sources as well as for commentary on the sources cited, making this system extremely flexible. Because of this flexibility, the notes and bibliography system is preferred by many writers in literature, history, and the arts.

When using endnotes, the first use of a source requires the full citation, while subsequent use only requires a shortened citation.  Example notes below show full citations followed by shortened citations for the same sources. 

For more details and many more examples, see chapter 14 of The Chicago Manual of Style. 

Notes

1. Zadie Smith, Swing Time (New York: Penguin Press, 2016), 315–16.
2. Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman, A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2015), 12.

Shortened notes

3. Smith, Swing Time, 320.
4. Grazer and Fishman, Curious Mind, 37.

For many more examples, covering virtually every type of book, see 14.100–163 in The Chicago Manual of Style.

In a note, cite specific pages. In the bibliography, include the page range for the chapter or part.

Note

1. Henry David Thoreau, “Walking,” in The Making of the American Essay, ed. John D’Agata (Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2016), 177–78.

Shortened note

2. Thoreau, “Walking,” 182.

Note

1. John D’Agata, ed., The Making of the American Essay (Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2016), 177–78.

Shortened note

2. D’Agata, American Essay, 182.

For more examples, see 14.103–5 and 14.106–12 in The Chicago Manual of Style.

Note

1. Jhumpa Lahiri, In Other Words, trans. Ann Goldstein (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2016), 146.

Shortened note

2. Lahiri, In Other Words, 184.

For books consulted online, include a URL or the name of the database. For other types of e-books, name the format. If no fixed page numbers are available, cite a section title or a chapter or other number in the notes, if any (or simply omit).

Notes

1. Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851), 627, http://mel.hofstra.edu/moby-dick-the-whale-proofs.html.
2. Philip B. Kurland and Ralph Lerner, eds., The Founders’ Constitution (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987), chap. 10, doc. 19, http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/.
3. Brooke Borel, The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016), 92, ProQuest Ebrary.
4. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (New York: Penguin Classics, 2007), chap. 3, Kindle.

Shortened notes

5. Melville, Moby-Dick, 722–23.
6. Kurland and Lerner, Founders’ Constitution, chap. 4, doc. 29.
7. Borel, Fact-Checking, 104–5.
8. Austen, Pride and Prejudice, chap. 14.

For more examples, see 14.159–63 in The Chicago Manual of Style.

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.

Notes

1. Susan Satterfield, “Livy and the Pax Deum,” Classical Philology 111, no. 2 (April 2016): 170.
2. Shao-Hsun Keng, Chun-Hung Lin, and Peter F. Orazem, “Expanding College Access in Taiwan, 1978–2014: Effects on Graduate Quality and Income Inequality,” Journal of Human Capital 11, no. 1 (Spring 2017): 9–10, https://doi.org/10.1086/690235.
3. Peter LaSalle, “Conundrum: A Story about Reading,” New England Review 38, no. 1 (2017): 95, Project MUSE.

Shortened notes

4. Satterfield, “Livy,” 172–73.
5. Keng, Lin, and Orazem, “Expanding College Access,” 23.
6. LaSalle, “Conundrum,” 101.

Journal articles with multiple authors

If there are four or more authors, list up to ten in the bibliography; in a note, list only the first, followed by et al. (“and others”). For more than ten authors list the first seven in the bibliography, followed by et al.

Note

7. Rachel A. Bay et al., “Predicting Responses to Contemporary Environmental Change Using Evolutionary Response Architectures.” American Naturalist 189, no. 5 (May 2017): 465, https://doi.org/10.1086/691233.

Shortened note

8. Bay et al., “Predicting Responses,” 466.

For more examples, see 14.168–87 in The Chicago Manual of Style.

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.

Notes

1. Rebecca Mead, “The Prophet of Dystopia,” New Yorker, April 17, 2017, 43.
2. 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.
3. Rob Pegoraro, “Apple’s iPhone Is Sleek, Smart and Simple,” Washington Post, July 5, 2007, LexisNexis Academic.
4. Tanya Pai, “The Squishy, Sugary History of Peeps,” Vox, April 11, 2017, http://www.vox.com/culture/2017/4/11/15209084/peeps-easter.

Shortened notes

5. Mead, “Dystopia,” 47.
6. Manjoo, “Snap.”
7. Pegoraro, “Apple’s iPhone.”
8. Pai, “History of Peeps.”

Readers’ comments are cited in the text or in a note but omitted from a bibliography.

Note

9. Eduardo B (Los Angeles), March 9, 2017, comment on Manjoo, “Snap.”

For more examples, see 14.188–90 (magazines), 14.191–200 (newspapers), and 14.208 (blogs) in The Chicago Manual of Style.

Note

1. Michiko Kakutani, “Friendship Takes a Path That Diverges,” review of Swing Time, by Zadie Smith, New York Times, November 7, 2016.

Shortened note

2. Kakutani, “Friendship.”

Note

1. Kory Stamper, “From ‘F-Bomb’ to ‘Photobomb,’ How the Dictionary Keeps Up with English,” interview by Terry Gross, Fresh Air, NPR, April 19, 2017, audio, 35:25, http://www.npr.org/2017/04/19/524618639/from-f-bomb-to-photobomb-how-the-dictionary-keeps-up-with-english.

Shortened note

2. Stamper, interview.

Note

1. Cynthia Lillian Rutz, “King Lear and Its Folktale Analogues” (PhD diss., University of Chicago, 2013), 99–100.

Shortened note

2. Rutz, “King Lear,” 158.

It is often sufficient simply to describe web pages and other website content in the text (“As of May 1, 2017, Yale’s home page listed . . .”). If a more formal citation is needed, it may be styled like the examples below. For a source that does not list a date of publication or revision, include an access date (as in example note 2).

Notes

1. “Privacy Policy,” Privacy & Terms, Google, last modified April 17, 2017, https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.
2. “About Yale: Yale Facts,” Yale University, accessed May 1, 2017, https://www.yale.edu/about-yale/yale-facts.
3. Katie Bouman, “How to Take a Picture of a Black Hole,” filmed November 2016 at TEDxBeaconStreet, Brookline, MA, video, 12:51, https://www.ted.com/talks/katie_bouman_what_does_a_black_hole_look_like.

Shortened notes

4. Google, “Privacy Policy.”
5. “Yale Facts.”
6. Bouman, “Black Hole.”

For more examples, see 14.205–10 in The Chicago Manual of Style. For multimedia, including live performances, see 14.261–68.

Citations of content shared through social media can usually be limited to the text (as in the first example below). A note may be added if a more formal citation is needed. In rare cases, a bibliography entry may also be appropriate. In place of a title, quote up to the first 160 characters of the post. Comments are cited in reference to the original post.

In-Text example

Conan O’Brien’s tweet was characteristically deadpan: “In honor of Earth Day, I’m recycling my tweets” (@ConanOBrien, April 22, 2015).

Notes

1. Pete Souza (@petesouza), “President Obama bids farewell to President Xi of China at the conclusion of the Nuclear Security Summit,” Instagram photo, April 1, 2016, https://www.instagram.com/p/BDrmfXTtNCt/.
2. Chicago Manual of Style, “Is the world ready for singular they? We thought so back in 1993,” Facebook, April 17, 2015, https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoManual/posts/10152906193679151.

Shortened notes

3. Souza, “President Obama.”
4. Michele Truty, April 17, 2015, 1:09 p.m., comment on Chicago Manual of Style, “singular they.”

Personal communications, including email and text messages and direct messages sent through social media, are usually cited in the text or in a note only; they are rarely included in a bibliography.

Note

1. Sam Gomez, Facebook message to author, August 1, 2017.

When using endnotes for in-text citations, remember that sources cited in the text must have a superscript number that corresponds to an endnote that is connected to a citation in the bibliography.