The Chicago Manual of Style is a guideline for writing and documenting sources. In addition to rules for presenting information, the guideline also contains rules for physical formatting of the work and the documentation of sources if the author has relied on them to construct the work. Documentation includes acknowledgements in the body of the work (in-text citations, footnotes/endnotes, and narrative citations) and formal listing of the source in a Bibliography section of the work (bibliographic citation). Each type of acknowledgment consists of correct placement of specific information in a specific order using specific physical formatting.
Think of this CMS Citation Guide as a box filled with documentation recipes for all kinds of sources–books, magazines, websites, professional journals, and more.
The formatting for reference listing and footnotes shown below follow the following guidelines:
- References in the bibliography are listed in the order in which they appear in the paper and are numbered sequentially. The reference number precedes the author’s last name in the entry, and the entire citation uses a hanging indent (second and subsequent lines for a source’s bibliographic information are indented one-half (1/2) inch.
- Footnotes are sequentially numbered and appear on the same page as the content you are citing. In the actual footnote, its number precedes the author name. The first line of the footnote is indented five (5) spaces.
Book (Basic)
The methods shown in the samples below use numbered footnotes and bibliography entries. For books that are not reprints and do not have editors or corporate publishers, the most obvious ingredients that distinguish one “recipe” from another are the type of source and number of individual authors.
One Author
Numbered Bibliography Formula:
Ref#. Last name, First name. Title of work. City: Publisher, Year.
Example:
1. Gumperz, John. J. Discourse Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Numbered Footnote Formula:
Footnote#. Author, Title (City: Publisher, Year), ##-##.
Example:
1. John J. Gumperz, Discourse Strategies (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1982), 100-105.
Narrative citation:
Gumperz ….FootnoteNumber
Two or More Authors
Numbered Bibliography Formula:
Ref#. Last name1, First name1, First name2 Last name2, and First name3 Last name3. Title of work. City: Publisher, Year.
Example:
2. Collins, James, and Richard Blot. Literacy and Literacies: Texts, Power, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Numbered Footnote Formula (2-3 Authors):
Footnote#. Author and Author, Title (City: Publisher, Year), ##-##.
Numbered Footnote Formula (≥ 4 Authors)
Footnote#. Author et al., Title (City: Publisher, Year), ##-##.
Example:
2. James Collins and Richard Blot, Literacy and Literacies: Texts, Power, and Identity. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 87.
Narrative citation:
Collins and Blot ….FootnoteNumber
Online Book
Numbered Bibliography Formula:
Ref#. Last name, First name. Title of work. City: Publisher, Year. URL
Example:
3. Martin George R.R. Game of Thrones. New York: Bantam Books, 1996. http://books.google.com/books/about/A_Game_of_Thrones.html?id=btpIkZ7X6egC.
Numbered Footnote Formula:
Footnote#. Author, Title (City: Publisher, Year), URL
Example:
3. George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones. (New York: Bantam Books, 1996), http://books.google.com/books/about/A_Game_of_Thrones.html?id=btpIkZ7X6egC.
Narrative citation:
Martin ….FootnoteNumber
Books (Edited, Reprinted, Corporate)
Entry (or Chapter) in an Edited Book
Numbered Bibliography Formula:
Ref#. Last name, First name. “Chapter Title.” In Title of Work, edited by EditorFirstName LastName, ##-##. City: Publisher, Year.
Example:
4. Gumperz, John J. “Interviewing in Intercultural Situations.” In Talk at Work: Interaction in Institutional Settings, edited by Paul Drew and John Heritage, 302-327. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Numbered Footnote Formula:
Footnote#. Author, “Chapter Title,” in Book Title, ed. EditorName (City: Publisher, Year), ##-##.
Example:
4. John J. Gumperz, “Interviewing in Intercultural Situations,” in Talk at Work: Interaction in Institutional Settings, ed. Paul Drew and John Heritage (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), 302-307.
Narrative citation:
Gumperz ….FootnoteNumber
Reprinted or Translated Book
Numbered Bibliography Formula:
Ref#. Last name, First name. Title of Work, Translated/Edited by Translator/EditorFirstName LastName, Year. Reprint, City: Publisher, Year.
Example:
5. Ogden, C.K., I.A. Richards, and W.T Gordon. The Meaning of Meaning. Translated by U. Eco. 1923. Reprint, Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989.
Numbered Footnote Formula:
Footnote#. Author, Book Title, edition (if applicable) ed./trans. EditorName (City: Publisher, Year), ##-##.
Example:
5. Charles K. Ogden, Ivor A. Richards, and W.T. Gordon, The Meaning of Meaning, trans. Umberto Eco 1923. Reprint (Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989), 210-212.
Narrative citation:
Ogden, Richards, and Gordon ….FootnoteNumber
Corporate Author
Numbered Bibliography Formula:
Ref#. Company Name. Title of work. City: Publisher, Year.
Example:
1. Vantage Learning. MY Access!® User’s Guide. Newtown, PA: Vantage Technologies, 2006.
Numbered Footnote Formula:
Footnote#. Author, Title (City: Publisher, Year), ##-##.
Example:
1. Vantage Learning. MY Access!® User’s Guide. (Newtown, PA: Vantage Technologies, 2006), 25-37.
Narrative citation:
Vantage Learning ….FootnoteNumber
Article (Journal/Periodical, Database, Online Journal)
Articles in journals and other periodicals that use volume/issue numbering should not include the word “volume” but should include the abbreviation for number (no.) to denote an issue number.
Article in a Scholarly Journal or Periodical
Numbered Bibliography Formula:
Ref#. Last name, First name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal volume#, no. issue# (Year): ##-##.
Example:
6. Valencia S.W. “Inside English/Language Arts Standards: What’s in a Grade?.” Reading Research Quarterly 36, no. 2 (2001): 202-217.
Numbered Footnote Formula:
Footnote#. Author, “Article Title,” Journal Name vol. number, issue no. # (Year): ##-##.
Example:
6. Sheila W. Valencia, “Inside English/Language Arts Standards: What’s in a Grade?,” Reading Research Quarterly 36 no. 2 (2001): 202.
Narrative citation:
Valencia ….FootnoteNumber
Article in an Online Periodical (also in print)
Numbered Bibliography Formula:
Ref#. Last name, First name. “Title.” Magazine / Journal / Newspaper title vol#, no. issue# (Year): pages. DOI or URL.
Example:
7. McPherson, Miller, Lynn Smith-Lovin, and James M. Cook. “Birds of a Feather: Homophily in Social Networks.” Annual Review of Sociology 27, no. 8 (2001): 415-422. doi: 0360-0572/01/0811-0415S.
Numbered Footnote Formula:
Footnote#. Author, “Title,” Journal title vol#, no. issue#, (Publication Season Year): #, OR stable DOI OR URL OR Database name (identification number).
Example:
7. Miller McPherson, Lynn Smith-Lovin, and James M. Cook. “Birds of a Feather: Homophily in Social Networks,” Annual Review of Sociology 27, no. 8 (2001): 415, doi: 0360-0572/01/0811-0415S.
Narrative citation:
McPherson, Smith-Lovin, and Cook ….FootnoteNumber
Article in a Database
Numbered Bibliography Formula:
Ref#. Last name, First name. “Title of work.” Journal vol #, no. issue# (Year). ##-## OR URL OR Database Name (identification number).
Example:
8. Levin, Stephen M., Kann, Elizabeth P., and Lax, Michael B. “Medical Examinatin for Asbestos Related Disease.” American Journal of Medicine 37, no. 1 (1999). PubMed (10573594).
Numbered Footnote Formula:
Footnote#. Author, “Title,” Journal title vol number, issue no. #, (Publication Season Year): #, OR stable DOI OR URL OR Database name (identification number).
Example:
8. Stephen M. Levin, P. Elizabeth Kann, MD, and Michael B. Lax, MD, “Medical Examination for Asbestos Related Disease,” American Journal Medicine 37 no. 1 (1999): PubMed (10573594).
Narrative citation:
Levin, Kann, and Lax ….FootnoteNumber