Chicago Style Guide

Using Chicago style for your Master’s or PhD thesis? You’re in luck: it’s my personal favourite.

Here's a deep-dish Chicago crib sheet to keep you right. Or you can get in touch about thesis editing support.

Not your style? Switch to APA or MLA.

Chicago style – overview

Academic styles don’t stand still. These style guides are not meant to be exhaustive; they’re here to ease the pain. Always check in with the publishers to see what’s changed and how it affects your referencing.

Chicago style takes its name from the Chicago Manual of Style, published by the University of Chicago.

Chicago has its own student-friendlier version called Turabian, which simplifies the referencing process while providing extra guidance on university-level research and writing.

Turabian comes with its own set of excellent (and free) resources on how to format and reference your thesis or dissertation.

Chicago style – citation formats

Chicago style splits into two forms of citation: notes and bibliography and author-date. Get clarity from your supervisor on which system is preferred before you start your thesis research.

And check to see if your university has free student access to the online Chicago Manual of Style, where you’ll find guidelines for those more esoteric referencing queries that will inevitably pop up as you write.

Chicago style: Notes and bibliography

More often found in the arts and humanities
Uses superscript numbers in the body text, coupled with footnotes (same page) or endnotes (end of text)
Sources listed in separate ‘bibliography’ (A-Z by surname)
Bibliography entries use hanging indents.

Chicago style: Author-date

Typically used in the sciences
Short in-text citations, either parenthetical or narrative
Sources listed in separate ‘reference list’ (A-Z by surname).

Chicago style – format templates and sample citations

Each entry here comes with a template: plug your source into the formula, remove the pipes ( | ) and you’ll have the correct citation for Chicago style.

Notes and bibliography format comes first, then the equivalent for author-date.

Citing a book in Chicago style

Notes and bibliography:

Footnote

AUTHOR NAME | , | TITLE IN ITALICS | (PUBLISHER LOCATION: PUBLISHER, YEAR) | , | PAGE NUMBER/S | .

1. Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities (New York: Macmillan, 1987), 180-81.

Repeat footnote

AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | SHORT TITLE IN ITALICS | , | PAGE NUMBER/S | .

2. Wolfe, Bonfire, 180-81.

Bibliography (with hanging indent)

AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | AUTHOR FIRST NAME | . | TITLE IN ITALICS | . | PUBLISHER LOCATION: PUBLISHER, YEAR | .

Wolfe, Tom. The Bonfire of the Vanities. New York: Macmillan, 1987.

In Chicago, page numbers are shortened wherever possible, e.g. 180-81 not 180-181. Chicago never uses p. or pp. before page numbers. Much better!

Two authors? Notes keep the first-last name convention with an ‘and’ in the middle. Bibliography entries reverse the first author’s names only.

Note: Tom Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson [...]

Bibliography: Wolfe, Tom and Hunter S. Thompson [...]

Author-date equivalents:

In-text citation

(AUTHOR LAST NAME | YEAR | , | PAGE NUMBER/S)

(Wolfe 1987, 180-81)

Reference list

AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | AUTHOR FIRST NAME | . | YEAR | . | TITLE IN ITALICS | . | PUBLISHER LOCATION: PUBLISHER | .

Wolfe, Tom. 1987. The Bonfire of the Vanities. New York: Macmillan.

Citing a work in translation in Chicago style

Notes and bibliography:

Footnote

AUTHOR NAME | , | TITLE IN ITALICS | , | trans. TRANSLATOR NAME | (PUBLISHER LOCATION: PUBLISHER, YEAR) | , | PAGE NUMBER/S | .

1. Roch Carrier, La Guerre, Yes Sir, trans. Sheila Fischman (Toronto: Anansi, 1970), 1-2.

Repeat footnote

AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | SHORT TITLE IN ITALICS | , | PAGE NUMBER/S | .

2. Carrier, La Guerre, 101-2.

Bibliography (with hanging indent)

AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | AUTHOR FIRST NAME | . | TITLE IN ITALICS | . | Translated by TRANSLATOR NAME | . | PUBLISHER LOCATION: PUBLISHER, YEAR | .

Carrier, Roch. La Guerre, Yes Sir. Translated by Sheila Fischman. Toronto: Anansi, 1970.

Author-date equivalents:

In-text citation

(AUTHOR LAST NAME | YEAR | , | PAGE NUMBER/S)

(Carrier 1970, 1-2)

Reference list

AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | AUTHOR FIRST NAME | . | TITLE IN ITALICS | . | Translated by TRANSLATOR NAME | . | PUBLISHER LOCATION: PUBLISHER | .

Carrier, Roch. 1970. La Guerre, Yes Sir. Translated by Sheila Fischman. Toronto: Anansi.

Citing a journal article in Chicago style

Notes and bibliography:

Footnote

1. Joshua J. Masters, “Race and the Infernal City in Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities,” Journal of Narrative Theory 29, no. 2 (1999): 212.

Repeat footnote

AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | “SHORTENED ARTICLE TITLE,” | PAGE NUMBER/S | .

2. Masters, “Race,” 213.

Bibliography (with hanging indent)

AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | AUTHOR FIRST NAME | . | “ARTICLE TITLE.” | JOURNAL TITLE IN ITALICS | JOURNAL VOLUME | , | no. JOURNAL ISSUE | (YEAR) | : | ARTICLE PAGE RANGE | . | DOI | .

Masters, Joshua J. “Race and the Infernal City in Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities.” Journal of Narrative Theory 29, no. 2 (1999): 208-27. doi:10.1353/jnt.2011.0015.

If the month or season is given for the journal issue, include it ahead of the year in the parentheses (e.g. April 1999 or Spring 1999).

Multiple authors?

2-3 – list them all in notes and bibliography.

In notes, for two authors use first-last names separated by ‘and’ (A and B); for three it’s ‘, and’ (X, Y, and Z). In bibliography, also remember to reverse the names of the first author only.

4-10 – list the first author only, followed by ‘et al.’ in notes. List max 10 authors in bibliography.

More than 10 – list first author ‘et al.’ in notes. In bibliography, list the first seven authors ‘et al.’

Author-date equivalents:

In-text citation

(AUTHOR LAST NAME | YEAR | , | PAGE NUMBER/S)

(Masters 1999, 212)

Reference list

AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | AUTHOR FIRST NAME | . | YEAR | . | “ARTICLE TITLE.” | JOURNAL TITLE IN ITALICS | JOURNAL VOLUME | , | no. JOURNAL ISSUE (MONTH/SEASON IF GIVEN) | : | ARTICLE PAGE RANGE | . | DOI | .

Masters, Joshua J. 1999. “Race and the Infernal City in Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities.” Journal of Narrative Theory 29, no. 2: 208-27. doi:10.1353/jnt.2011.0015.

Citing a chapter or essay in an edited book in Chicago style

Notes and bibliography:

Footnote

1. Paul Baumann, “An Icy Dip in the Real World,” in The Critical Response to Tom Wolfe, ed. Doug Shomette (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1992), 195.

Repeat footnote

AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | “SHORTENED TITLE,” | PAGE NUMBER/S | .

2. Baumann, “Icy,” 196.

Bibliography (with hanging indent)

AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | AUTHOR FIRST NAME | . | “TITLE.” | In COLLECTION TITLE IN ITALICS, edited by EDITOR NAME | , | PAGE RANGE | . | PUBLISHER LOCATION: PUBLISHER, YEAR | .

Baumann, Paul. “An Icy Dip in the Real World.” In The Critical Response to Tom Wolfe, edited by Doug Shomette, 195-198. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1992.

Author-date equivalents:

In-text citation

(AUTHOR LAST NAME | YEAR | , | PAGE NUMBER/S)

(Baumann 1992, 195)

Reference list

AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | AUTHOR FIRST NAME | . | “TITLE.” | In COLLECTION TITLE IN ITALICS, edited by EDITOR NAME | , | PAGE RANGE | . | PUBLISHER LOCATION: PUBLISHER | .

Baumann, Paul. 1992. “An Icy Dip in the Real World.” In The Critical Response to Tom Wolfe, edited by Doug Shomette, 195-198. Westport: Greenwood Press.

Citing a publication in Chicago style (newspaper, magazine, blog)

Notes and bibliography:

Footnote

AUTHOR NAME | , | “ARTICLE TITLE,” | PUBLICATION TITLE IN ITALICS | , | MONTH | DATE | , | YEAR | , | PAGE RANGE OR PERMALINK | .

1. Michael Bracewell, “The Man in the White Suit,” Frieze, January 2, 2001, https://www.frieze.com/article/man-white-suit.

Repeat footnote

Print: AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | “SHORTENED TITLE,” | PAGE NUMBER/S | .

Online: AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | “SHORTENED TITLE.”

2. Bracewell, “White Suit.”

Bibliography (with hanging indent)

AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | AUTHOR FIRST NAME | . | “ARTICLE TITLE.” | PUBLICATION TITLE IN ITALICS | , | MONTH | DATE | , | YEAR | . | PERMALINK IF APPLICABLE | .

Bracewell, Michael. “The Man in the White Suit.” Frieze, January 2, 2001. https://www.frieze.com/article/man-white-suit.

Note there is no ‘The’ before publication titles in Chicago style (e.g. Economist, not The Economist).

Page numbers for printed publications are not needed in bibliographies.

Author-date equivalents:

In-text citation

(AUTHOR LAST NAME | YEAR | , PAGE NUMBER/S IF GIVEN)

(Bracewell 2001)

Reference list

AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | AUTHOR FIRST NAME | . | YEAR | . | “ARTICLE TITLE.” | PUBLICATION TITLE IN ITALICS | , | MONTH | DATE | , | YEAR | . | PERMALINK IF APPLICABLE | .

Bracewell, Michael. 2001. “The Man in the White Suit.” Frieze, January 2, 2001. https://www.frieze.com/article/man-white-suit.

Citing a website in Chicago style

Notes and bibliography:

Footnote

1. “The Psychedelic Journeys of Tom Wolfe,” Culture Trip, accessed January 1, 2020, https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/articles/the-psychedelic-journeys-of-tom-wolfe/.

Repeat footnote

“SHORTENED PAGE TITLE.”

2. “Psychedelic.”

Bibliography (with hanging indent)

Culture Trip. “The Psychedelic Journeys of Tom Wolfe.” Accessed January 1, 2020. https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/articles/the-psychedelic-journeys-of-tom-wolfe/.

Named author on the page? In notes, the author’s name goes in front of the page title. In bibliography, reverse the names and move the website name to after the page title.

If a date of publication/update is given for the page, replace ‘accessed’ with ‘last modified’ in notes, and ‘Accessed’ with ‘Last modified’ in bibliography.

Author-date equivalents:

In-text citation

(SITE NAME | YEAR OR , n.d. IF NONE GIVEN)

(Culture Trip, n.d.)

Named author? Replace the site name with the author’s last name.

Reference list

Culture Trip. n.d. “The Psychedelic Journeys of Tom Wolfe.” Accessed January 1, 2020. https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/articles/the-psychedelic-journeys-of-tom-wolfe/.

Named author? Replace the site name with author last name, first name.

Citing another thesis or dissertation in Chicago style

Notes and bibliography:

Footnote

AUTHOR NAME | , | “THESIS TITLE” | (PhD diss., UNIVERSITY, YEAR) | , | PAGE NUMBER/S | .

1. Tom Wolfe, “The League of American Writers: Communist Organizational Activity Among American Writers, 1929-1942” (PhD diss., Yale University, 1956), 87.

Repeat footnote

AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | “SHORTENED THESIS TITLE,” | PAGE NUMBER/S | .

2. Wolfe, “League,” 88.

Bibliography (with hanging indent)

AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | AUTHOR FIRST NAME | . | “THESIS TITLE.” | PhD diss., UNIVERSITY, YEAR | .

Wolfe, Tom. “The League of American Writers: Communist Organizational Activity Among American Writers, 1929-1942.” PhD diss., Yale University, 1956.

Author-date equivalents:

In-text citation

(AUTHOR LAST NAME | YEAR | , | PAGE NUMBER/S)

(Wolfe 1956, 88)

Reference list

AUTHOR LAST NAME | , | AUTHOR FIRST NAME | . | YEAR | . | “THESIS TITLE.” | PhD diss., UNIVERSITY | .

Wolfe, Tom. 1956. “The League of American Writers: Communist Organizational Activity Among American Writers, 1929-1942.” PhD diss., Yale University.

None of the above? Consult the Chicago Manual of Style for clarifications.

Book

Translation

Journal

Chapter

Publication

Website

Thesis