Chicago Manual of Style

Chicago Manual of Style, 18th Edition   

The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) is often used by editors and publishers, as well as in fields such as history and art. There are two versions of CMOS: the Author-Date system, and the Notes and Bibliography system. The Author-Date system is more popular in the sciences and social sciences, and is set up similarly to APA, with in-text citations in parentheses. The Notes and Bibliography system is used more often in the humanities and uses footnotes for in-text citations.  The 18th edition is the most current edition, and it came out in September 2024. 

Page Formatting 

Part of keeping your paper within CMOS is to make sure you follow the page formatting guidelines. Here is a list of the basic requirements:  

  • 1-inch margins on all sides 
  • Easily readable font, like Times New Roman, size 12, for body text and note text. Headings and subheadings can be one or two sizes larger
  • Double (2.0) spaced throughout except for block quotations 
  • Running page number in the top right corner, starting after the title page 
  • A title page should be included, with the main title centered about 1/3 way down the page. Your name, the course title, and the date should be included next, on separate lines and appearing around 2/3 way down the page  

We recommend this Chicago Formatting Guide to help with your paper formatting needs.  

Author-Date System 

Footnotes and In-text Citations  

In-text citations should be placed within parentheses and include the author’s last name, the year of publication, and if available, a page number.  

  • (LaSelle 2017, 95)  
  • (Keng, Lin, Orazmen 2017, 9-10)  

When citing multiple sources at once, separate each source with a semicolon. Order each source by year of publication in ascending order, then by alphabetical order of the first author’s last name.  

  • (Satterfield 2016; LaSelle 2017)  

If a work has multiple authors, the in-text citation should include the names for up to two authors; if there are more than two authors for a work, only the first should be listed, followed by “et al.” 

The Author-Date system also has a References or Works Cited page with full bibliographic information for each source.   

Bibliography Pages  

The Author-Date system will always have a bibliographic page at the end of the essay. When including multiple sources by the same author, you should arrange them chronologically, with the oldest sources listed first. If there are four or more authors, include up to six in the references list. If there are more than six authors, include the first three in the references list, followed by “et al.” 

In the Author-Date System, full bibliographic source information is generally placed at the end of a document in alphabetical order on a page titled References or Works Cited. 

Example: Format of Journal Article  

  • Last name, First name. Year of Publication. “Source Title.” Journal Title Volume Number, issue number (month):page range.  
  • Bagley, Benjamin. 2015. “Loving Someone in Particular.” Ethics 125, no. 2 (January): 477–507.  

Notes and Bibliography System  

Footnotes and In-text Citations  

When using the Notes and Bibliography System, each time you cite, you will include:  

  1. A superscript number corresponding to the note number. This number should be placed at the end of a sentence or the end of a clause within a sentence, and it goes after the punctuation mark.  
  2. A note, which will take the form of either an endnote or footnote. Footnotes are included at the bottom of each page, while endnotes are placed at the end of a particular section of writing, such as a chapter.   

The footnote or endnote will include a first line indent and list the corresponding superscript number, followed by the citation. If a work has multiple authors, the note should include the names for up to two authors; if there are more than two authors for a work, only the first should be listed, followed by “et al.” 

Make sure each individual citation receives a unique superscript number and note, even when citing the same source multiple times!  

Repeated use of your sources is common. When citing a source a second time, you may instead provide a shortened version of the citation in the notes section. A shortened citation may include only the author’s last name, a shortened version of the work’s title, and a page number. You may also be able to use a shortened citation when a bibliography page is included.  

First Usage Example:  

1. Richard Kiely and Jim Askham, "Furnished Imagination: The Impact of Preservice Teacher Training on Early Career Work in TESOL," TESOL Quarterly 46, no. 3(2012): 496.  

Second Usage Example:  

2. Kiely and Askham, "Furnished Imagination," 496.  

Bibliography Pages  

The Bibliography page for the Notes and Bibliography system includes all sources cited in the document, listed in alphabetical order of first author’s last name. As with the Author-Date system, when including multiple sources by the same author, you should arrange them chronologically, with the oldest sources listed first. If there are four or more authors, include up to six in the references list. If there are more than six authors, include the first three in the references list, followed by “et al.” 

While often included, a Bibliography page is not required when full bibliographic information is used in the notes.  

All entries should have a hanging indent. If the author is unknown, the work should be placed according to the first word of the source title.  

See samples in the next section.   

Sample Formats for Notes and Bibliography Citations 

N = note         1 = full citation        2 = shortened citation 

B = bibliography (for Notes and Bibliography format) 

Note: Some disciplines require the use of the Chicago Author-Date format. For details, please visit the Chicago Manual of Style website. 

Journal article  

N:  

1. Richard Kiely and Jim Askham, "Furnished Imagination: The Impact of Preservice Teacher Training on Early Career Work in TESOL," TESOL Quarterly 46, no. 3(2012): 496.  

 2. Kiely and Askham, "Furnished Imagination," 496.  

B:   

   Kiely, Richard, and Jim Askham. "Furnished Imagination: The Impact of Preservice Teacher Training on Early Career Work in TESOL." TESOL Quarterly 46, no. 3 (2012): 496-518.  

Journal article found online With DOI (digital object identifier)  

N:  

1. Hannah K. Tan et al., "Encouraging the Perceptual Underdog: Positive Affective Priming of Nonpreferred Local-Global Processes," Emotion 9 (April 2009): 238, doi: 10.1037/a0014713  

2. Tan et al., "Encouraging the Perceptual Underdog," 239.  

B:   

   Tan, Hannah K., Gregory V. Jones, and Derrick G. Watson. "Encouraging the Perceptual Underdog: Positive Affective Priming of Nonpreferred Local-Global Processes." Emotion 9 (2009): 238-247. doi: 10.1037/a0014713  

Journal article found online Without DOI (digital object identifier)  

In place of DOI, use "stable URL" assigned by the search engine.  
EX. http://jstor.org/stable/457654  

Book (print) by a single author  

N:  

1. Douglas Davies, Child Development: A Practitioner's Guide, 3rd ed. (The Guilford Press, 2010), 177.  

2. Davies, Child Development, 178.  

B:   

   Davies, Douglas. Child Development: A Practitioner's Guide. 3rd ed. The Guilford Press, 2010.  

Book (print) by two or more authors  

N:  

1. Rebecca Babcock et al., A Synthesis of Qualitative Studies of Writing Center Tutoring, 1983-2006 (Peter Lang, 2012), 25.  

2. Babcock et. al., Qualitative Studies of Writing Center Tutoring, 26.  

B:   

   Babcock, Rebecca, Kellye Manning, Travis Rogers, Courtney Goff, and Amanda McCain. A Synthesis of Qualitative Studies of Writing Center Tutoring, 1983-2006. Peter Lang, 2012.  

Electronic version of print book  

N:  

1. Newman, James, Best Before: Videogames, Supersession and Obsolescence (Routledge, 2012), Kindle edition, 165.    

2. Newman, Best Before, 166.  

B:   

   Newman, James. Best Before: Videogames, Supersession and Obsolescence. Routledge, 2012. Kindle edition.  

Article or chapter in an edited book  

N:  

1. Manuel A. Vásquez, "Grappling with the Legacy of Modernity: Implications for the Sociology of Religion," in Religion on the Edge: De-centering and Re-centering the Sociology of Religion, eds. Courtney Bender et al. (Oxford University Press, 2013), 23.  

2. Vásquez, "Grappling with the Legacy of Modernity," 24.  

B:   

   Vásquez, Manuel A. "Grappling with the Legacy of Modernity: Implications for the Sociology of Religion." In Religion on the Edge: De-centering and Re-centering the Sociology of Religion, edited by Courtney Bender, Wendy Cadge, Peggy Levitt, and David Smilde. Oxford University Press, 2013.  

Magazine article  

N:  

1. James Verini, "The Tunnels of Gaza," National Geographic, December 2012, 673.  

2. Verini, "The Tunnels of Gaza," 674.  

B:   

   Verini, James. "The Tunnels of Gaza." National Geographic, December 2012, 673-674.  

Newspaper article  

N:  

1. W. J. Hennigan, "FAA Grounds Entire Fleet of Boeing 787s," Los Angeles Times, January 17, 2013.  

2. Hennigan, "FAA Grounds."  

B:   

   Hennigan, W. J. "FAA Grounds Entire Fleet of Boeing 787s." Los Angeles Times, January 17, 2013.  

DVD  

N:  

1. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, directed by J.J. Abrams (Burbank, CA: Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2015), DVD.    

2. Abrams, Star Wars Episode VII.  

B:   

   Abrams, J.J., dir. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Burbank, CA: Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2015, DVD.  

Website  

N:  

1. National Eating Disorders Association, "Risk Factors," last modified 2018, https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/risk-factors.   

2. National Eating Disorders Association, "Risk Factors."  

B:   

   National Eating Disorders Association. "Risk Factors." Last modified 2018. https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/risk-factors.   

Blog post  

N:  

1. W. Germano, "Jack Lew's Signature," Lingua Franca (blog), January 17, 2013, http://chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2013/01/17/jack-lews-signature/.  

2. Germano, "Jack Lew's Signature."  

B:   

   Germano, W. "Jack Lew's Signature." Lingua Franca (blog). Jan. 17, 2013. http://chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2013/01/17/jack-lews-signature/.  

 

Additional Resources 

You can find more information and examples at: 

(Updated June 2025)