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CMoS Citation Guide

Guide to using the Chicago Manual of Style citation format.

Getting Started

The Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS) 17th Edition provides guidelines for two different documentation systems, the notes and bibliography style and the author-date style. The notes and bibliography style is favoured in humanities disciplines such as literature, history and the arts, while the author-date bibliography style is more commonly used by those in the sciences and social sciences. 

As its name suggests, the notes and bibliography style cites sources in numbered footnotes or endnotes and is preferably accompanied by a corresponding bibliography. The author-date style utilises parenthetical in-text citations and a reference list instead.

CMoS

CMoS Quick Guide

CMoS Q&A

Purdue's CMoS Introduction

Notes and Bibliography Style

A superscript number is used at the end of the sentence whereupon the source is referenced through quotations, summaries or paraphrasing.

Footnotes and Endnotes

Corresponding numbered footnotes are added at the end of the page in the footer section. Endnotes are added at the end of each chapter or paper, preceding the bibliography.

Bibliography Excluded

Should a bibliography be excluded, full bibliographic notes should be used in the first mention in the footnotes but in the second mention, it can be shortened to contain the author’s last name, the shortened title (if the title is longer than four words), and the page number/range (if relevant). Full notes should be repeated in every new chapter.

Bibliography Included

Should a bibliography be included, shortened bibliographic notes may be used. Consecutive references to the same source may also use shortened bibliographic notes; they may also be listed as “Ibid” followed by a comma and page number or range.

Example

In-text

Stone states that “one should content oneself with painting a succession of ‘great men’ making ‘great discoveries’ leaving out the wider context and all the false leads.”1

Full Note

(First mention if bibliography is omitted)
  1. Stone, William F., and Paul E. Schaffner. The Psychology of Politics. Springer Science & Business Media, 2012.

Shortened Note

(First mention if bibliography is included, second mention if bibliography is omitted)
  1. Stone, The Psychology of Politics, 24.

Subsequent Note

(Consecutive mentions, immediately preceding source)
  1. Ibid., 40.

Bibliography

Stone, William F., and Paul E. Schaffner. The Psychology of Politics. Springer Science & Business Media, 2012.

 

Bibliography

Though it is not mandatory to include a bibliography, it is typically preferred. The bibliography should be on a new page at the end of the research paper. The title - Bibliography, should be centered and the list should be double spaced. Each source entry should have a hanging indent.  Source entries are arranged in alphabetical order by the first term in each entry.

Full Notes

  1. Author’s first name last name, Title (Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication), page number.

Shortened Notes

  1. Author’s last name, Title, page number.

Bibliography

Author’s last name, first name. Title. Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication.

*For citation of a specific chapter or a specific translated/edited version, please see Conditions to Note

eBooks

At the end of the notes or bibliography, add the format accessed such as Kindle, PDF…etc. If accessed online, include the URL/DOI.

Full Notes

  1. Author’s first name last name, “Title of article: Subtitle of article," Journal title volume, issue (Month Year of publication): page number(s).

Shortened Notes

  1. Author’s last name, “Title of article,” page number(s).

Bibliography

Author's last name, first name. "Title of article: Subtitle of article." Journal title volume, issue (Month Year of publication): page number/range.

eJournals

At the end of the notes or bibliography, include the URL/DOI.

Full Notes

  1. Author’s first name last name, “Title of article," Newspaper/Magazine title, Month Day of publication, Year of publication, page number(s).

Shortened Notes

  1. Author’s last name, “Title of article,” page number(s).

Bibliography

Author's last name, first name. "Title of article." Newspaper/Magazine title, Month Day of publication, Year of publication.

eNewspapers/eMagazines

At the end of the notes or bibliography, include the URL or DOI.

The citation format may vary depending on the nature of the source and which element is considered most significant to the paper.

Full Notes (Work)

  1. Title of work, directed/performed by first name last name (Original release year; City: Studio/Distributor, video release year), medium.

Full Notes (Episode)

  1. Title of work, episode number, “Title of episode,” directed/written/performed by first name last name, aired Month Day, Year, on Network name, URL.

Shortened Notes (Work)

  1. Title of work.

Shortened Notes (Episode)

  1. “Title of episode.”

Bibliography (Work)

Writer/Director’s last name, first name. dir/writer. Title of work. Directed/Performed by first name last name. Original Release Year; City: Studio/Distributor, Video release year. Medium.

Bibliography (Episode)

Writer/Director’s last name, first name. dir/writer. Title of work. Season number, episode number, “Title of episode.” Aired Month Day, Year, on Network Name. Medium.

If accessed online, replace the network name and medium with the URL.

Full Notes

  1. Author's first name last name, “Title of article,” Website name, Publishing organisation published/modified/accessed Month Day, Year, URL.

Shortened Notes

  1. Author's last name, “Title of article.”

Bibliography

Author's last name, first name. “Title of article.” Website name. Publishing organisation. Published/Modified/Accessed Month Day of publication, Year of publication. URL.

Unpublished interviews are usually included in notes only.

Full Notes

  1. Interviewee’s first name last name, interview by Interviewer’s first name last name, Title of Broadcast, Publisher/Studio, date.

Shortened Notes

  1. Interviewee’s last name, interview.

Bibliography

Interviewee’s last name, first name. Title of Broadcast. By interviewer’s first name last name. Publisher/Studio, date.

This applies to public content available on social media platforms only. Should the content be private, the citation format for personal communication should be used instead. All formatting of the original source including spelling, punctuation…etc. should be kept and listed within quotation marks. Should the content exceed 160 characters, end it with an ellipsis where it makes sense.

Full Notes

  1. First name last name (Social media handle), “Post text”, Social media platform, Medium, Publication date, Time stamp, URL.

Bibliography

Last name, first name (Social media handle). “Post text”. Social media platform, Medium, Publication date, Time stamp. URL.

Personal communications are usually included in notes only. Contact information such as email addresses are omitted unless necessary with permission obtained.

Full Notes

  1. Author’s first name last name, personal communication method (e.g. Facebook message to author), Month Day, Year.


 

Generative content from AI should be acknowledged if referenced and the format for personal communication is recommended.

Full Notes

  1. Originator of the communication, medium, Day Month, Year.

Conditions

Examples

Multiple Authors

Full Notes Example

  1. Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Good Omens (London, England: Gollancz, 2014), 120-123.

Shortened Notes Example

  1. Gaiman and Pratchett, Good Omens, 120-123.

Bibliography Example

Gaiman, Neil, and Terry Pratchett. Good Omens. London, England: Gollancz, 2014.

*For four or more authors, use “et al.” full notes and shortened notes. For more than ten authors, list up to seven authors followed by “et al.” in the bibliography. 

Corporate Author

Some organisations create sources with no individual author credited. In these cases, cite the name of the organisation instead. Do omit articles - the/a/an - at the start of the organisation names.

No Author

If the source does not specify an author, begin with the source title instead. 

Translator/Editor

Full Notes Example

  1. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince, trans. Irene Testot-Ferry (Ware, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth, 2018), 52.

*Use “trans.” and “ed.” for the translator and editor respectively.

Shortened Notes Example

  1. Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince, 52.

Bibliography Example

Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de. The Little Prince. Translated by Irene Testot-Ferry. Ware, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth, 2018.

*Use “Translated by” and “Edited by” for the translator and editor respectively.

Emphasis on a chapter

Full Notes Example

  1. Shu Hu and Wei-Jun Jean Yeung, eds., “Falling Short,” in Family and Population Changes in Singapore: A Unique Case in the Global Family Change (Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2018), 96-111.

Shortened Notes Example

  1. Hu and Yeung, “Falling Short,” 96-111.

Bibliography Example

Hu, Shu, and Wei-Jun Jean Yeung, eds. “Falling Short.” In Family and Population Changes in Singapore: A Unique Case in the Global Family Change, 96-111. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2018.

Indirect Sources

While discouraged, if the original source is unavailable, use “quoted in” when citing indirect source.

Full Notes Example

  1. John Rogers, “Theoretical Issues in the Study of Crime,” Criminology Review 30, no. 2 (2006): 21, quoted in Sara Townsend and Helen White, Youth Justice (New York: Random House, 2008), 56.

Shortened Notes Example

  1. Rogers, “Theoretical Issues in the Study of Crime,” 21.

Bibliography Example

Rogers, John. “Theoretical Issues in the Study of Crime.” Criminology Review 30, no. 2 (2006): 21. Quoted in Sara Townsend and Helen White. Youth Justice. New York: Random House, 2008, 56.

*List is not exhaustive, for more formats and conditions, refer to the CMoS or visit Purdue’s guide.

Author-date Style

The author-date style utilises parenthetical in-text citations and a reference list.

In-text Citation

The author-date style uses parenthetical citations containing the author’s last name, publication year, and page number/range to refer to sources whereupon quotations, summaries, or paraphrasing are found in the researcher’s text. When citing narrative in-text citations, the publication year should be put in brackets after the author’s name and the page number/range should be put in brackets where relevant in the paper.

Examples

Parenthetical In-text Citation

Racial identity is not indicative of low-income groups’ “sensibilities, habits and decisions” (Teo 2018, 329). 

Narrative In-text Citation

Teo (2018, 329) asserts that racial identity is “not a strong predictor of sensibilities, habits, and decisions among people who are low-income” and current literature on race must be reexamined and reevaluated to an acute degree withstanding discomfort and disruption to truly comprehend racial structures (330).

2 Authors

(Lee and Tan 2015, 23)

3 or more Authors

(Lee et al. 2015, 23)

Corporate Author

(Ministry of Health 2017, 23)

No Page Number

Cite a section title, a chapter number, or simply omit.

(Wong 2017, chap. 6)

No Date

Use “n.d.” for no date.

(Harper n.d.)

Reference List

For the author-date style, a reference list is mandatory. The formatting of source citation is similar to the notes and bibliography style but the difference lies in the heading “References” instead of “Bibliography” and the placement of the date element; it comes after the author’s name in author-date style.

Author-date style
Author's last name, first name. Year of publication. Title. Place of publication: Publisher.

Notes and bibliography style
Author’s last name, first name. Title. Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication.

Formatting

Refer to CMoS or Purdue’s Guide to format headings, subheadings, position, spacings…etc. There are also sample papers available.