What is the Chicago Citation Format?
The Chicago citation style is the method established by the University of Chicago Press for documenting sources used in a research paper and is probably the most commonly used footnote format. Below are instructions for using footnotes to cite most of the sources encountered in research at Island School. It is a good idea to read through these instructions before beginning to write your paper. Please note that footnotes are so-named because they appear at the bottom of the page that contains the text you are annotating. Endnotes follow the same citation style, but are listed together at the end of the paper before the bibliography. Only use endnotes at the specific request of the instructor; use footnotes otherwise.
General Guidelines
- Your footnotes should be numbered consecutively throughout the paper. Use your word processing program to insert footnotes and it will number them for you automatically.
- The footnote number should always be inserted after the punctuation.1
- The first time you cite a source, you will include a full citation. For all subsequent references to that text, your footnote citation will be in abbreviated form. (More detail below.)
- Cite authors’ names as they appear in the texts. Don’t replace first names with initials unless the names appear this way on the title page of the source. If no author is listed, organize the entry by the title.
Type of Source |
Footnote |
Bibliography |
Books: Single Author |
Basic format: x. Author’s first name Last name, Title in Italics and in Headline Style (City of Publication: Publisher, Year), page number if relevant. Subsequent references to the same text: x. Last name, Title in Shortened Form, page number. Note: If your second reference to a text comes immediately after the first, use “Ibid.” in place of the author’s name and the book title. Include the page number if it is different from that listed in the first reference. Examples: 1. Kent Portney, Taking Sustainable Cities Seriously (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003). 2. Ibid., 162. 3. David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry Into the Origins of Cultural Change (New York: Blackwell, 1989), 197. 4. Robert O. Self, American Babylon: Race and the Struggle for Postwar Oakland (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 2003). 5. Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 86-87. |
Basic format: Author’s last name, First name. Title. City: Publisher, Year. Examples: References
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Books: Multiple Authors |
For two or three authors, list each of the authors in the order presented on the title page of the book. For more than three authors, list the first author’s name followed by “and others” or “et al.”: x. First name Last name and First name Last Name, Title (City: Publisher, Date), page number if relevant. x. First name Last name et al., Title (City: Publisher, Date), page number if relevant. Subsequent references to the same text: x. Last name and Last name, Title, page number. x. Last name et al., Title, page number. Examples: 1. Harriet Bulkeley and Michele M. Betsill, Cities and Climate Change: Urban Sustainability and Global Environmental Governance (London: Routledge, 2003), 25. 2. Randall Arendt et al., Growing Greener: Putting Conservation into Local Plans and Ordinances (Washington, DC: Island Press, 1999). 3. Bulkeley and Betsill, Cities and Climate Change, 27. 4. Arendt et al., Growing Greener. |
Basic format: Last name, First name, and First name Last name. Title. City: Publisher, Year. Examples: References
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Books: Edited Volume or Chapter Within an Edited Volume |
Occasionally you will need to cite an edited book containing chapters by various authors. If citing the overarching idea of the entire book, use the editors’ names as you would the names of authors, following their names with “ed.” (short for editor, not to be mistaken for the abbreviation of “edition”). Works with a translator (trans.) or a compiler (comp.) would be treated similarly. Basic format: x. Editor’s First name Last name, ed., Title (City: Publisher, Year), page number if relevant. Example: 1. Warren Magnusson and Karena Shaw, eds., A Political Space: Reading the Global Through Clayoquot Sound (Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota Press, 2003). Subsequent references to the same text: 2. Magnusson and Shaw, eds. A Political Space. More frequently, you will cite a particular essay or chapter in an edited book. In this case your footnote will refer to the specific chapter or essay but will also include the title of the book and its editors. The format is as follows: x. Author’s First name Last name, “Chapter Title,” in Book Title, ed. Editor’s name (City: Publisher, Year), page number if relevant. Subsequent references to the same text: x. Last name, Chapter Title, page number. Examples: 3. Timothy W. Luke, “On the Political Economy of Clayoquot Sound,” in A Political Space: Reading the Global Through Clayoquot Sound, ed. Warren Magnusson and Karena Shaw (Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota Press, 2003), 99. 4. Luke, “On the Political Economy of Clayoquot Sound,” 101. |
Basic format: Editor’s Last name, First name, ed. Title. City: Publisher, Year. Or: Author’s Last name, First name. “Chapter Title.” In Book Title, edited by Editor’s Name, page numbers of chapter. City: Publisher, Year. Examples: References
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Books: Multiple Editions |
Include the edition number after the title, not italicized: x. First name Last name, Title, Number ed. (City, Publisher, Year), page number if relevant. Subsequent references to the same text: x. Last name, Title, page number. Examples: 1. Michael E. Kraft, Environmental Policy and Politics, 4th ed. (New York: Pearson, 2007). 2. Kraft, Environmental Policy and Politics, 54. |
Basic format: Last name, First name. Title. Number ed. City: Publisher, Year. Example: References
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Journal Articles |
Basic Format: x. Author’s First name Last name, “Article Title,” Journal Title Volume, Issue No. (Year): page number. Subsequent references to the same text: x. Last name, “Article Title,” page number. Examples: 1. Keith Dowding, “Explaining Urban Regimes,” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 25, no. 1 (2001): 12. 2. Marina Alberti, “Measuring Urban Sustainability,” Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 1996, no. 16: 390. 3. Roger Keil, “Globalization Makes States: Perspectives of Local Governance in the Age of the World City,” Review of International Political Economy 5, no. 4 (1998): 617. 4. Alberti, “Measuring Urban Sustainability,” 391. Note: As in the Alberti example above, if the year serves as the volume number, it should not be in parentheses. |
Basic format: Last name, First name. “Article Title.” Journal Title Volume, Issue no. (Year): page range. Examples: References
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Web Sources |
If an online source is also a print source (a journal or newspaper article, etc.) or has a clear online publishing date (such as online news sources), footnote it in the same way as you would footnote the source if it were in print, adding the URL and access date if the information is time sensitive: x. Author’s First name Last name, “Article Title,” Web Site Title. Sponsor, Original publication Month Day, Year, URL. (accessed Month Day, Year). If citing an entire website, include the title of the site, the name of the sponsoring organisation, the publication date or date of latest update (if available), URL, and access date if time sensitive. x. Author’s First name Last name, Web Site Title, URL (accessed Month Day, Year). Examples: 1. Keith Schneider, “Salt Lake City is Finding a Payoff in Conservation,” New York Times, November 7, 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/business/businessspecial3/07cities.html (accessed November 14, 2007). 2. Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Seattle Metronatural, http://www.visitseattle.org/bureau/brand.asp (accessed Mar. 16, 2008). |
Basic Format: Last name, First name. “Article Title.” Web Site Title. Sponsor, Original publication Month Day, Year. URL. (accessed Month Day, Year). Or: Last name, First name. Web Site Title. URL. (accessed Month Day, Year). Examples: References
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Class Lectures |
Class lectures should only be cited in papers written for the course in which that lecture was given. Example: 1. Lecture, Sept. 26, 2006. |
No bibliography entry is needed. |
Magazine Articles |
Cite as you would a book, with the author’s name (if available) followed by the title and date. For weekly or bi-weekly magazines, give the exact date (month day, year). For monthly or bi-monthly magazines, just the month(s) is sufficient. Include page numbers only if noting a direct quote (as in example 2 below). Magazines should be cited by publication date, even if a volume number is provided. Basic format: x. Author’s First name Last name, “Article Title,” Magazine Title, Month Day, Year, page number if relevant. Subsequent references to the same text: x. Last name, “Article Title,” page number if relevant. Examples: 1. “Dubious Venture,” Time, Jan. 3, 1994. 2. James Fallows, “The Early-Decision Racket,” Atlantic Monthly, Sept. 2001, 37-52. |
Basic format: Last name, First name. “Article Title.” Magazine Title, Month Day, Year, page range. Examples: References
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Newspaper Articles |
A footnote for a newspaper article should include: Name of author (if known); title of the article, month, day and year of publication; the edition (final, West Coast, etc.) if available; the section if in print or the URL if found online. You can omit page numbers. Basic format: x. Last name, First name, “Article Title,” Newspaper Title, Month Day, Year, edition, section. Or: x. Last name, First name, “Article Title,” Newspaper Title, Original publication Month Day, Year, URL. Subsequent references to the same text: x. Last name, “Article Title,” Date. Examples: 1. Kevin Sack, “In Partisan Battle, Governors Clash with Attorneys General over Lawsuits,” New York Times, Mar. 28, 2010, late edition, sec. A. 2. Keith Schneider, “Salt Lake City is Finding a Payoff in Conservation,” New York Times, November 7, 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/business/businessspecial3/07cities.html (accessed November 14, 2007). |
Basic format: Last name, First name. “Article Title.” Newspaper Title, Month Day, Year, section. If accessed online, replace the section with the URL. Examples: References
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Interviews |
Regardless of the form of the interview, your footnote should begin with the name of the person interviewed. Anonymous interviews can be cited as such, with general information regarding the interviewee. Published interviews should include the full citation of where the interview was found (for instance, in a book or on the radio). In examples 2 and 3 below, it is assumed that you (the author) conducted the interviews. Examples: 1. Donald E. Felsinger, “Turning Energy Uncertainty into Opportunity,” interview by Clifford Krauss. New York Times, May 3, 2008, late edition, sec. C. 2. George Smith, e-mail message to author, March 17, 2008. 3. Interview with Congressional aide, February 9, 2008. |
If you conducted the interview, no bibliography entry is needed. For published or broadcast interviews, cite as you would for a book section, newspaper article, radio broadcast, etc. Examples: References
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Legal Sources |
Citing constitutions: Cite constitutions by the name, article, section, and paragraph (depending on how specific your reference is): 1. U.S. Constitution, art. 1, sec. 1. 2. Arizona Constitution, par. 3. Citing an act (law): In most cases you can provide all basic information about an act (if it is a federal or state law, the title of the act, and the year it was passed) in the body of your text and it will therefore not need to be footnoted: Congress’s passage of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001 increased national requirements for airport security checks. Citing a legal case: As with laws, legal cases should usually be referred to in the text of your essay and footnotes are not needed. Names of cases are abbreviated by the name of each party involved and should be underlined. The year the case was decided is put in parentheses just after the name of the case: In Brown v. Board of Education (1954) the Supreme Court rejected the segregation of public schools by race. |
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Government Publications |
As government documents usually do not have authors, cite them by the name of the agency. Otherwise, follow the same rules as for books and journals. Provide the following information: x. Name of Government, Government Agency, Subsidiary division/regional office/etc., Title of the Publication, date, publication number, report number, or Congressional session (if available or relevant), Place of Publication: Publisher, Date, page number if relevant. Examples: 1. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, 1978 Statistics of Income, Individual Income Tax Returns, 1981, Pub. 79 (3-81), Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. 2. Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack, Hearings, 1946, 79th Cong., 1st and 2 nd sess., Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. 3. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, A Profile of the Working Poor, 2001, 2003, Report 968, Washington, DC. Note: If the document is printed by the issuing body (as in the Department of Labor example above), publisher information is not required. |
Include all of the information listed above. Examples: References
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