Citation Styles: Chicago/Turabian

The Chicago Manual of Style

The most recent edition of The Chicago Manual of Style was published in the fall of 2024 and included these changes:

• omits the place of publication for books published after 1900
• pays greater attention to inclusion and accessibility
• provides new guidance on citing AI images and text
• introduces minor changes in capitalization rules

This page provides a short video introducing researchers to Chicago style, examples of reference citations, and quick links to more resources on in-text citations (aka author-date) vs footnotes (aka notes and bibliography), along with sample reference pages. Please use our Ask A Librarian services if you need assistance citing in Chicago style. 

Before you start, make sure you know what type of Chicago citation style your assignment is asking you to use: 

• Author-Date Style
• Notes-Bibliography Style

This refers to how you format the citations in the text of your research paper. 

What is the difference between Chicago and Turabian Style Citations?

Both styles are considered Chicago. The main difference is that Turabian is the student version of the Chicago style, intended for college students who are writing essays and research that is not intended for publication. The Chicago Manual of Style (sometimes referred to as CMOS) is aimed at professional scholars, advanced students, and publishers.  If you are writing a thesis or dissertation and need Turabian style citation help, please refer to:

Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers, 8th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013.    Course Reserves, Services Desk LB2369 .T8 2013

Turabian provides documentation systems that are essentially the same as The Chicago Manual of Style, with slight modifications for the needs of student writers.

Lone-Star College Online Library. "What is Chicago Style." YouTube video. February 7, 2025. https://youtu.be/ZOlyNrwCL0E.

General Format for Chicago Citations

The Chicago citation style has two options: author-date (in-text citations) and notes-bibliography (footnotes). The notes-bibliography style is most commonly used for literature, history, and the arts, and we’ll focus on it for examples here. Examples of the author-date style can be found at the Purdue OWL and generally follow the same format as the ASA citation style. 

Your Bibliography page should include the full resource details for any footnote you inserted and, conversely, should not include any resource that does not have a footnote. The list should be in alpha-numeric order by the first character of the first element included for each entry and should be created using a hanging indent.

An inserted superscript number next to referenced material in the text should have a numerically corresponding footnote at the bottom of the same page. Common word processing editors like Google Docs and MS Word have automatic footnote formatting options. 

Please see the examples below and refer to The Chicago Manual of Style or the Chicago Formatting and Style Guidelines from the Purdue OWL linked on this page for further information and sample papers.

Examples for Specific Sources

Book, one author
Footnote: ¹Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half (New York: Riverhead Books, 2020), 275.
Bibliography Physical Book: Bennett, Brit. The Vanishing Half. New York: Riverhead Books, 2020.
Bibliography Ebook: Bennett, Brit. The Vanishing Half. New York: Riverhead Books, 2020. Kindle.

Book, two authors
Footnote: ²Paula Gillespie and Neal Lerner, The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000), 27.
Bibliography: Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000.

Book, three or more authors
Footnote: ³Chandler S. Robbins et al., Birds of North America: A Guide to Field Identification, expanded, rev. ed. (New York: Golden Press, 1983).
Bibliography: Robbins, Chandler S., Bertel Bruun, and Herbert S. Zim. Birds of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. Expanded, rev. ed. New York: Golden Press, 1983.

Book, with translator or other contributors
Footnote: ⁴Mario Vargas Llosa, The Feast of the Goat, trans. Edith Grossman (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001).
Bibliography: Vargas Llosa, Mario. The Feast of the Goat. Translated by Edith Grossman. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001.

A work (e.g., essay, short story) in an anthology or compilation
Footnote: ⁵Maura Seale, "Information Literacy Standards and the Politics of Knowledge Production," in Critical Library Instruction: Theories and Methods, ed. Emily Drabinski, Alana Kumbier, and Maria Accardi (Duluth, MN: Library Juice Press, 2010), 221-35. Bibliography: Seale, Maura. "Information Literacy Standards and the Politics of Knowledge Production." In Critical Library Instruction: Theories and Methods, edited by Emily Drabinski, Alana Kumbier, and Maria Accardi, 221-35. Duluth, MN: Library Juice Press, 2010.

Article in an online journal that also appears in print
Footnote: ⁶Matthew J. Miller et al., "College Students' Social Justice Interest and Commitment: A Social-Cognitive Perspective," Journal of Counseling Psychology 56, no. 4 (2009): 501, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017220.
Bibliography: Miller, Matthew J., Karen Sendrowitz, Catherine Connacher, Silvia Blanco, Carmen Muñiz de la Peña, Silvia Bernardi, and Louise Morere. "College Students' Social Justice Interest and Commitment: A Social-Cognitive Perspective." Journal of Counseling Psychology 56, no. 4 (2009): 495-507. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017220.

Article in a print journal
Footnote: ⁷Daniel K. Hannah, "The Private Life, the Public Stage: Henry James in Recent Fiction," Journal of Modern Literature 30, no. 3 (2007): 70-94, https://doi.org/10.2979/JML.2007.30.3.70.
Bibliography: Hannah, Daniel K. "The Private Life, the Public Stage: Henry James in Recent Fiction." Journal of Modern Literature 30, no. 3 (2007): 70-94. https://doi.org/10.2979/JML.2007.30.3.70.

Article (webpage) on a website
Footnote: ⁸Meredith Farkas, "Tips for Being a Great Blogger (and a Good Person)," Information Wants to Be Free, July 19, 2011, https://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2011/07/19/tips-for-being-a-great-blogger-and-good-person/.
Bibliography: Farkas, Meredith. "Tips for Being a Great Blogger (and a Good Person)." Information Wants to Be Free. July 19, 2011. https://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2011/07/19/tips-for-being-a-great-blogger-and-good-person/.

Webpage (no author)
Footnote: ⁹"Tuscan White Bean Pasta," Budget Bytes, February 25, 2018, accessed March 18, 2020, https://www.budgetbytes.com/tuscan-white-bean-pasta/.
Bibliography: "Tuscan White Bean Pasta." Budget Bytes. February 25, 2018. Accessed March 18, 2020. https://www.budgetbytes.com/tuscan-white-bean-pasta/.

YouTube video
Footnote: ¹⁰Smart Student, "How to Choose a Good Research Topic: Research Papers for Beginners," YouTube video, February 28, 2022, youtu.be/zxMsZsNw47U?si=545xUJ68fAkgQO0u.
Bibliography: Smart Student. "How to Choose a Good Research Topic: Research Papers for Beginners." YouTube video, February 28, 2022. youtu.be/zxMsZsNw47U?si=545xUJ68fAkgQO0u.

AI
Footnote: ¹¹OpenAI, ChatGPT (version March 14, 2023), large language model, March 14, 2023, https://chat.openai.com/chat.
Bibliography: OpenAI. ChatGPT (version March 14, 2023). Large language model. March 14, 2023. https://chat.openai.com/chat.