Documentation
Q. I have a question about citing journal articles that are in print but have only been accessed online, where the online version is a PDF identical to the print version. CMOS states that you need to cite the stable URL or the database you used. What is wrong with citing the page number of the print version as it appears on the PDF, if all things are identical?
A. There’s nothing wrong with citing the page number, but as CMOS also notes, “in many cases the content of the print and electronic forms of the same publication is identical, but the potential for differences, intentional or otherwise, requires that authors cite the form consulted. Other forms of the same publication may be mentioned in the citation when helpful to readers so long as the language makes it clear that the author did not in fact consult these other forms.”
