Notes and Bibliography: Sample Citations

Go to Author-Date: Sample Citations

The following examples illustrate the notes and bibliography system. Sample notes show full citations followed by shortened citations for the same sources. Sample bibliography entries follow the notes. For more details and many more examples, see chapter 14 of The Chicago Manual of Style. For examples of the same citations using the author-date system, follow the Author-Date link above.

Book

Notes

Shortened notes

Bibliography entries (in alphabetical order)

For many more examples, covering virtually every type of book, see 14.100–163 in The Chicago Manual of Style.

Chapter or other part of an edited book

In a note, cite specific pages. In the bibliography, include the page range for the chapter or part.

Note

Shortened note

Bibliography entry

In some cases, you may want to cite the collection as a whole instead.

Note

Shortened note

Bibliography entry

For more examples, see 14.103–5 and 14.106–12 in The Chicago Manual of Style.

Translated book

Note

Shortened note

Bibliography entry

E-book

For books consulted online, include a URL or the name of the database. For other types of e-books, name the format. If no fixed page numbers are available, cite a section title or a chapter or other number in the notes, if any (or simply omit).

Notes

Shortened notes

Bibliography entries (in alphabetical order)

For more examples, see 14.159–63 in The Chicago Manual of Style.

Journal article

In a note, cite specific page numbers. In the bibliography, include the page range for the whole article. For articles consulted online, include a URL or the name of the database. Many journal articles list a DOI (Digital Object Identifier). A DOI forms a permanent URL that begins https://doi.org/. This URL is preferable to the URL that appears in your browser’s address bar.

Notes

Shortened notes

Bibliography entries (in alphabetical order)

Journal articles often list many authors, especially in the sciences. If there are four or more authors, list up to ten in the bibliography; in a note, list only the first, followed by et al. (“and others”). For more than ten authors (not shown here), list the first seven in the bibliography, followed by et al.

Note

Shortened note

Bibliography entry

For more examples, see 14.16887 in The Chicago Manual of Style.

News or magazine article

Articles from newspapers or news sites, magazines, blogs, and the like are cited similarly. Page numbers, if any, can be cited in a note but are omitted from a bibliography entry. If you consulted the article online, include a URL or the name of the database.

Notes

Shortened notes

Bibliography entries (in alphabetical order)

Readers’ comments are cited in the text or in a note but omitted from a bibliography.

Note

For more examples, see 14.18890 (magazines), 14.191–200 (newspapers), and 14.208 (blogs) in The Chicago Manual of Style.

Book review

Note

Shortened note

Bibliography entry

Interview

Note

Shortened note

Bibliography entry

Thesis or dissertation

Note

Shortened note

Bibliography entry

Website content

It is often sufficient simply to describe web pages and other website content in the text (“As of May 1, 2017, Yale’s home page listed . . .”). If a more formal citation is needed, it may be styled like the examples below. For a source that does not list a date of publication or revision, include an access date (as in example note 2).

Notes

Shortened notes

Bibliography entries (in alphabetical order)

For more examples, see 14.205–10 in The Chicago Manual of Style. For multimedia, including live performances, see 14.261–68.

Social media content

Citations of content shared through social media can usually be limited to the text (as in the first example below). A note may be added if a more formal citation is needed. In rare cases, a bibliography entry may also be appropriate. In place of a title, quote up to the first 160 characters of the post. Comments are cited in reference to the original post.

Text

Notes

Shortened notes

Bibliography entry

Personal communication

Personal communications, including email and text messages and direct messages sent through social media, are usually cited in the text or in a note only; they are rarely included in a bibliography.

Note