How to Cite Sources in Chicago 18
Chicago 18 has two citation systems. Notes & Bibliography is common in the humanities, while Author-Date is common in sciences and social sciences.
Method
- Confirm which Chicago system your assignment requires.
- Identify author, title and publication information.
- For journal articles, include volume, issue, year and full page range.
- Use a DOI-based URL when available for online journal articles.
Worked example
Bibliography entries place the year near the end for books.
Author-Date reference entries place the year immediately after the author.
Notes
- Chicago 18 no longer requires a place of publication for ordinary modern books.
- For more than six authors, bibliography entries use the first three followed by et al.
- Chicago source-specific exceptions are extensive.
Choose the Chicago system before formatting the source
Notes and Bibliography and Author-Date are not interchangeable output styles. The same book or article is arranged differently depending on the system, and the in-text or note structure changes with it. Confirm the system required by the course, publisher or journal before using a formatted reference.
After choosing the system, verify author names, title, publication details and locator information against the source. Chicago covers many unusual source types, so a general generator should be treated as a starting point when archival, legal, audiovisual or other specialized materials are involved.
Choose Notes and Bibliography or Author-Date before formatting
Chicago 18 contains two major documentation systems that solve different writing needs. Notes and Bibliography uses footnotes or endnotes plus a bibliography, while Author-Date uses parenthetical citations with a reference list. The same source will be arranged differently depending on the system, so this choice comes before punctuation.
Do not mix a Notes and Bibliography note with an Author-Date reference entry unless the assignment explicitly asks for a hybrid. Check the syllabus, publisher instructions or disciplinary convention first.
Distinguish full notes, shortened notes and bibliography entries
In Notes and Bibliography, the first note can contain more publication detail, later notes can be shortened, and the bibliography usually reverses the first author's name for alphabetization. These are related outputs, not identical copies of the same string.
For books, chapters and journal articles, pay attention to page numbers in context. A bibliography entry for a chapter may include the chapter's full page range, while a note can point to the specific page cited. Keeping those roles separate prevents one of the most common Chicago errors.
Authoritative references
Primary or authoritative references for the external standard, scoring rule or identifier convention used on this page.
Editorial review and limitations
Continue with the related tools
Use the linked tools for your own inputs and scenarios.
- MLA Citation Generator — Generate MLA Handbook 9th edition Works Cited entries and matching parenthetical in-text citations for journal articles, webpages, books and book chapters.
- APA Citation Generator — Generate APA 7 reference-list entries for journals, webpages, books and chapters, plus a matching parenthetical in-text citation.
- ASA Citation Generator — Generate American Sociological Association 7th edition references for journal articles, webpages, books and book chapters.