The Chicago Manual of Style presents two basic
documentation systems, the humanities style (notes and bibliography) and the
author-date system. Choosing between the two often depends on subject matter
and nature of sources cited, as each system is favored by different groups of
scholars.
The humanities style is preferred by
many in literature, history, and the arts. This style presents bibliographic
information in notes and, often, a bibliography. It accommodates a variety of
sources, including esoteric ones less appropriate to the author-date system.
The more concise author-date system
has long been used by those in the physical, natural, and social sciences. In
this system, sources are briefly cited in the text, usually in parentheses, by
author’s last name and date of publication. The short citations are amplified
in a list of references, where full bibliographic information is provided.
Below are some common examples of materials cited in
both styles. Each example is given first in humanities
style (a note, followed by a bibliographic entry) and then in author-date style
(an in-text citation followed by a reference-list entry). For numerous specific
examples, see chapters 16 and 17 of The Chicago Manual of Style, fifteenth
edition.
Book with one
author
1. Wendy Doniger, Splitting
the Difference (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999).
Doniger, Wendy. Splitting the Difference.
(Doniger 1999)
Doniger, Wendy. 1999. Splitting
the difference.
Book with two
authors
2. Guy Cowlishaw and Robin
Dunbar, Primate Conservation Biology (
Cowlishaw, Guy, and
Robin Dunbar. Primate Conservation Biology.
(Cowlishaw and Dunbar 2000)
Cowlishaw, Guy, and
Robin Dunbar. 2000. Primate conservation biology.
Book with more
than three authors
3. Edward O. Laumann et al., The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual
Practices in the
Laumann, Edward O.,
John H. Gagnon, Robert T. Michael, and Stuart Michaels. The Social
Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the
(Laumann et al. 1994)
Laumann, Edward O.,
John H. Gagnon, Robert T. Michael, and Stuart Michaels. 1994. The
social organization of sexuality: Sexual practices in the
Editor,
translator, or compiler
4.
Lattimore,
(Lattimore 1951)
Lattimore,
Chapter or
other part of a book
5. W. Freeman Twaddell, “A
Note on Old High German Umlaut,” in Readings in Linguistics I: The
Development of Descriptive Linguistics in America, 1925–1956, 4th ed., ed.
Martin Joos (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957).
Twaddell, W.
Freeman. “A Note on Old High German Umlaut.” In
(Twaddell 1957, 85–87)
Twaddell, W.
Freeman. 1957. A note on Old High German umlaut. In
Chapter of an
edited volume originally published elsewhere (common for primary sources)
6. Quintus Tullius Cicero.
“Handbook on Canvassing for the Consulship,” in Rome: Late Republic and
Principate, ed. Walter Emil Kaegi Jr. and Peter White, vol. 2 of University
of Chicago Readings in Western Civilization, ed. John Boyer and Julius
Kirshner (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986).
Cicero, Quintus Tullius. “Handbook on Canvassing for the Consulship.” In Rome: Late Republic and Principate, edited by Walter
Emil Kaegi Jr. and Peter White. Vol. 2 of University
of Chicago Readings in Western Civilization, edited by John Boyer and
Julius Kirshner.
(Cicero 1986, 33)
Cicero, Quintus Tullius. 1986.
Handbook on canvassing for the consulship. In
Preface,
foreword, introduction, and similar parts of a book
7. James Rieger,
introduction to Frankenstein or, The Modern Prometheus, by Mary
Wollstonecraft Shelley (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974).
Rieger, James. Introduction to
Frankenstein or, The Modern Prometheus, by
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.
(Rieger 1974)
Rieger, James. 1974.
Introduction to Frankenstein, or The modern Prometheus, by Mary
Wollstonecraft Shelley.
Book published
in both printed and electronic forms (N.B.: be sure that it is clear which form
was consulted; however, there is no need to indicate “paper” in a citation to a
traditional bound book)
2. Philip B. Kurland and Ralph
Lerner, eds., The Founders’ Constitution
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987), 115.
(Kurland and Lerner 1987, 115)
Journal article
8. John Maynard Smith, “The
Origin of Altruism,” Nature 393 (1998): 639–40.
Smith, John Maynard. “The Origin of Altruism.” Nature 393 (1998):
639–40.
(Smith 1998, 639–40)
Smith, John Maynard. 1998. The
origin of altruism. Nature 393: 639–40.
Article in an
electronic journal (N.B.: an access date, not generally required by
33. Mark A. Hlatky et al.,
"Quality-of-Life and Depressive Symptoms in Postmenopausal Women after
Receiving Hormone Therapy: Results from the Heart and Estrogen/Progestin
Replacement Study (HERS) Trial," Journal of the American Medical
Association 287, no. 5 (2002),
http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v287n5/rfull/joc10108.html#aainfo.
Hlatky, Mark A.,
Derek Boothroyd, Eric Vittinghoff, Penny Sharp, and Mary A. Whooley.
"Quality-of-Life and Depressive Symptoms in Postmenopausal Women after
Receiving Hormone Therapy: Results from the Heart and Estrogen/Progestin
Replacement Study (HERS) Trial." Journal of the
American Medical Association 287, no. 5 (
(Hlatky et al. 2002)
Hlatky, Mark A.,
Derek Boothroyd, Eric Vittinghoff, Penny Sharp, and Mary A. Whooley. 2002.
Quality-of-life and depressive symptoms in postmenopausal women after receiving
hormone therapy: Results from the Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement
Study (HERS) trial. Journal of the American Medical
Association 287, no. 5 (February 6),
http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v287n5/rfull/joc10108.html#aainfo (accessed
Popular magazine article
9. Steve Martin,
“Sports-Interview Shocker,” New Yorker,
Martin, Steve. “Sports-Interview Shocker.” New Yorker,
(Martin 2002, 84)
Martin, Steve. 2002. Sports-interview shocker. New
Yorker,
Newspaper
article
10. William S.
Niederkorn, “A Scholar Recants on His ‘Shakespeare’ Discovery,” New York
Times,
New York Times,
Chicago style is for newspaper citations to be made in
running text, not in parenthetical notes:
As William Niederkorn noted in
a
If the article is cited in the reference list, it
would look like this:
Niederkorn, William S. 2002. A
scholar recants on his “Shakespeare” discovery. New York
Times, June 20,
Book review
11. James Gorman, “Endangered
Species,” review of The Last American Man, by Elizabeth Gilbert, New
York Times Book Review,
Gorman, James. “Endangered Species.” Review of The
Last American Man, by Elizabeth Gilbert. New York Times
Book Review,
(Gorman 2002, 16)
Gorman, James. 2002.
Endangered species. Review of The last American man, by Elizabeth
Gilbert. New York Times Book Review, June 2, 16.
Theses and
dissertations
12. M. Amundin, “Click
Repetition Rate Patterns in Communicative Sounds from the Harbour Porpoise, Phocoena
phocoena” (Ph.D. diss., Stockholm University, 1991), 22–29, 35.
Amundin, M. “Click Repetition
Rate Patterns in Communicative Sounds from the Harbour Porpoise, Phocoena
phocoena.” Ph.D. diss.,
(Amundin 1991, 22–29, 35)
Amundin, M. 1991. Click
repetition rate patterns in communicative sounds from the harbour porpoise, Phocoena
phocoena. Ph.D. diss.,
Paper presented
at a meeting or conference
13. Brian Doyle, “Howling Like
Dogs: Metaphorical Language in Psalm 59” (paper presented at the annual
international meeting for the Society of Biblical Literature, Berlin, Germany,
June 19–22, 2002), 15–16.
Doyle, Brian. “Howling Like
Dogs: Metaphorical Language in Psalm 59.” Paper presented at the annual
international meeting for the Society of Biblical Literature,
(Doyle
2002)
Doyle, Brian. 2002. Howling
like dogs: Metaphorical language in Psalm 59. Paper presented at the annual
international meeting for the Society of Biblical Literature, June 19–22, in
Personal
communications
In an e-mail message to the
author on
Or the reference may be given in a note:
2. John Doe, e-mail message to
author,
E-mail messages, letters, and the like are rarely
listed in a bibliography or reference list. Note that individuals’ e-mail addresses should be omitted.