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Chicago 17: Citing Specific Types of Sources

Learn how to format your papers and cite resources in Chicago 17th format.

Check with Your Professor

Does your professor want you to:

  • use short notes only?
  • use full notes for the first entry & short notes for subsequent citations?

How To - Notes and Bibliography Style

Full Note - The first time that you use a footnote, write out the full note.

1. First Name Last Name, Title: Subtitle (City of Publication: Publisher, Publication Date), page #.

1. Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dream: A Natural History of Four Meals (New York: Penguin, 2006), 88.

Short Note - The next time you use the source, use the shortened note.

2. Last Name, Shortened Title, page #.

2. Pollan, The Omnivore's Dream, 92. 

Bibliography

Last Name, First Name. Title: Subtitle. City of Publication: Publisher, Publication Date.

Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dream: A Natural History of Four Meals. New York: Penguin, 2006. 

Full Note - The first time that you use a footnote, write out the full note.

1. First Name Last Name and First Name Last Name, Title: Subtitle (City of Publication: Publisher, Publication Date), page #.

1. Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns, The War: An Intimate History, 1941-1945 (New York: Knopf, 2007), 50.

Short Note - The next time you use the source, use the shortened note.

2. Last Name and Last Name, Shortened Title, page #.

2. Ward and Burns, The War, 102. 

Bibliography

Last Name, First Name and First Name Last name. Title: Subtitle. City of Publication: Publisher, Publication Date.

Ward, Geoffrey C. and Ken Burns. The War: An Intimate History, 1941-1945. New York: Knopf, 2007. 

Full Note - The first time that you use a footnote, write out the full note.

1. First Name Last Name, First Name Last Name, and First Name Last name, Title: Subtitle (City of Publication: Publisher, Publication Date), page #.

1. Michael A. Patten, Guy McCaskie, and Philip Unitt, Birds of the Salton Sea: Status, Biogeography, and Ecology (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), 37. 

Short Note - The next time you use the source, use the shortened note.

2. Last Name, Last Name, and Last Name, Shortened Title, page #. 

2. Patten, McCaskie, and Unitt, Birds of  the Salton Sea, 38. 

Bibliography

Last Name, First Name, First Name Last name, and First Name Last name. Title: Subtitle. City of Publication: Publisher, Publication Date.

Patten, Michael A., Guy McCaskie, and Philip Unitt. Birds of the Salton Sea: Status, Biogeography, and Ecology. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.

If a source is credited to 4 or more authors, include all authors in the bibliographic citation.

In the note, include only the first author’s First Name Last Name followed by et al.

Full Note - The first time that you use a footnote, write out the full note.

1. Chapter author's First Name Last Name, "Title of Chapter," in Title: Subtitle, ed. First Name Last Name of editor (City of Publication: Publisher, Publication Date), page #. 

1. Ida B Wells, "Lynch Law in All Its Phases," in With Pen and Voice: A Critical Anthology of Nineteenth African-American Women, ed. Shirley Wilson Logan (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University

Press, 1995), 82.

Short Note - The next time you use the source, use the shortened note.

2. Chapter author's Last Name, "Chapter Title," page #.

2. Wells, "Lynch Law in All Its Phases," 85.

Bibliography

Chapter author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Chapter." In Title: Subtitle, edited by First Name Last Name of editor, page numbers of chapter. City of Publication: Publisher, Publication Date.

Wells, Ida B. "Lynch Law in All Its Phases." In With Pen and Voice: A Critical Anthology of Nineteenth African-American Women, edited by Shirley Wilson Logan, 80-99. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University

Press, 1995.

Full Note - The first time that you use a footnote, write out the full note.

1. Original Author First Name Last Name, Title: Subtitle, trans. First Name Last Name of translator (City of Publication, Publisher, Publication Date), page #.

1. Sergei Eisenstein, Film Sense, trans. Jay Leyda (London: Faber and Faber, 1968), 42.

Short Note - The next time you use the source, use the shortened note.

2. Original Author Last Name, Shortened Title, page #.

2. Eisenstein, Film Sense, 45.

Bibliography

Original Author Last Name, First Name.Title: Subtitle. Translated by First Name Last Name of translator. City of Publication, Publisher, Publication Date.

Eisenstein, Sergei. Film Sense. Translated by Jay Leyda. London: Faber and Faber, 1968.

  • For books retrieved through a database:
    • include the DOI if available.
    • if the DOI isn't available, use the stable URL (sometimes called the permalink).
    • if the stable URL is very long, list the name of the commercial database instead.
  • If no fixed page numbers are available, cite a section title or a chapter or other number in the notes.

Full Note - The first time that you use a footnote, write out the full note.

1. First Name Last Name, Title: Subtitle (City of Publication: Publisher, date) location/section/page numbers, doi:.

1. Mark Evan Bonds, Absolute Music: The History of an Idea (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), chap. 3, https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199343638.003.0004. 

Short Note - The next time you use the source, use the shortened note.

2. Last name, Shortened Title, location/section/page numbers, doi.

2. Bonds, Absolute Music, chap. 11, https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199343638.003.0012.

Bibliography

Last name, First name. Title: Subtitle. City of Publication: Publisher, date. doi:.

Bonds, Mark Evan. Absolute Music: The History of an Idea. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199343638.003.0004.

  • For articles retrieved through a database:
    • include the DOI if available.
    • if the DOI isn't available, use the stable URL (sometimes called the permalink).
    • if the stable URL is very long, list the name of the commercial database instead.
  • For articles retrieved through the open web:
    • the DOI may still be available. Include it if it's available.
    • if the DOI isn't available, use the URL.
  • If the journal doesn't include page ranges, skip it.

Full Note - The first time that you use a footnote, write out the full note.

1. First Name Last Name, "Article Title," Journal Name volume #, no. issue # (Month Year): page numbers used, DOI/URL.

1. Robert H. Ferrell, "Truman's Place in History," Reviews in American History 18, no. 1 (February 1990): 8, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2702718.

Short Note - The next time you use the source, use the shortened note.

2. Last Name, "Shortened Article Title," page #.

2. Ferrell, "Truman's," 9.

Bibliography

Last Name, First Name. "Article Title." Journal Name volume #, no issue # (Month Year): inclusive page numbers. DOI/URL.

Ferrell, Robert H. "Truman's Place in History." Reviews in American History 18, no. 1 (February 1990): 1-9. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2702718.

  • Magazine & newspaper articles are cited in the same way.
  • Use the URL for articles retrieved through the open web.
  • For articles retrieved through a database:
    • use the stable URL (sometimes called a permalink)
    • if the stable URL is very long, list the name of the commercial database instead.
  • Page numbers, if any, can be cited in a note but are omitted from a bibliography entry.

Full Note - The first time that you use a footnote, write out the full note.

1. First Name Last Name, "Article Title," Newspaper Name, Month Day, Year of Publication, URL/database name.

1. Farhad Manjoo, “Snap Makes a Bet on the Cultural Supremacy of the Camera,” New York Times, March 8, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/technology/snap-makes-a-bet-on-the-cultural-supremacy-of-the-camera.html.

Short Note - The next time you use the source, use the shortened note.

2. Last Name, "Shortened Article Title."

2. Manjoo, “Snap.”

Bibliography

Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article." Newspaper Name, Month Day, Year of Publication. URL/database name.

Manjoo, Farhad. “Snap Makes a Bet on the Cultural Supremacy of the Camera.” New York Times, March 8, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/technology/snap-makes-a-bet-on-the-cultural-supremacy-

of-the-camera.html.