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Chicago Citation Guide: In-Text Citations

• Getting Started
• How do I Cite?
• In-Text Citations
• Bibliography and Sample Papers
• Additional Resources

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In-Text Citation Basics

In-text citations in Chicago style utilize two different methods:

• the Notes and Bibliography (NB) system uses superscript numbers in the text along with footnotes
• the Author-Date system uses parenthetical citations similar to other major styles like APA

A  parenthetical citation  that directly follows a quotation is placed after the closing quotation mark. 

You should always consult your instructor to find out which system is preferred for individual classes or assignments.

Parenthetical Citations

What is a Parenthetical Citation?   This article defines parenthetical citations and offers tips for getting them right.

Author-Date System

As with APA or Harvard style, the Chicago author-date format uses in-text citations comprising the author's name and year of publication (and specific page reference if required). A reference list (rather than a bibliography) at the end of the work provides full bibliographical details for the sources used, listed in alphabetical order.

The major difference between the two systems in the form of the references is the position of the year of publication. In the Notes and Bibliography system the year comes towards the end of the reference, whereas in the author-date system it is on the second place in the reference, right after the author's name.

EXAMPLE : Parenthetical citations in Author-Date system

(Grazer and Fishman 2015, 12) (Smith 2016, 315–16)

Notes and Bibliography System

Numbers are used to denote citations in the Notes and Bibliography system. These numbers in the text are linked to a full reference in footnotes or endnotes and in your bibliography. Cited publications are numbered in the order in which they are first referred to in the text. Please make sure to follow the rules below when citing in this system:

• Check whether footnotes or endnotes are required for your work. Footnotes are found at the bottom of a page and endnotes are located at the end of a document, or sometimes at the end of a chapter or section.
• All notes end with a full stop (in both footnotes/endnotes and bibliography).
• In the footnotes, author names should be first name followed by last name, for example 'Gregg Levoy'. In the bibliography, author names should be last name followed by first name, for example 'Levoy, Gregg'.
• If there are up to three authors of a source, give their names in your references in the order they are shown in the source. For four or more authors, give the name of the first author, followed by 'et al.' in the footnotes, but list all the authors in the bibliography. The first author's name is given in the bibliography as last name, first name, but other authors are written as first name last name.
• Italicize the title of books, journals and websites. Titles of articles, chapters, unpublished sources and web pages within a website are placed within double quotation marks.
• In your bibliography, also include sources you have read but not cited, in addition to your footnotes/endnotes.
• The first time you cite a source give full details in the footnotes/endnotes. Subsequent entries of the same source can be abbreviated to the author's last name and the first few words of the title, plus a page number number.
• When citing internet addresses (URLs) and Digital Object Identifiers (DOI), the URL is given in full; the accessed date is placed before the URL; and DOIs should be used if they are available as they are a permanent locator, instead of URLs. If using a DOI, you do not need to give the accessed date.
• Formatting: The first line of footnotes should be indented by 1/2 inch (1.3cm) and subsequent lines are not indented. For the bibliography the first line of references is not indented, but the second and subsequent lines have a hanging indent of 1/2 inch (1.3cm).

EXAMPLE : Footnotes

1. Zadie Smith,  Swing Time  (New York: Penguin Press, 2016), 315–16. 2. Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman,  A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life  (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2015), 12.

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• Chicago Citation Generator

Free Chicago Citation Generator

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A Chicago Citation Generator is a software tool that automatically generates citations and bibliographies in the Chicago citation style.

Citations can be created by entering an identifying piece of information about a source, such as a website URL, book ISBN, or journal article DOI to the generator. The generator will then create a fully formatted citation in the Chicago style containing all the required information for the source.

Chicago style citations are used to give credit to the authors of supporting work that has been used to write an academic paper or article.

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The Chicago style is primarily used by college and university students studying business, history, social sciences, the fine arts, amongst others.

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Citing sources is often an afterthought in paper writing because formatting citations correctly is time-consuming and confusing, and staying on top of source management manually can be hard. A citation generator makes this easier by:

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⚙️ How do I use MyBib's Chicago Citation Generator?

To get started, scroll up back up to the tool at the top of the page and follow these steps:

• Select the type of source you want to cite
• If it's a website, enter the URL in the search bar. If it's a book, enter the ISBN or title. If it's a journal article, enter the DOI or title. For all other sources, enter the details of the source into the form
• Select the search result that most closely represents the source you referred to in your paper
• Shazam! The generator will automatically format the citation in the Chicago style. Copy it into your paper, or save it to your bibliography to download later
• Repeat for every other citation you need to create for your paper

MyBib supports the following for Chicago style:

Daniel is a qualified librarian, former teacher, and citation expert. He has been contributing to MyBib since 2018.

Chicago/Turabian Citation

• Citing a Book

Basic Chapter Citation

Example chapter of a book, example chapter of an ebook, example foreword/preface of a book.

• Citing an Article
• Citing a Webpage
• Additional Resources

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Footnote/Endnote

Author First M. Last Name, "Chapter or Essay Title," in  Book Title , ed. First M. Last Name (Place of Publication: Publisher, date), page cited.

Short version: Author Last Name, "Chapter or Essay Title (shortened if necessary)," page cited.

Bibliography

Author Last Name, First M.   "Chapter or Essay Title."  In  Book Title ,   edited by First M. Last Name,  page range.   Place of Publication: Publisher, date.

Eric Charry, "Music and Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa," in  The History of Islam in Africa , eds. Nehwmia Levtzion and Randall L. Pouwels  (Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2000), 550.

Short version: Charry, "Music and Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa," 550.

Charry, Eric.   "Music and Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa."  In  The History of Islam in Africa ,   edited by Nehwmia Levtzion and Randall L. Pouwels,   545-573.   Athens, OH: Ohio  University Press, 2000.

Alan Liu, "Where is Cultural Criticism in the Digital Humanities?," in  Debates in the Digital Humanities , ed. Matthew K. Gold (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013), accessed January 23, 2014,  http://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/debates/text/20. 

Short version: Liu, "Where is Cultural Criticism."

Liu, Alan.  "Where is Cultural Criticism in the Digital Humanities?."   In  Debates in the Digital Humanities ,   edited by Matthew K. Gold.   Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013.   A ccessed January 23, 2014.   http://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/debates/text/20. 

Strobe Talbott, foreword to   Beyond Tianamen: The Politics of U.S.-China Relations 1989-2000 , by Robert L. Suettinger (Washington, D. C.: Brookings Institute Press, 2003), x.

Short version: Talbott, foreword, x.

Talbott, Strobe.   Foreword to   Beyond Tianamen: The Politics of U.S.-China Relations 1989-2000 ,   by Robert L. Suettinger,  ix-x.   Washington, D. C.: Brookings Institute  Press, 2003.

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Author-Date: Sample Citations

Go to Notes and Bibliography: Sample Citations

The following examples illustrate the author-date system. Each example of a reference list entry is accompanied by an example of a corresponding in-text citation. For more details and many more examples, see chapters 13 and 14 of The Chicago Manual of Style . For examples of the same citations using the notes and bibliography system, follow the Notes and Bibliography link above.

Reference list entries (in alphabetical order)

Note that a place of publication is no longer required in book citations (see CMOS 14.30 ).

Binder, Amy J., and Jeffrey L. Kidder. 2022. The Channels of Student Activism: How the Left and Right Are Winning (and Losing) in Campus Politics Today . University of Chicago Press.

Yu, Charles. 2020. Interior Chinatown . Pantheon Books.

In-text citations

(Binder and Kidder 2022, 117–18)

(Yu 2020, 45)

For more details and examples, see CMOS 13.105–10 and 14.2–62 .

Chapter or other part of an edited book

The page range for a chapter in a book is no longer required in reference list entries (see CMOS 14.8 ). In the text, cite specific pages as applicable.

Reference list entry

Doyle, Kathleen. 2023. “The Queen Mary Psalter.” In The Book by Design: The Remarkable Story of the World’s Greatest Invention , edited by P. J. M. Marks and Stephen Parkin. University of Chicago Press.

In-text citation

(Doyle 2023, 64)

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

Marks, P. J. M., and Stephen Parkin, eds. 2023. The Book by Design: The Remarkable Story of the World’s Greatest Invention . University of Chicago Press.

(Marks and Parkin 2023)

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.8–14 . 

Translated book

In the following example, note the absence of a comma after “Liu” in the author’s name, which follows Eastern order (family name first) rather than Western order (family name last). See CMOS 13.75 for more details.

Liu Xinwu. 2021. The Wedding Party . Translated by Jeremy Tiang. Amazon Crossing.

(Liu 2021, 279)

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.5–7 .

Book Consulted in an Electronic Format

To cite a book consulted online, include either a URL or the name of the database in the reference list entry. For downloadable ebook formats, name the format; if no fixed page numbers are available, cite a section title or a chapter or other number in the text (or simply omit). For citing a place rather than a publisher for books published before 1900 (as in the Moby-Dick example below), see CMOS 14.31 .

Borel, Brooke. 2023. The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking . 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press. EBSCOhost.

Kurland, Philip B., and Ralph Lerner, eds. 1987. The Founders’ Constitution . University of Chicago Press. https://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/.

Melville, Herman. 1851. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale . New York. https://melville.electroniclibrary.org/moby-dick-side-by-side.

Roy, Arundhati. 2008. The God of Small Things . Random House. Kindle.

(Borel 2023, 92)

(Kurland and Lerner 1987, chap. 10, doc. 19)

(Melville 1851, 627)

(Roy 2008, chap. 6)

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.58–62 .

Journal article

Journal articles are usually cited by volume and issue number. In the reference list, include the page range for the whole article. In the text, cite specific page numbers. For articles consulted online, include a URL (preferably one based on a DOI; see CMOS 13.7 ) in the reference list entry; alternatively, list the name of the database.

Dittmar, Emily L., and Douglas W. Schemske. 2023. “Temporal Variation in Selection Influences Microgeographic Local Adaptation.” American Naturalist 202 (4): 471–85. https://doi.org/10.1086/725865.

Hebert, B. T. 1925. “The Island of Bolsö: A Study of Norwegian Life.” Sociological Review 17 (4): 307–13. EBSCOhost.

Kwon, Hyeyoung. 2022. “Inclusion Work: Children of Immigrants Claiming Membership in Everyday Life.” American Journal of Sociology 127 (6): 1818–59. https://doi.org/10.1086/720277.

Lindquist, Benjamin. 2023. “The Art of Text-to-Speech.” Critical Inquiry 50 (2): 225–51. https://doi.org/10.1086/727651.

(Dittmar and Schemske 2023, 480)

(Hebert 1925, 310)

(Kwon 2022, 1842–43)

(Lindquist 2023, 230)

Journal articles often list many authors, especially in the sciences. For works by two authors, list both in the reference list and the text (as in the Dittmar and Schemske example above). For three or more authors, list up to six in the reference list; for more than six authors, list the first three, followed by “et al.” (“and others”). In the text, list only the first, followed by “et al.” Note that the Dror example below (which credits eighteen authors) includes an article ID in place of a page range; see CMOS 14.71 for details.

Dror, Amiel A., Nicole Morozov, Amani Daoud, et al. 2022. “Pre-Infection 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 Levels and Association with Severity of COVID-19 Illness.” PLOS ONE 17 (2): e0263069. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263069.

(Dror et al. 2022, 10–11)

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.67–86 .

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 the text but are omitted from a reference list entry. For articles consulted online, include a URL or the name of the database.

Blum, Dani. 2023. “Are Flax Seeds All That?” New York Times , December 13. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/13/well/eat/flax-seeds-benefits.html.

Klein, Elana. 2023. “Meet Flip, the Viral Video App Giving Away Free Stuff.” Wired , December 21. https://www.wired.com/story/flip-viral-video-app-shopping-free-stuff/.

Mead, Rebecca. 2023. “Terms of Aggrievement.” New Yorker , December 18.

Pegoraro, Rob. 2007. “Apple’s iPhone Is Sleek, Smart and Simple.” Washington Post , July 5, 2007. LexisNexis Academic.

(Blum 2023)

(Klein 2023)

(Mead 2023, 21)

(Pegoraro 2007)

Readers’ comments are cited in the text but omitted from a reference list.

(Michelle [Reno], December 15, 2023, comment on Blum 2023)

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.87–88 (magazines) and 14.89–98 (newspapers and news sites).

Book review

Jacobs, Alexandra. 2023. “The Muchness of Madonna.” Review of Madonna: A Rebel Life , by Mary Gabriel. New York Times , October 8.

(Jacobs 2023)

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.100 .

Interviews are usually cited under the name of the interviewee rather than the interviewer.

Buolamwini, Joy. 2023. “ ‘If You Have a Face, You Have a Place in the Conversation About AI,’ Expert Says.” Interview by Tonya Mosley. Fresh Air , NPR, November 28. Audio, 37:58. https://www.npr.org/2023/11/28/1215529902/unmasking-ai-facial-recognition-technology-joy-buolamwini.

(Buolamwini 2023)

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.108 , 14.109 , and 14.110 .

Thesis or dissertation

For dissertations consulted via ProQuest; include the identification number in parenthesis.

Blajer de la Garza, Yuna. 2019. “A House Is Not a Home: Citizenship and Belonging in Contemporary Democracies.” PhD diss., University of Chicago. ProQuest (13865986).

(Blajer de la Garza 2019, 66–67)

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.113 .

It is often sufficient simply to describe web pages and other website content in the text (“As of November 15, 2023, Google’s privacy policy stated . . .”). If a more formal citation is needed, it may be styled like the examples below.

Google. 2023. “Privacy Policy.” Privacy & Terms. Effective November 15. https://policies.google.com/privacy.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2023. “Wikipedia: Manual of Style.” Last modified December 19, at 21:54 (UTC). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style.

(Google 2023)

(Wikimedia Foundation 2022)

If a source does not list a date of publication or revision, use n.d. (for “no date”) in place of the year and include an access date. Alternatively, if a publicly available archive of the content has been saved using the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine or similar service, the link for that version may be cited.

Yale University. n.d. “About Yale: Yale Facts.” Accessed March 8, 2022. https://www.yale.edu/about-yale/yale-facts.

Yale University. n.d. “About Yale: Yale Facts.” Archived March 8, 2022, at https://web.archive.org/web/20220308143337/https://www.yale.edu/about-yale/yale-facts.

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.104 .

Social media content

Citations of content posted to social media can usually be limited to the text (as in the first example below). If a more formal citation is needed, a reference list entry may be appropriate. In place of a title, quote up to the first 280 characters of the post. Comments are cited in reference to the original post.

The Instagram post included a photo of the president delivering a eulogy at the National Cathedral and referred to O’Connor as “gracious and principled” (@potus, December 19, 2023).

Chicago Manual of Style. 2015. “Is the world ready for singular they? We thought so back in 1993.” Facebook, April 17, 2015. https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoManual/posts/10152906193679151.

NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb). 2022. “👀 Sneak a peek at the deepest & sharpest infrared image of the early universe ever taken—all in a day’s work for the Webb telescope. (Literally, capturing it took less than a day!).” Twitter (now X), July 11. https://twitter.com/NASAWebb/status/1546621080298835970.

(Chicago Manual of Style 2015)

(NASA Webb Telescope 2022)

(Michele Truty, April 17, 2015, 1:09 p.m., comment on Chicago Manual of Style 2015)

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.106 .

Video or podcast

Unless it is clear from context, “video” or the like may be specified in the reference list.

Cowan, Vaitea. 2022. “How Green Hydrogen Could End the Fossil Fuel Era.” TED Talk, Vancouver, BC, April. Video, 9 min., 15 sec. https://www .ted .com /talks /vaitea _cowan _how _green _hydrogen _could _end _the _fossil _fuel _era.

Ober, Lauren, host. 2022. The Loudest Girl in the World . Season 1, episode 2, “Goodbye, Routine; Hello, Meltdown!” Pushkin Industries, September 13. Podcast, 41 min., 37 sec. https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/loudest-girl-in-the-world.

Oliver, Eric. 2022. “Why So Many Americans Believe in So Many ‘Crazy’ Things.” Moderated by Andrew McCall. Virtual lecture, February 23. Posted March 21, 2022, by University of Chicago. YouTube, 1:01:45. https://youtu.be/hfq7AnCF5bg.

(Cowan 2022, at 6:09–17)

(Ober 2022)

(Oliver 2022)

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.167–69 .

Personal communication

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

(Sam Gomez, Facebook direct message to author, August 1, 2024)

For more details and examples, see CMOS 14.111 .

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Chicago Citation Generator

Don't let plagiarism errors spoil your paper, the ultimate guide to citing anything in chicago style, everything you ever needed to know about citing sources from the chicago manual of style, the basics of citing in chicago style.

The Chicago Manual of Style, currently in its 16th edition, was created to help researchers properly cite their sources. There are two types of referencing styles in Chicago: 1) Notes and Bibliography and 2) Author-Date.

This guide displays the Notes and Bibliography style of referencing and is not associated with the official publishers of the style.

Need help with other styles? Our thorough MLA format and APA format guides are available for all of your writing and citing needs!

Creating a Bibliography in Chicago Style

The bibliography is a list of all the sources used in the paper. The list includes the important publication details of the sources. The bibliography must also follow this format:

• The citation list or bibliography must be single spaced.
• The last names of the authors must be arranged alphabetically.
• The second line of the source must be indented.

Examples of Citing Different Sources in Chicago Style

Generally, Chicago citations require:

• Title of book/article
• Title of newspaper/journal
• Publication year
• Publication month and date
• City of publication
• Date of access
• Page numbers
• URL or Name of Database

How to Create Footnotes and Endnotes for Chicago Style

If you’re wondering how to format Chicago in-text citations, Notes and Bibliography formatting requires writers to use footnotes and endnotes. These footnotes and endnotes acknowledge the different sources used in the work.

When a source is used in a research paper, a roman numeral is placed at the end of the borrowed information as superscript (it is smaller than the normal line of text and raised). That number correlates with a footnote or endnote.

• Footnotes are found at the bottom of the page
• Endnotes are added at the end of the chapter or project
• A footnote or endnote contains the complete citation information
• The matching number in the footnote or endnote is normal sized and not raised
• It is up to the discretion of the writer to either place the citation at the bottom of the page where the superscript is placed (a footnote) or to place all citations together at the end of the work (endnotes)

One would wonder, "Would young Einstein be characterized as belonging somewhere on the autism spectrum? Would Erdos have been given a diagnosis of A.D.H.D.?" ¹

Chicago style footnotes are placed at the bottom of the page:

• Silver, Nate. "Beautiful Minds." The New York Times. July 13, 2013. Accessed August 04, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/books/review/the-boy-who-loved-math-and-on-a-beam-of-light.html?ref=books&_r=0 .

If a source is used more than once in a research project, follow these guidelines:

• When used again, instead of writing out the complete citation for a second time in the footnote, only include: the author’s last name, the title or a phrase for the title (if it’s more than four words), and the page number(s) that were used. This will reduce the bulk of citation information in the paper.
• Cohen, Micah, "Rubio is Losing Support Among Republican Voters." FiveThirtyEight. July 09, 2013. Accessed August 04, 2015. http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/rubio-is-losing-support-among-republican-voters/
• Wolf, Leon H. "Marco Rubio's Campaign Must Adapt or Die." RedState. August 04, 2015. Accessed August 04, 2015. http://www.redstate.com/2015/08/04/marco-rubios-campaign-must-adapt-die/ .
• Cohen, "Rubio Losing Support"

If a source is used consecutively, follow these guidelines for shortened citation and ibid :

If you are citing the same source continually throughout your text, use a shortened version of the full citation in your footnotes.

Previous versions of the style used the abbreviation “ibid,” short for “ibidem.” Ibidem is a Latin word that means “in the same place.” It was used when referring to a source that was just cited within a document (without other sources in between). Writers would use ibid instead of writing out the source information again. This was meant to save space since it’s fewer characters than citing the source again.

In the current version of Chicago, the 17th version, ibid is accepted but not preferred. This is because ibid requires readers to go back and search for the previous source cited, an inconvenience which outweighs the benefits of shortening the citation. Also, shortened citations are compact, so using ibid doesn’t always save line space.

Shortened citations

The first mention of a source should include all relevant information (e.g., full author name(s), full title, publisher, date published, etc.).

Subsequent mentions should be a shortened version using this formula:

Last Name, Title of the Work , page number(s).

Mentions after the shortened form can use the abbreviated formula:

Last Name, page number(s).

If there are two or three authors, list their full names in the order they appear in the source. If there are more than three authors, list the first author’s name followed by “et al.”

Examples of using shortened citations (preferred format in the 17th Edition):

• Philip R. Cateora et al., International Marketing (New York: McGraw Hill, 2020), 292-294.
• Cateora et al., International Marketing , 28-29.
• Cateora et al., 28-29.
• Cateora et al., 377.

Long titles that are more than four words are usually shortened. Focus on keeping key words from the title and omitting any beginning “a” or “the.” Examples:

• And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street = Mulberry Street
• Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe = Fried Green Tomatoes

If you are using the discontinued ibid notation, here are a few guidelines:

• When the same source is used consecutively, instead of typing in the citation information again, use the abbreviation “ibid.” Add the page numbers immediately following.
• If the same source AND same page number are used consecutively, simply write “Ibid.”

Same example above, but using ibid:

• Philip R. Cateora et al, International Marketing (New York: McGraw Hill, 2020), 292-294.

Another example with two sources that were mentioned earlier in the text:

• Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See (New York: Scribner, 2014), 82-84.
• Tatiana de Rosnay, Sarah's Key (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2007), 24-27.
• Ibid., 133-134.
• Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See , 397-401.
• Ibid., 405.
• Ibid., 411.

For further clarification on the Chicago in-text citation style of footnotes and endnotes, consult the Chicago Manual of Style's website . This site is full of helpful pages, so if you’re tempted to head to Google to type in, “in-text citations Chicago,” take a peek at the official site first.

Creating Your Citations in Chicago Style

As mentioned, when you're following The Chicago Manual of Style, you'll be required to create a list of all sources used in your paper. Even though full bibliographic information can be found in the footnotes and endnotes, it is still acceptable, and often required by instructors, to create a bibliography. The bibliography is placed at the end of an assignment.

How to Cite a Print Book in Chicago Style

In the footnotes and endnotes:

First name Last name, Title of Book (Publication Place: Publisher, Year), page range.

In the bibliography:

Last name, First name. Title of book . Publication Place: Publisher, Year.

Example of Chicago Style for Books with One Author

Sam Staggs, Born to Be Hurt: The Untold Story of Imitation of Life (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2009), 84.

Staggs, Sam. Born to Be Hurt: The Untold Story of Imitation of Life. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2009.

Don’t forget, Citation Machine allows you to generate Chicago citations for books quickly and accurately.

Example of Chicago Citation for Books with Multiple Authors

Ella Shohat and Robert Stam, Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media (London: Routledge,1994) 24-28.

Shohat, Ella, and Robert Stam. Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media . London: Routledge, 1994.

How to Cite Chapters or Articles from a Book in Chicago Style

First name, Last name of Chapter Author, “Chapter or Article Title,” in Book Title , ed. First Name Last Name of Editor (Publication Place: Publisher, Year), page range.

Last name, First name. "Chapter Title." In Book Title , edited by First Name Last Name, page range. Publication Place: Publisher, Year.

Looking for a simple and easy-to-use Chicago citation maker? Head to our homepage and start building your Chicago format references with ease!

Example of Chicago Citation for Chapters in a Book

Laura Aymerich-Franch and Maddalena Fedele, "Student's Privacy Concerns on the Use of Social Media in Higher Education," in Cutting-Edge Technologies and Social Media Use in Higher Education, ed. Vledlena Benson and Stephanie Morgan (Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference, 2014), 35-36.

Aymerich-Franch, Laura, and Maddalena Fedele. "Student's Privacy Concerns on the Use of Social Media in Higher Education." In Cutting-Edge Technologies and Social Media Use in Higher Education, edited by Vledlena Benson and Stephanie Morgan, 35-36. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference, 2014.

How to Cite Online E-books in Chicago Style

When citing e-books, include the URL or the name of the database. The URL or database name should be the last part of the citation.

First name Last name, Title of e-book (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year), page range, URL, Database Name.

Last name, First name. Title of Book. Publication Place: Publisher, Year. URL, Name of Database.

Example of Chicago Citation for E-Books

Michael J. Baker, The Marketing Book (Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2002), 89, https://htbiblio.yolasite.com/resources/Marketing%20Book.pdf .

Baker, Michael J. The Marketing Book. Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2002. https://htbiblio.yolasite.com/resources/Marketing%20Book.pdf .

If you understand how to structure your references easily, thanks to this thorough guide, and are looking for help with the written portion of your paper, look no further! There are tons of Citation Machine grammar guides to help you write with ease. Here’s just one of our many useful pages: Positive & Negative Adjectives .

How to Cite E-books in Chicago Style E-books from a Kindle or E-book Reader

If there aren’t any clearly labeled page numbers, use chapter numbers or titles, section numbers or titles, or any other established numbering system in the text. It’s also acceptable to omit page information from Chicago style citations if there aren’t clearly labeled page numbers.

First name Last name, Title of the Book (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year), page range, Type of E-reader

Last name, First name. Title of book . Publication Place: Publisher, Year. Type of e-reader.

Example of Chicago Citation for Kindle or E-book Reader

Corina Bomann, The Moonlight Garden (Washington: AmazonCrossing, 2016), chap. 8, Kindle.

Bomann, Corina. The Moonlight Garden . Washington: AmazonCrossing, 2016. Kindle.

How to Cite Print Journals in Chicago Style

First name Last name, "Title of Article," Journal Title Volume Number, No. of issue (Year): Page range.

Chicago style citation in the bibliography:

Last name, First name. "Title of Article," Journal Title Volume Number, No. of issue (Year): Page range.

Example of Chicago Citation for Print Journals

Damien O'Brien and Brian Fitzgerald, "Digital Copyright Law in a YouTube World," Internet Law Bulletin 9, no. 6 (2007): 71-74.

O'Brien, Damien, and Brian Fitzgerald, "Digital Copyright Law in a YouTube World." Internet Law Bulletin 9, no. 6 (2007): 71-74.

If you’re come this far and you’re still searching for in-text citation Chicago information, remember, this style uses footnotes and endnotes! Scroll up to find out more!

How to Cite Online or Database Journals in Chicago Style

First name Last name, "Article Title," Journal Title Volume Number, Issue No.(Year): Page range. URL or Name of Database.

Last name, First name. "Article Title." Journal Title Volume Number, Issue No. (Year): Page range. URL or Name of Database.

Example of Chicago Citation for Online or Database Journals

Trine Schreiber, "Conceptualizing Students’ Written Assignments in the Context of Information Literacy and Schatzki’s Practice Theory," Journal of Documentation 70, no. 3 (2014): 346-363. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-01-2013-0002 .

Schreiber, Trine. "Conceptualizing Students’ Written Assignments in the Context of Information Literacy and Schatzki’s Practice Theory." Journal of Documentation 70, no. 3 (2014): 346-363. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-01-2013-0002 .

Our Citation Machine Chicago citation generator helps you create your references in just a few clicks. Give it a whirl and watch the magic unfold!

How to Cite Print Magazines in Chicago Style

First name Last name, "Article Title," Magazine Title, Full Date, page range.

Last name, First name. "Article Title." Magazine Title, Full Date.

Example of Chicago Citation for Print Magazines

George J. Church, "Sunny Mood at Midsummer: Americans Take a Brighter View of Reagan," _Time, July 18, 1983, 56-59.

Church, George J. "Sunny Mood at Midsummer: Americans Take a Brighter View of Reagan" Time, July 18, 1983.

How to Cite Online Magazines in Chicago Style

First name, Last name, "Article Title," Title of Magazine, Full Date, URL.

Chicago style bibliography structure:

Last name, First name. "Article Title" Magazine Title, Full Date, URL.

Example of Chicago Citation for Online Magazines

Bill Donahue. “King of the Mountains,” Backpacker, September/October 2019, 76-82, http://backpacker.eoncontent.ebscohost.com/2226647#&pageSet=39

Donahue, Bill. “King of the Mountains.” Backpacker, September/October 2019. http://backpacker.eoncontent.ebscohost.com/2226647#&pageSet=39

How to Cite a Web Page in Chicago Style

Creating a footnote, endnote, or bibliographic information for web content isn’t always necessary. It’s acceptable to simply mention the source in the written portion of the paper. For example, “The Marco Polo page on History’s website, last updated on March 6, 2019, describes his travels along the Silk Road while....” Include formal Chicago citation style references if you or your professor prefers to do so.

A bit more:

• If the website page is missing a date of publication, include the date the source was last modified or accessed in the footnote and endnote.
• If the website page is missing the name of the author, begin the footnote with the “Title of the Article or Page.”

First name Last name of Author, "Title of Article or Page," Title of Website, Date published or last modified or accessed, URL.

Last name, First name or Organization Name. "Title of Article or Page." Title of Website. Date published or last modified or accessed. URL.

Figuring out how to style web references can be tricky, but thanks to our Chicago citation machine, we’ve made the whole process much easier for you. Try it out!

Example of Chicago Citation for a Web Page

Sujan Patel, "15 Must-have Marketing Tools for 2015," Entrepreneur, January 12, 2015. http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/241570 .

Patel, Sujan. “15 Must-have Marketing Tools for 2015.” Entrepreneur. January 12, 2015. http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/241570 .

Don’t forget, Citation Machine allows you to generate Chicago citations for websites quickly and accurately.

How to Cite The Bible or Religious Texts in Chicago Style

Bible references are often displayed in the text of a paper (similar to web content) or in footnotes and endnotes. Formal bible references in bibliographies are not necessary.

Abbreviated Title of Book, Chapter:Verse (Edition).

Example of Chicago Citation for Bible

2 Cor. 11:7 (New Standard Version).

If you’re looking for other resources to help you with the written portion of your paper, we have quite a few handy grammar guides. Two of our favorites? Adjectives starting with X and List of verbs .

How to Cite Blogs in Chicago Style

*According to the 17th edition of the manual, blogs are not typically cited in bibliographies. They are generally cited in the footnotes/endnotes section. Of course, if the writer or professor prefers a full bibliographic reference, one can be created.

Style notes and bibliographic references the same way as you would an online newspaper, but include (blog) in parentheses immediately following the title of the blog.

First name Last name, "Title of Blog Post," Title of Blog (blog), Title of Larger Blog, if part of a larger one, Month Day Year of post, URL.

Last Name, First Name. "Title of the Blog." Name of Blog Site (blog). Title of Larger Blog, if part of a larger one, Month Day Year of post. URL.

Example of Chicago Citation for Blogs

Shannon Miller, "Valentine Ideas Using Digital Tools, Hands, Creativity, and a Little Love for Padlet," The Library Voice (blog), January 20, 2016, http://vanmeterlibraryvoice.blogspot.com/2016/01/valentine-ideas-using-digital-tools.html .

Miller, Shannon. "Valentine Ideas Using Digital Tools, Hands, Creativity, and a Little Love for Padlet." The Library Voice, January 20, 2016. http://vanmeterlibraryvoice.blogspot.com/2016/01/valentine-ideas-using-digital-tools.html .

Chicago style bibliographies aren’t as complicated as they seem, especially when you have a generator to do the work for you. Head to our homepage and try ours out!

How to Cite TV Broadcasts in Chicago Style

Title of Series , episode number, “Title of Episode,” directed by First Name Last Name, written by First Name Last Name, featuring First Names Last Names of actors, aired Month Day, Year, on Station Name, URL.

Last Name, First Name, dir. Title of Series . Season Number, episode number, “Title of Episode.” Aired Month Day, Year, on Station Name. URL.

Example of Chicago Citation for Broadcasts

Riverdale , episode 15, “American Dreams,” directed by Gabriel Correra, written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, featuring KJ Apa, Lili Reinhart, and Cole Sprouse, aired March 13, 2019, on CW.

Bibliography Chicago style:

Correra, Gabriel, dir. Riverdale . Season 3, episode 15, “American Dreams.” Aired March 13, 2019, on CW.

How to Cite a Case Study in Chicago Style

First name Last name. Title of Case Study. (Publication Place: Publisher, Year).

Last name, First name. Title of Case Study.

Example of Chicago Citation for Case Study

Peter Finn. Disulfiram.

Finn, Peter. Disulfiram.

How to Cite Conference Proceedings in Chicago Style

First Name Last Name, “Title of Conference Paper” (format, Title of Conference, Location, Full Date).

Last name, First name. “Title of Conference Paper.” Format presented at Title of Conference, Location, Date. URL.

Example of Chicago Citation for Conference Paper

Craig Myerson, “Historical Markings in New Castle, Delaware” (Power-Point presentation, The University of Delaware, Newark, DE, June 18, 2019.

Myerson, Craig. “Historical Markings in New Castle, Delaware.” Power-point presentation presented at The University of Delaware, Newark, DE, June 18, 2019.

How to Cite Court or Legal Cases in Chicago Style

The 17th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style recommends referring to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation , or the ALWD Guide to Legal Citation to learn how to create court or legal references. Both guides are widely used by those in legal fields and have become the standard for referencing legal cases.

The examples below reflect the format found in The Bluebook .

Legal cases are rarely documented in bibliographies, usually only in notes.

Plaintiff v. Defendant, Court Case Number (Abbreviated Name of the Court. Year).

Example of Chicago Citation for Legal Cases

Michael Clum v. Jackson National Life Insurance Co., 10-000126-CL (Ingham Cty. 2011).

How to Cite Dictionary and Encyclopedia Entries in Chicago Style

According to The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition, well-known reference books, including major dictionaries and encyclopedias, are normally cited in notes rather than bibliographies. Lesser known reference books can be cited in the bibliography.

The abbreviation "s.v." means sub verbo , which is Latin for "under the word."

Chicago style formatting in the footnotes and endnotes:

Name of dictionary or encyclopedia , Numbered ed. (Year), s.v. “term.”

If found online:

Name of dictionary or encyclopedia , s.v. "term," accessed Month Day Year, url.

Last name, First name of Author. Title of Dictionary or Encyclopedia . Numbered ed. Location of Publisher: Publisher, Year.

Example of Chicago Citation for Dictionary and Encyclopedia Entries

Encyclopedia Britannica , s.v. “pressure,” accessed September 15, 2019, https://www.britannica.com/science/pressure .

Gover, Emily. Encyclopedia of Birds . 4th ed. New York: Chegg, 2016.

How to Cite Dissertations in Chicago Style

First name Last name, "Title of Dissertation" (type of paper, school, year), url.

Last name, First name. "Title of Dissertation." Type of Paper, School, Year. URL or Database(Identification Number).

Example of Chicago Citation for Dissertations

Michele Kirschenbaum, "Young Students' Online Searching Capabilities" (master's thesis, Drexel University, 2009).

Kirschenbaum, Michele. "Young Students' Online Searching Capabilities." Master's thesis, Drexel University, 2009.

How to Cite DVDs, Video, and Film in Chicago Style

Title , directed by First Name Last name (Year; City, State Abbrev: Producer), Format.

Last Name, First Name, dir. Title . Year; City, State Abbrev: Producer, Year. Format.

Example of Chicago Citation for Film, DVDs, or Videos

_Home Lone , directed by Chris Columbus (1990; Los Angeles, CA: 20th Century Fox), DVD.

Columbus, Chris, dir. Home Alone . 1990; Los Angeles, CA: 20th Century Fox. DVD.

Don’t forget, Citation Machine allows you to generate Chicago citations for films quickly and accurately.

How to Cite Facebook Pages in Chicago Style

Title of Facebook Page, “Text of Post,” Facebook, Month Day, Year, URL.

Title of Facebook Page. “Text of Post.” Facebook, Month Day, Year. URL.

Example of Chicago Citation for Facebook Post

Awakenings, “Maceo Plex gave us goosebumps during Awakenings Festival! We can't wait to hear what he has in store during Maceo Plex x Lone Romantic | Awakenings ADE Elementenstraat on October 19:awak.enin.gs/2KMxDCH,” Facebook, September 12, 2019, https://www.facebook.com/pg/awakenings/posts/?ref=page_internal .

Awakenings. “Maceo Plex gave us goosebumps during Awakenings Festival! We can't wait to hear what he has in store during Maceo Plex x Lone Romantic | Awakenings ADE Elementenstraat on October 19:awak.enin.gs/2KMxDCH.” Facebook, September 12, 2019. https://www.facebook.com/pg/awakenings/posts/?ref=page_internal .

How to Cite Government Publications in Chicago Style

Title of Publication , prepared by Organization (City, State Abbrev, Year).

Firm/Department. Title of Publication . City, State Abbrev, Year.

Example of Chicago Citation for Government Publication

Audit of the Federal Bureau of Prisons Annual Financial Statements Fiscal Year 2014 , prepared by The Department of Justice (Washington, DC, 2014).

Department of Justice. Audit of the Federal Bureau of Prisons Annual Financial Statements Fiscal Year 2014 . Washington, DC, 2014.

How to Cite Interviews in Chicago Style

Published Interviews are treated in Chicago format style like an article in a magazine or a newspaper. Use one of those formats to cite your interview.

How to Cite an E-mail in Chicago Style

According to The Chicago Manual of Style , 17th edition, personal communications, such as letters, e-mails, text messages, and phone calls are usually referenced in the footnotes and endnotes or explained in the text of the paper. They are rarely listed in the Chicago style bibliography. In addition, an e-mail address belonging to an individual should be omitted, unless given permission by its owner.

Individual's First name Last name, type of communication, Month Day Year of correspondence.

Example of Chicago Citation for E-mail

Michele Kirschenbaum, e-mail message to author, January 18, 2016.

How to Cite Musical Recordings in Chicago Style

"Title of Song," Year of recording date, Platform, track number on Artist’s Name, Album Title, Producer, Year.

Last name, First name of performer. Title of Album. Recorded Year. Producer.

Example of Chicago Citation for Recordings

"Sucker,” Spotify, track 1, on Jonas Brothers, Happiness Begins , Republic Records, 2019.

Jonas Brothers. Happiness Begins . 2019. Republic Records.

Still wondering how to style a Chicago in-text citation? Remember, this style uses footnotes and endnotes! Head to the top of this page to learn more!

How to Cite Online Videos in Chicago Style

First name Last name of individual who posted the video, “Title of Video,” Producer, published on Month Day, Year, Site video, Length, URL.

Last name, First name. "Title of Video." Producer. Published on Month Day, Year. Site video, Length. URL.

Example of Chicago Citation for Online Videos

“Habitats Work in Texas After Hurricane Harvey,” Habitat for Habitat for Humanity, published on September 11, 2019, YouTube video, 01:35, https://youtu.be/EPPALfWYGRo .

“Habitats Works in Texas After Hurricane Harvey.” Habitat for Humanity. Published on September 11, 2019. YouTube video, 01:35. https://youtu.be/EPPALfWYGRo .

How to Cite Images in Chicago Style

First name Last name, Title of Image , Year, format, Location, State, URL.

Last Name, First Name. Title of Image . Date. Format. Location, State, URL.

Example of Chicago Citation for Photographs and Images

Jerome Liebling, May Day , New York, 1948, photograph, The Jewish Museum, New York.

Liebling, Chris. May Day , New York. 1948. Photograph. The Jewish Museum, New York.

How to Cite Live Performances in Chicago Style

Since most live performances are not retrievable by the reader, simply refer to them in the text of the paper or in the notes, and omit it from the bibliography. If it’s a recorded performance, follow the Chicago style format for musical recordings.

Title of Play , music and lyrics by First Name Last Name, dir. First Name Last name, chor. Name of Theatre, City, State Abbrev, Date of Live Performance.

Example of Chicago Citation for Live Performances

The Lion King , Julie Taymor, dir. Garth Fagan, chor. Minskoff Theatre, New York, NY, August 8, 2019.

How to Cite Podcasts in Chicago Style

When citing podcasts in Chicago Style, treat it as an article in a periodical or a chapter in a book. If found online, include the url.

How to Cite Poems in Chicago Style

When citing poems in Chicago Style, cite it as you would a chapter in a book.

How to Cite Presentations and Lectures in Chicago Style

Follow the same guidelines as in the “Conference Papers” section above.

How to Cite Sheet Music in Chicago Style

According to the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, cite sheet music the same way as you cite books.

Once you’ve styled each and every reference, take a minute to run your paper through our plagiarism checker . It’s the perfect go-to resource when you’re in need of another set of eyes to scan your paper!

Updated January 8, 2020

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Wendy Ikemoto. Michele Kirschenbaum has been an awesome school librarian since 2006 and is an expert in citing sources. Wendy Ikemoto has a master’s degree in library and information science and has been working for Citation Machine since 2012.

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Web Sources

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This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

General Model for Citing Web Sources in Chicago Style

Titles for web sources:.

The title of a website that is analogous to a traditionally printed work but does not have (and never had) a printed counterpart can be treated like titles of other websites. For example, Wikipedia can be treated as a website, rather than as a conventional encyclopedia. This is a departure from previous editions of CMOS .

Titles of websites should follow headline-style capitalization and are usually set in roman without quotation marks. Sections of a website, such as a specific header, an individual page, a single blog entry, etc. should be written in roman with quotation marks. There are, however, some exceptions: titles of blogs are set in italics and titles of books, journals, television shows, movies, and other types of works should be treated the same whether cited as a print version or an online version. For example, when citing the website of the television news station CNN , the title maintains italics. Furthermore, in cases such as this, when a website does not have a distinctive title, it can be cited based on the entity responsible for the website, for instance, CNN online. If in doubt regarding whether to use roman or italics, roman is the safer choice.

Authors for Web Sources:

The author of a piece of web content is often not immediately clear. If a name is given, use the name as you would in any other source. If the content is published under a screen name, internet handle, or pseudonym, and the author’s real name is not available, use this in place of the author’s name. You may also use the name of the publishing organization when the webpage has no listed author but is associated with some sort of corporation, association, or professional group. When a web page's author cannot be determined and there is no clear publishing organization, simply list the title first. Use the first letter of the first word in the title that is not an article (i.e., "a," "an," or "the") to determine the entry's alphabetical order in the bibliography. So, for instance, if the title of the page is "A Guide to Baking Apple Pies," "G" should be treated as the first letter for alphabetization purposes.

Dates for Web Sources:

If the source you are citing has a clear publication date, use that as the source’s date, following standard guidelines. Otherwise, look for a revision date; many websites will make note of when they were last modified, edited, or revised. If you are using a date of revision rather than a date of publication, make that clear: “Last modified May 17, 2019”. You may use both at your discretion, in which case you should distinguish between the two: “Published April 26, 2019; last modified May 17, 2019”. If no date at all is available, use the date at which you accessed the source to get the data: “Accessed August 7, 2019”. If the site is modified again so that the data you retrieved originally is altered or removed, you should add a note to that effect in either the text or the citation, specifying “as of [date]” if possible.

Web Source Examples in Chicago Style

Footnote or endnote (n):, corresponding bibliographical entry (b):, electronic books and books consulted online.

Electronic books (e-books) are cited exactly as their print counterparts with the addition of a media marker at the end of the citation: Kindle, PDF, EPUB, etc. Books consulted online are also cited exactly as their print counterparts with the addition of a DOI (or URL) at the end of the citation. See also Books .

Note: Stable page numbers are not always available in electronic formats; therefore, you may include the number of chapter, section, or other easily recognizable locator instead.

Weston, Anthony. A Rulebook for Arguments , 4th ed. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2010. Kindle.

Online Periodicals (Journal, Magazine, and Newspaper Articles)

Online periodicals are cited exactly as their print counterparts with the addition of a DOI or URL at the end of the citation. See also Periodicals . Also keep in mind that while access dates are not required for formally published electronic sources (e.g., journal articles), they can be useful for informally published electronic sources or may be required for by some disciplines for all informally and formally published electronic sources. Access dates should be located immediately prior to the DOI or URL.

For four or more authors, list the first author in the note followed by et al. For the corresponding bibliographic entry, list all authors (up to 10).

Web Page with Known Author and Date

Web page with known date but without known author, web page with unknown publication date and author.

Blog titles should be set in italics and blog entries should be set in quotation marks. Generally, blog entries are cited only as notes. If you frequently cite a blog, however, then you may choose to include it in your bibliography.   Note: if the word “blog” is included in the title of the blog, there is no need to repeat it in parentheses after that title.

Social Media

Posts on social media will often be cited only as notes, though if you intend to discuss the content in depth, you should also put a citation in the bibliography. Since it is easy – and common – for social media posts to vanish with little notice, it is advisable to take a screenshot or similar record of anything you intend to cite, so that future edits or deletions will not undermine your work. Please note that all of this applies only to public content on social media. Private content, such as a direct message or a post in a restricted-membership group should be cited as a personal communication.

Social media posts do not typically have titles, so if a title is not provided, simply use the text of the post, retaining all original capitalization, spelling, etc., set in roman with quotation marks. Do not include more than 160 characters in this section of the citation; if the post is longer than that, cut it off (with an ellipsis) at a sensible point before the 160-character mark is reached. Citation of a social media post should fit the following format:

Ideally, a post should be cited by the author’s legal name and screen name / internet handle, but if there is no screen name available (e.g. on a Facebook post) or no legal name available (e.g. on a Twitter post), use whichever you do have. Also note that you needn’t include the format/medium if the post is only text, and you should only include the time stamp if it is relevant to your point or necessary to distinguish between multiple citations on the same day. Also, if you have quoted the full post in your main text, you can leave that out of your note citation.

Forums and Mailing Lists

Citations for internet forums or mailing lists are very similar to social media citations, with a few differences. Rather than the text of the post, use the thread title or subject heading as your citation title; also, the name of the list or forum should be added in addition to the host site or service.

At times, it may be necessary to cite a comment someone has made on a blog entry, online article, social media post, etc. Generally, the comment will only be cited as a note, not in the bibliography, unless there is some significant reason you feel it should be considered a source on its own, separate from the work to which it was responding. Citation of a comment need only contain the name of the commenter (and/or screen name, as above), the date the comment was made (time stamp optional), and a reference back to the work to which it is responding.

Online Multimedia

Online multimedia should be cited using the general format below. Note that whether the title of the work should be set in italics or in roman with quotation marks will vary from one medium to another, as noted near the beginning of this page. For additional guidelines on the citation of videos, songs, and multimedia in general, see Audiovisual Recordings and Other Multimedia.

When citing a podcast, set the podcast title in italics, and the episode title (and number, if it is included in the title of the episode) in roman with quotation marks. The date of publication should be included after the episode title rather than before the medium, as shown below.

Note: Inclusion of the word “podcast” follows the same guidelines as inclusion of the word “blog” above. “Podcast, MP3 audio” is used below, then, as an example placeholder and would not necessarily be required for this specific example.

Online Video

If you are citing a video from an online service, such as YouTube, you can follow the general multimedia guidelines, but you must include the URL. The medium for any sort of streaming video where the file type is not necessarily clear or relevant can be cited simply as “video”.

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• Introduction
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Evaluating sources

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Citing sources

Tools and resources, a quick guide to working with sources.

Working with sources is an important skill that you’ll need throughout your academic career.

It includes knowing how to find relevant sources, assessing their authority and credibility, and understanding how to integrate sources into your work with proper referencing.

This quick guide will help you get started!

Finding relevant sources

Sources commonly used in academic writing include academic journals, scholarly books, websites, newspapers, and encyclopedias. There are three main places to look for such sources:

• Research databases: Databases can be general or subject-specific. To get started, check out this list of databases by academic discipline . Another good starting point is Google Scholar .
• Your institution’s library: Use your library’s database to narrow down your search using keywords to find relevant articles, books, and newspapers matching your topic.
• Other online resources: Consult popular online sources like websites, blogs, or Wikipedia to find background information. Be sure to carefully evaluate the credibility of those online sources.

When using academic databases or search engines, you can use Boolean operators to refine your results.

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In academic writing, your sources should be credible, up to date, and relevant to your research topic. Useful approaches to evaluating sources include the CRAAP test and lateral reading.

CRAAP is an abbreviation that reminds you of a set of questions to ask yourself when evaluating information.

• Currency: Does the source reflect recent research?
• Relevance: Is the source related to your research topic?
• Authority: Is it a respected publication? Is the author an expert in their field?
• Accuracy: Does the source support its arguments and conclusions with evidence?
• Purpose: What is the author’s intention?

Lateral reading

Lateral reading means comparing your source to other sources. This allows you to:

• Verify evidence
• Contextualize information
• Find potential weaknesses

If a source is using methods or drawing conclusions that are incompatible with other research in its field, it may not be reliable.

Integrating sources into your work

Once you have found information that you want to include in your paper, signal phrases can help you to introduce it. Here are a few examples:

Following the signal phrase, you can choose to quote, paraphrase or summarize the source.

• Quoting : This means including the exact words of another source in your paper. The quoted text must be enclosed in quotation marks or (for longer quotes) presented as a block quote . Quote a source when the meaning is difficult to convey in different words or when you want to analyze the language itself.
• Paraphrasing : This means putting another person’s ideas into your own words. It allows you to integrate sources more smoothly into your text, maintaining a consistent voice. It also shows that you have understood the meaning of the source.
• Summarizing : This means giving an overview of the essential points of a source. Summaries should be much shorter than the original text. You should describe the key points in your own words and not quote from the original text.

Whenever you quote, paraphrase, or summarize a source, you must include a citation crediting the original author.

Citing your sources is important because it:

• Allows you to avoid plagiarism
• Establishes the credentials of your sources
• Backs up your arguments with evidence
• Allows your reader to verify the legitimacy of your conclusions

The most common citation styles are APA, MLA, and Chicago style. Each citation style has specific rules for formatting citations.

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Scribbr offers tons of tools and resources to make working with sources easier and faster. Take a look at our top picks:

• Citation Generator: Automatically generate accurate references and in-text citations using Scribbr’s APA Citation Generator, MLA Citation Generator , Harvard Referencing Generator , and Chicago Citation Generator .
• Plagiarism Checker : Detect plagiarism in your paper using the most accurate Turnitin-powered plagiarism software available to students.
• AI Proofreader: Upload and improve unlimited documents and earn higher grades on your assignments. Try it for free!
• Paraphrasing tool: Avoid accidental plagiarism and make your text sound better.
• Grammar checker : Eliminate pesky spelling and grammar mistakes.
• Summarizer: Read more in less time. Distill lengthy and complex texts down to their key points.
• AI detector: Find out if your text was written with ChatGPT or any other AI writing tool. ChatGPT 2 & ChatGPT 3 supported.
• Proofreading services : Have a human editor improve your writing.
• Citation checker: Check your work for citation errors and missing citations.
• Knowledge Base : Explore hundreds of articles, bite-sized videos, time-saving templates, and handy checklists that guide you through the process of research, writing, and citation.