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Chicago Citation Generator
Chicago 17th edition bibliography entries and the footnotes that go with them.
Paste a DOI, ISBN, or title
Enter the details yourself
Use this for a web page, a lecture, or anything the databases do not hold. A browser cannot read another site's page details, so a URL has to be filled in by hand.
Your reference list
Two systems, and how to tell which you need
Chicago runs two citation systems. Notes-bibliography uses numbered footnotes or endnotes with a bibliography at the back, and belongs to history, literature, and the arts. Author-date uses parenthetical citations and a reference list, and belongs to the sciences and social sciences; it looks much like APA.
This generator produces notes-bibliography, which is what a student told to "use Chicago" is almost always being asked for. If your handout shows parenthetical citations with years, you have been assigned author-date instead — check before you start.
The note and the bibliography entry differ
They are not the same string with different punctuation. A bibliography entry inverts the first author's name and separates elements with periods. A note keeps names in normal order, separates with commas, and ends with the specific page you are drawing on.
The first note for a source gives it in full. Later notes for the same source shorten to surname, short title, and page. This tool gives you the full first note and the bibliography entry.
How many authors get named
A bibliography lists up to ten authors in full. From eleven, it gives the first seven and then et al. A note is stricter: it names up to three, and from four gives the first followed by et al.
That difference catches people out, because the same source appears two different ways on the same page of a dissertation.
Where publication facts go
A book gives place, publisher, and year: Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016. In a bibliography those sit after the title separated by periods and a colon; in a note they go inside parentheses. A journal article puts the volume, then the issue after a comma, then the year in parentheses, then a colon and the pages.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Chicago notes-bibliography style?
The system that uses numbered footnotes or endnotes in the text with a full bibliography at the end. It is standard in history and much of the humanities.
How is a Chicago footnote different from the bibliography entry?
The note keeps the author's name in normal order, uses commas between elements, and ends with the page you are citing. The bibliography inverts the first name and uses periods.
How many authors before et al. in Chicago?
A bibliography names up to ten, then gives the first seven and et al. A note names up to three, then the first and et al.
Does Chicago use ibid.?
CMOS 17 discourages it. Use a shortened note instead: surname, short title, page number.
What is the difference between Chicago and Turabian?
Turabian is the student-focused adaptation of Chicago. The citation forms are the same; Turabian adds guidance on formatting papers and theses.
Should I use notes-bibliography or author-date?
Follow your department. Notes-bibliography suits history and the arts; author-date suits the sciences and reads much like APA.
Where does the DOI go in a Chicago citation?
At the end of the entry, written as a full https://doi.org/ link and closed with a period.