Chicago (notes and bibliography) · Encyclopedia Entry
How to cite an encyclopedia entry in Chicago (notes and bibliography)
An encyclopedia-entry citation credits one signed or unsigned entry inside a larger reference work. The classic mistakes are citing the whole encyclopedia when you used one entry, and treating a tertiary summary as if it were the primary research it summarises.
Worked example · Chicago (notes and bibliography)
Lovelace, Ada. “Grounded Theory.” In Encyclopedia of Example Research Methods, edited by Grace Hopper, 310–14. Example Press, 2023.
Rendered with the official Chicago (notes and bibliography) style file from a placeholder source (reserved example DOI and domain), so the format is exactly what the style produces. In text: Numbered footnotes or endnotes, with a bibliography at the end.
What to collect before you cite an encyclopedia entry
- The entry author, if the entry is signed
- The entry title
- The encyclopedia title and edition
- The editors of the work
- Publisher and year, plus page range or URL
Have a DOI? Generate the reference instantly
Journal articles, many books and reports carry a DOI. Paste it and get the Chicago (notes and bibliography) entry from the same engine that produced the example above.
Citing a whole thesis, not one source?
CiteDash keeps your bibliography in Chicago (notes and bibliography) automatically, verifies every citation against a real paper, and compiles to DOCX, PDF or LaTeX.
Citing an encyclopedia entry in Chicago (notes and bibliography): FAQ
Should a thesis cite encyclopedias at all?
Sparingly. They are tertiary sources: fine for definitions and orientation, weak as evidence. Where an entry cites primary studies, read and cite those studies for your actual claims.
The entry is unsigned. Who is the author?
Most styles move the entry title into the author position for unsigned entries. Do not credit the editors as authors of an entry they did not write.
How is this different from a chapter citation?
Structurally it is close: a titled part inside an edited whole. Styles use a dedicated reference-work format that usually drops the page range for alphabetised entries and may add the edition.
What does the in-text citation look like in Chicago (notes and bibliography)?
Numbered footnotes or endnotes, with a bibliography at the end.
Is the example on this page hand-written?
No. It is rendered by the same citation engine and official CSL style file CiteDash uses for full thesis bibliographies, from a clearly-marked placeholder source, and a test re-renders it on every release so the page can never drift from the engine.