Free Chicago Citation Generator

The Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition) offers two distinct citation systems. The Notes-Bibliography (NB) system uses footnotes or endnotes with a bibliography and is preferred in the humanities, especially history, art, and music. The Author-Date system uses parenthetical in-text citations with a reference list and is favored in the sciences and social sciences. Your instructor or publisher will typically specify which system to use.

The first footnote for a source includes the full citation: 1. First Name Last Name, Title of Book (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year), page number. Subsequent citations of the same source use a shortened form: 2. Last Name, Shortened Title, page number. If the same source is cited in two consecutive notes, you may use 'Ibid.' followed by the page number if it differs.

Use Notes-Bibliography (NB) for humanities disciplines such as history, literature, art history, music, religion, and theology. This system is well-suited for works that require extensive commentary in notes. Use Author-Date for the sciences, social sciences, and other fields where brief parenthetical references are preferred, such as anthropology, archaeology, and earth sciences.

Bibliography entries in Chicago NB style are formatted differently from footnotes. The author's last name comes first, followed by the first name. Entries use periods instead of commas between major elements. Example: Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. The bibliography is alphabetized by the author's last name and uses a hanging indent.

In Notes-Bibliography style, a website footnote looks like: 1. First Name Last Name, "Title of Web Page," Website Name, Month Day, Year, URL. The bibliography entry reverses the author name: Last Name, First Name. "Title of Web Page." Website Name. Month Day, Year. URL. In Author-Date style, the in-text citation is (Last Name Year) and the reference list entry follows a similar pattern with the date moved after the author name.

Chicago 17th edition does not require access dates for most online sources, provided a publication or revision date is available. However, access dates are recommended for sources that lack a publication date or for content that is frequently updated (such as wikis or social media). When included, the access date is formatted as 'Accessed Month Day, Year' and placed before the URL.