Chicago Manual of Style (online)
The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) 18th ed.
This guide provides examples of notes and bibliographic entries* based on the 18th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), preferred by scholars in history, literature, and the arts. For additional guidance, take a look at the CMOS 18 official handbook (online).
- Below, example notes (full and shortened) are preceded by numbers and are followed by their corresponding bibliographic entries.
- Usually the first reference to a source includes a full note like the examples below, while subsequent notes are shortened. (See manual 14.29-36 for help with short forms.)
- The use of ibid. is now discouraged in favor of shortened forms when two or more consecutive notes cite the same source. (See manual 14.34.)
- While the CMOS does not require writers to include access dates for online source citations (14.12), the Turabian Manual for student writers does (15.4.1.3). Please check with your instructor if you are uncertain whether or not to include them.
Journal Articles
Journal article with DOI assigned:
1. William J. Novak, “The Myth of the ‘Weak’ American State,” American Historical Review 113, no. 3 (2008): 758,
https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr.113.3.752.
2. Novak, "Myth of the 'Weak' American State," 770.
Novak, William J. "The Myth of the ‘Weak’ American State." American Historical Review 113, no. 3 (2008): 752-72. https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr.113.3.752.
Journal article with URL and access date:
3. Wilfried Karmaus and John F. Riebow, “Storage of Serum, in Plastic and Glass Containers May Alter the Serum
Concentration of Polychlorinated Biphenyls,” Environmental Health Perspectives 112 (May 2004): 645, accessed November
22, 2011, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3435987.
4. Karmaus and Riebow, "Storage of Serum," 647.
Karmaus, Wilfried, and John F. Riebow. “Storage of Serum in Plastic and Glass Containers May Alter the Serum Concentration of Polychlorinated Biphenyls.” Environmental Health Perspectives 112 (May 2004): 643-47. Accessed November 22, 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3435987.
Journal article in print:
5. Sally G. McMillen, “Antebellum Southern Fathers and the Health Care of Children,” Journal of Southern History 60, no. 3
(1994): 520-21.
6. McMillen, "Antebellum Southern Fathers," 530.
McMillen, Sally G. “Antebellum Southern Fathers and the Health Care of Children.” Journal of Southern History 60, no. 3 (1994): 513-32.
Books and Book Chapters
Print books (before 1900):
6. Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein : Or The Modern Prometheus. London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, &
Jones, 1818.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein : Or, The Modern Prometheus. London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding,
Mavor, & Jones, 1818.
Print books (after 1900):
7. Salman Rushdie, The Ground beneath Her Feet (Henry Holt, 1999), 24.
8. Andrew Harnack and Eugene Kleppinger, Online! A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources, 3rd ed. (St.
Martin’s Press, 2000).
9. Ori Z. Soltes, ed., Georgia: Art and Civilization through the Ages (Phillip Wilson, 1999), 280.
10. Harnack and Kleppinger, Online!, 57.
11. Rushdie, Ground beneath Her Feet, 74-75.
12. Soltes, Georgia, 45.
Harnack, Andrew, and Eugene Kleppinger. Online! A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources. 3rd ed. St. Martin’s Press, 2000.
Rushdie, Salman. The Ground beneath Her Feet. Henry Holt, 1999.
Soltes, Ori Z., ed. Georgia: Art and Civilization through the Ages. Philip Wilson, 1999.
Online book:
13. Stefan Hüfner, ed., Very High Resolution Photoelectron Spectroscopy (Springer, 2007), 85,
http://www.springerlink.com.
14. Hüfner, Very High Resolution Photoelectron Spectroscopy.
Hüfner, Stefan, ed. Very high resolution photoelectron spectroscopy. Springer, 2007. http://www.springerlink.com.
Book chapters:
15. James B. Asbrook and Carol Rausch Albright, “The Frontal Lobes, Intending, and Purposeful God,” chap. 7 in The
Humanizing Brain (Pilgrim Press, 1997).
16. Glenn Gould, “Streisand as Schwarzkopf,” in The Glenn Gould Reader, ed. Tim Page (Vintage, 1984), 310.
17. Gould, 310.
18. Asbrook and Albright, "Frontal Lobes," 152.
Asbrook, James B., and Carol Rausch Albright. “The Frontal Lobes, Intending, and Purposeful God.” Chap. 7 in The Humanizing Brain. Pilgrim Press, 1997.
Gould, Glenn. “Streisand as Schwarzkopf.” In The Glenn Gould Reader, edited by Tim Page, 308-11.Vintage, 1984.
Newspaper and Magazine Articles
From the publication's website:
19. Pat Borzi, “Retirement Discussion Begins Anew for Favre,” New York Times, January 25, 2010,
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/sports /football/26vikings.html?emc=etal.
20. Lauren Schiller, "How to Get Even More Women Elected," Salon, November 9, 2017, accessed December
7, 2017, https://www.salon.com/2017/11/09/how-to-get-even-more-women-elected.
Borzi, Pat. “Retirement Discussion Begins Anew for Favre.” New York Times, January 25, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/sports/football/26vikings.html?emc=etal.
Schiller, Lauren. "How to Get Even More Women Elected." Salon, November 9, 2017. Accessed December 7, 2017. https://www.salon.com/2017/11/09/how-to-get-even-more-women-elected.
From a library database:
21. Beth Daley, “A Tale of a Whale: Scientists, Museum Are Eager to Study, Display Rare Creature,” Boston Globe, June 11,
2002, accessed June 12, 2002, LexisNexis Academic.
22. Andre Laguerre, “Clues to a Princess's Choice,” Life, October 10, 1955, accessed June 26, 2009, EBSCOhost.
Daley, Beth. “A Tale of a Whale: Scientists, Museum Are Eager to Study, Display Rare Creature.” Boston Globe, June 11, 2002. Accessed June 12, 2002. LexisNexis Academic.
Laguerre, Andre. “Clues to a Princess's Choice.” Life, October 10, 1955. Accessed June 26, 2009. EBSCOhost.
In print:
23. Gretchen Morgenson, “Applying a Discount to Good Earnings News,” New York Times, April 23, 2000.
24. Karl Vick, “Cuba on the Cusp,” Time, March 26, 2015.
Morgenson, Gretchen. “Applying a Discount to Good Earnings News,” New York Times, April 23, 2000.
Vick, Karl. “Cuba on the Cusp.” Time, March 26, 2015.
Dissertations and Theses
In print:
25. Richard E. Remedios, "Defining my Process: My Journey Through the MFA Acting Program at the University of South
Carolina" (master’s thesis, University of South Carolina, 2007), 35.
26. Remedios, "Defining my Process," 48.
Remedios, Richard E. "Defining my Process: My Journey Through the MFA Acting Program at the University of South Carolina." Master's thesis, University of South Carolina, 2007.
From a library database:
27. Mihwa Choi, “Contesting Imaginaires in Death Rituals during the Northern Song Dynasty” (PhD diss., University of
Chicago, 2008), 59, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.
27. Choi, “Contesting Imaginaires,” 82.
Choi, Mihwa. “Contesting Imaginaires in Death Rituals during the Northern Song Dynasty.” PhD diss., University of Chicago, 2008. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.
Websites, Blogs, and Social Media
- Citations of website content, blogs, and social media posts can often be included in the notes only (without a corresponding entry in the bibliography). Again, check with your instructor if you are not sure what is required.
28. “Privacy Policy,” Privacy & Terms, Google, last modified March 25, 2016, http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.
29. Barbara Fister, “Pranking the Academy,” Library Babel Fish (blog), Inside Higher Ed, September 22, 2017, accessed
October 3, 2017, https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/library-babel-fish/pranking-academy.
30. Conan O'Brien (@conanOBrien), "In honor of Earth Day, I'm recycling my tweets," X, April 22, 2015, 11:10 a.m.,
https://x.com/ConanOBrien/status/590940792967016448.
Fister, Barbara. “Pranking the Academy.” Library Babel Fish (blog). Inside Higher Ed, September 22, 2017. Accessed October 3, 2017. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/library-babel-fish/pranking-academy.
Google. “Privacy Policy.” Last modified March 25, 2016. http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.
Primary Sources
Individual source in a published collection:
31. Chesnutt to George Washington Cable, February 2, 1889, in "To Be an Author": Letters of Charles W. Chesnutt, 1889-1905,
ed. Joseph R. McElrath Jr. and Robert C. Leitz III (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997), 30-31.
32. Augustine, On Manichaeism, in Heresy and Authority in Medieval Europe, ed. Edward Peters (Philadelphia University of
Pennsylvania Press, 1980), 35.
33. Chāndogya Upaniṣad 5.4-10, in The Early Upaniṣads: Annotated Text and Translation, trans. and ed. Patrick Olivelle
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 235-37.
Augustine. On Manichaeism. In Heresy and Authority in Medieval Europe, edited by Edward Peters. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1980, 32-38.
Chāndogya Upaniṣad. In The Early Upaniṣads: Annotated Text and Translation, translated and edited by Patrick Olivelle. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Chesnutt, Charles W. Charles W. Chesnutt to George Washington Cable, February 2, 1889. In "To Be an Author": Letters of Charles W. Chesnutt, 1889-1905, edited by Joseph R. McElrath Jr. and Robert C. Leitz III. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997.
What is a DOI?
A DOI is a unique alphanumeric string that provides a persistent link to content online. Chicago style asks that you include a DOI for journal articles that have one.
- CrossRefThis site provides a free DOI lookup for articles.
- Resolve a DOIHave a DOI and want to use it to access online content? Enter it here.
Examples of Chicago Citations
- Chicago Manual of Style Online This link opens in a new windowOnline access to the new 18th edition of the manual for both notes-bibliography and author-date styles.