If you need to use the Chicago Manual of Style guidelines for citing sources, there are two formats you can use. The author-date format is often used for the social, natural, and physical sciences; while the notes and bibliography format is more common in the humanities (literature, history and art).
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Quote with the author-date style (for science)
Step 1. Cite a book
- Zimmer, Gary. 1999. The biological farmer. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Beckham, Todd, ed. 1951. The soccer chronicles. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Step 2. Cite a book chapter
Lowell, Frederick. 2006. "Why I Tried: The Mentality Behind a Crime". In The criminal mind, ed. Frank Alden, 101–2. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Step 3. Cite an e-book
Kamp, John C. and Alison Norris, ed. 1987. The lawn mowing guide. San Diego: Green Press
Step 4. Cite a newspaper article (printed)
Fargo, Peter Paul. 2007. The facts of life. Philosophy 126: 450-22
Step 5. Cite a newspaper article (online)
Hennessy, Thomas W., Craig W. Hedberg, Laurence Slutsker, Karen E. White, John M. Besser-Wiek, Michael E. Moen, John Feldman, William W. Coleman, Larry M. Edmonson, Kristine L. MacDonald, and Michael T. Osterholm. 2002. A national outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis infections from ice cream. The New England Journal of Medicine 287, no. 5 (February 6),
Step 6. Cite a magazine article
Doe, Jane. 2002. "What it feels like to be the real Jane Doe". Reality, May 6
Step 7. Cite a newspaper article
Lachmund, Miles S. 2002. German chef recreates childhood soup for neighbors. New York Times, June 20, Food section, Midwest edition
Step 8. Cite a website
Evanston Public Library Board of Trustees. Evanston Public Library strategic plan, 2000–2010: A decade of outreach. Evanston Public Library
Method 2 of 4: Citation with Bibliography Style (For Humanities)
Step 1. Cite a book
- Zimmer, Gary. The Biological Farmer. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999.
- Beckham, Todd, ed. The Soccer Chronicles. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951.
Step 2. Cite a book chapter
Lowell, Frederick. "Why I Tried: The Mentality Behind a Crime". In The Criminal Mind, edited by Frank Alden, 101–2. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006
Step 3. Cite an e-book
Kamp, John C. and Alison Norris, ed. The Lawn mowing Guide San Diego: Green Press, 1987. https://greenpress.com/lawnmowing/. Also available in print and CD-ROM version
Step 4. Cite a newspaper article (printed)
Fargo, Peter Paul. "The Facts of Life". Philosophy 126 (2007): 450-22
Step 5. Cite a newspaper article (online)
Hennessy, Thomas W., Craig W. Hedberg, Laurence Slutsker, Karen E. White, John M. Besser-Wiek, Michael E. Moen, John Feldman, William W. Coleman, Larry M. Edmonson, Kristine L. MacDonald, and Michael T. Osterholm. "A National Outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis Infections from Ice Cream". The New England Journal of Medicine 287, no. 5 (February 6, 2002),
Step 6. Cite a magazine article
Doe, Jane. "What it Feels Like to be the Real Jane Doe". Reality, May 6, 2002
Step 7. Cite a newspaper article
Lachmund, Miles S. "German Chef Recreates Childhood Soup for Neighbors", New York Times, June 20, 2002, Food section, Midwest edition
Step 8. Cite a website
Evanston Public Library Board of Trustees. "Evanston Public Library Strategic Plan, 2000–2010: A Decade of Outreach." Evanston Public Library. https://www.epl.org/library/strategic-plan-00.html (accessed June 1, 2005)
Method 3 of 4: Write footnotes
Step 1. Cite a book in a footnote
- 1. Gary Zimmer, The Biological Farmer (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999), 65.
- 3. Todd Beckham, ed., The Soccer Chronicles (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951), 91–92.
Step 2. Cite a book chapter in a footnote
5. Frederick Lowell, "Why I Tried: The Mentality Behind a Crime", in The Criminal Mind, ed. Frank Alden (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006), 101–2
Step 3. Cite an e-book in a footnote
2. John C. Kamp and Alison Norris, ed., The Lawnmowing Guide (San Diego: Green Press, 1987), https://greenpress.com/lawnmowing/ (accessed June 27, 2006)
Step 4. Cite the newspaper article (printed) in a footnote
8. Peter Paul Fargo, "The Facts of Life", Philosophy 126 (2007): 450
Step 5. Cite a newspaper article (online) in a footnote
33. Thomas W. Hennessy et al., "A National Outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis Infections from Ice Cream", The New England Journal of Medicine 287, no. 5 (2002),
Step 6. Cite a magazine article in a footnote
29. Jane Doe, "What it Feels Like to be the Real Jane Doe", Reality, May 6, 2002, 84
Step 7. Cite a newspaper article in a footnote
10. miles (16 km) S. Lachmund, "German Chef Recreates Childhood Soup for Neighbors," New York Times, June 20, 2002, Food section, Midwest edition
Step 8. Cite a website in a footnote
11. Evanston Public Library Board of Trustees, “Evanston Public Library Strategic Plan, 2000–2010: A Decade of Outreach,” Evanston Public Library,
Method 4 of 4: Place citations within the text
Step 1. Place a reference next to each excerpt you have cited
Remember to include a quote, as it could constitute plagiarism. Being accused of plagiarism, especially in college or high school, can get you a bad grade or even get you expelled.
Step 2. Place the citations in the author-date style
Write the author's last name and year of publication in parentheses. If it's a direct quote, add the page number after a comma. If the author was already mentioned in the excerpt, just put the year and page number in parentheses. If there are two authors, name them with "and" in the middle. Use commas if there are more than two authors. Place the quote before the punctuation mark.
For example: Leaving the land with grass increases soil organic matter by 15% in 10 years (Alison 1993)
Step 3. Place the citations in the notes and bibliography format
Add the superscript number at the end of the excerpt to indicate which source it refers to. Even if you reference the same font multiple times, it is assigned a new superscript number each time. Every time you start a new page, start the superscript numbers from 1. You will have to list the source as a footnote at the end of the page, as well as in the bibliography at the end of the document.
- For example: Leaving the land with grass increases soil organic matter by 15% in 10 years.1