Refer to these Chicago book citation examples for how you should write your bibliography. Chicago 17 style uses two ways to create citations. With the author-date style, you place the author in the first element and the date in the second element. Include your source entries in a reference list following your report. The notes-bibliography style, on the other hand, is a more complicated style used in higher-level writing.
Book Citation Format for One Author or Editor
A basic Chicago style citation in author-date style for a book citation with a single author follows this format:
Chicago Style Book Citation – Reference List Format
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Year of Publication. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name.
Chicago Style Book Citation – Parenthetical Citation Format
(Author’s Last Name Year of Publication, pp)
Chicago Style Book Citation – Examples
Edwards, Andres R. 2005. The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait of a Paradigm Shift. Gabriola Island, Canada: New Society Publishers.
(Andres 2005, 86)
Citing a Book With Multiple Authors/Editors
When citing a book with multiple authors, follow the formats described below.
Two Authors
Author-Date: Reference List Format
Author #1’s Last Name, Author #1’s First Name, and Author #2’s First and Last Names. Year of Publication. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name.
Author-Date: Parenthetical Citation Format
(Author #1’s Last Name and Author #2’s Last Name Year of Publication, pp)
Multiple Author Book Citation Examples
Herron, John F. and Andrew G. Kirk. 1999. Human Nature: Biology, Culture, and Environmental History. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
(Herron and Kirk 1999, 203)
Three Authors
Author-Date: Reference List Format
Author #1’s Last Name, Author #1’s First Name, Author #2’s First and Last Names and Author #3’s First and Last Names. Year of Publication. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name.
Author-Date: Parenthetical Citation Format
(Author #1’s Last Name, Author #2’s Last Name, and Author #3’s Last Name Year of Publication, pp)
Three Author Book Example
Brugge, Doug, Timothy Benally, and Esther Yazzie-Lewis. 2006. The Navajo People and Uranium Mining. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
(Brugge, Benally, and Yazzie-Lewis 2006, 27)
Four or More Authors
If the book has four or more authors, continue using the same pattern created for three authors for your bibliography entry. As for the parenthetical citation, include just the first author’s last name, followed by et al., then the year and pages as usual.
Author-Date: Parenthetical Citation Format
(First Author’s Last Name et al. Year of Publication, pp)
Edited Books
For edited books, add a comma after the first name(s) of editor(s) and add ed. or eds. for one or multiple editors, respectively. Otherwise, you follow the same basic format as listed above for authors.
Author-Date: Reference List Format
Editor’s Last Name, Editor’s First Name, ed. Year of Publication. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name.
Author-Date: Parenthetical Citation Format
(Editor’s Last Name Year of Publication, pp)
Edited Book Example
Etulain, Richard W, ed. 1994. Contemporary New Mexico, 1940-1990. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
(Etulain 1994, 23)
Online Books
For books found online, follow the same formats as listed above. Then, add the URL, DOI, or the name of the database.
Author-Date: Reference List Format
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Year of Publication. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name. URL or DOI or Database or eBook Format.
Author-Date: Parenthetical Citation Format
(Author’s Last Name Year of Publication, pp)
Online Book Example
Berry, Wendell. 2009. Bringing It to the Table: On Farming and Food. Berkeley: Counterpoint Press. Kindle.
(Berry 2009, 293)
Chicago Style Citation for Textbook – Author-Date
Do you need to make a textbook citation in Chicago style? Don’t sweat it! Chicago textbook citations follow the format of citing a chapter in a book.
Author-Date: Reference List Format
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Date. “Chapter Title.” In Title of Book: Subtitle of Book, edited by Editor First Name Last Name, page numbers. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name.
Author-Date: Parenthetical Citation Format
(Author’s Last Name Year of Publication, pp)
Chicago Textbook Example
Roberts, Edgar V., and Henry E. Jacobs. 2003. “Bringing Your Writing to Life.” In Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, 120-135. 6th ed. New York: Prentice Hall.
(Roberts and Jacobs 2003, 120-135)
Chicago Notes-Bibliography Examples Format
Follow these basic Chicago notes-bibliography examples for the format to follow when citing books written by a single author, multiple authors, or editors.
One Author
Notes-Biblio: Bibliography Citation Format
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name, Date of Publication.
Notes-Biblio: Note Citation Format
##. Author’s First and Last Names, Title of Book: Subtitle of Book (Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name, Date of Publication), pp.
One Author Example
Hayden, Dolores. A Field Guide to Sprawl. New York: W.W. Norton, 2004.
1. Dolores Hayden, A Field Guide to Sprawl (New York: W.W. Norton, 2004), 82.
Two Authors
Notes-Biblio: Bibliography Citation Format
Author #1’s Last Name, Author #1’s First Name, and Author #2’s First and Last Names. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name, Date of Publication.
Notes-Biblio: Note Citation Format
##. Author’s #1’s First and Last Names and Author #2’s First and Last Names, Title of Book: Subtitle of Book (Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name, Date of Publication), pp.
Two Author Example
Grinde, Donald A., and Bruce E. Johansen. Ecocide of Native America: Environmental Destruction of Indian Lands and People. Santa Fe, NM: Clear Light Publishers, 1995.
1. Donald A. Grinde and Bruce E. Johansen, Ecocide of Native America: Environmental Destruction of Indian Lands and People. (Santa Fe, NM: Clear Light Publishers, 1995), 236.
Three Authors
Notes-Biblio: Bibliography Citation Format
Author #1’s Last Name, Author #1’s First Name, Author #2’s First and Last Names and Author #3’s First and Last Names. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name, Date of Publication.
Notes-Biblio: Note Citation Format
##. Author’s #1’s First and Last Names, Author #2’s First and Last Names, and Author’s #3 First and Last Names, Title of Book: Subtitle of Book (Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name, Date of Publication), pp.
Three Author Example
Jones, Ellis, Ross Haenfler, and Brett Johnson. The Better World Handbook: From Good Intentions to Everyday Actions. Gabriola Island, Canada: New Society Publishers, 2001.
2. Ellis Jones, Ross Haenfler, and Brett Johnson, The Better World Handbook: From Good Intentions to Everyday Actions. (Gabriola Island, Canada: New Society Publishers, 2001), 238.
- Chicago author-date style uses a reference list.
- Chicago notes-bibliography style uses a bibliography.
- An in-text citation is also called a parenthetical citation.
- Append https://doi to your DOI entries.
Chicago Style Citation for Textbook – Notes-Biblio
Chicago notes-biblio isn’t common for the creation of high school papers. However, you might find that you need to cite a textbook in your college literature course. Creating a textbook citation still follows the format for a chapter book but in a bit different format.
Notes-Biblio: Bibliography Citation Format
Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. “Chapter Title.” In Title of Book: Subtitle of Book, edited by Editor First Name Last Name, page numbers. Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name, Date.
Notes-Biblio: Note Citation Format
##. Author’s Name, “Chapter Title,” in Title of Work, ed. Editor’s Name (Place of Publication: Publisher, Date), Pages.
Chicago Textbook Example
Roberts, Edgar V., and Henry E. Jacobs. “Bringing Your Writing to Life.” In Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, 120-135. 6th ed. New York: Prentice Hall, 2003.
1. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs, “Bringing Your Writing to Life,” in Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, 6th ed. (New York: Prentice Hall, 2003), 120-135.
Creating Entries for Dictionaries in Notes-Biblio
If you refer to a commonly known dictionary such as Webster’s, include that reference in your notes. However, if your notes-biblio style paper relies heavily on biographical, foreign language, medical or legal dictionaries, you want to consider a section in your bibliography for those reference works. While creating your bibliography entry, make sure to include the version you have consulted for your paper.
Include the same elements for secondary sources in your full entry as you do for primary sources: Title, Creator, Version/Edition, Publisher, Date, and Locator.
Dictionary Example – Bibliography Citation
Oxford Dictionary of Science. 6th ed. Edited by Elizabeth A. Martin. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
If the consulted dictionary includes a website link, add that at the end of the entry. If there’s a DOI, remember to add https://doi.org to the link.
Dictionary Bibliography Example With DOI
Barber, Katherine, ed. Canadian Oxford Dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780195418163.001.0001.
Dictionary Bibliography Examples With Frequency
For reference works that are updated on a regular basis, include the frequency of publication.
Who’s Who. London: Bloomsbury, 1849–. Published annually.
Guide to Reference. 12th ed. Edited by Bob Kieft. Chicago: American Library Association, 2008. Ceased updating as of 2016. http://www.guidetoreference.org.
New York Times Index. New York Times Company. Annual cumulations. Available from ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
For works with several volumes, such as encyclopedia sets, include the number of volumes.
Dictionary Bibliography Examples With Volume
Encyclopedia Americana. 30 vols. Danbury, CT: Scholastic Library, 2006.
Choosing the Correct Chicago Citation Style
Pay attention to your teacher’s instructions before you start writing your paper. The two Chicago styles cite sources differently. These Chicago book citation examples will guide you as you format your paper. It’s unusual for middle and high school students to use Chicago style for their history papers. College students and publishers use notes-bibliography style. However, if so assigned, you’ll most likely use Chicago author-date style.