Contents
Chicago's Two Systems
The Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition) defines two distinct citation systems used in different academic disciplines:
Notes-Bibliography (NB)
- Uses footnotes or endnotes
- A Bibliography at the end
- Standard in history, art history, music, literature, philosophy
- Footnotes can include commentary, not just citation data
Author-Date
- Uses in-text parenthetical citations
- A References list at the end
- Standard in social sciences, sciences, education
- Similar to APA in approach
This guide covers the Notes-Bibliography system. For the Author-Date system, see the Chicago Author-Date guide.
When to Use Notes-Bibliography
Use Chicago NB when your assignment, department, or journal specifies it — most commonly in history, classical studies, art history, and some areas of literary studies. If your lecturer says "use Chicago" without specifying which system, in humanities contexts it almost always means Notes-Bibliography.
The system's great advantage is that footnotes can carry substantive commentary alongside the citation: a short footnote can acknowledge a disputed interpretation, signal a related source, or qualify a point without interrupting the main argument. This is why historians value it.
Footnote Format
In Chicago NB, every borrowed idea, quotation, or paraphrase is signalled in the text by a superscript number. The corresponding note appears either at the bottom of the page (footnote) or collectively at the end of the paper before the bibliography (endnote). Most lecturers prefer footnotes.
First (Full) Note Format
The first time you cite a source, provide the full note. Note format differs from bibliography format in two key ways: (1) it uses First Name Last Name order; (2) it specifies the exact page cited.
Ibid. and Short Titles
When you cite the same source consecutively, Chicago traditionally permitted ibid. (from Latin ibidem, "in the same place"). The 17th edition has moved away from ibid. in favour of short-title subsequent references, though many lecturers still accept ibid. — check your department's preference.
| Situation | Traditional (ibid.) | Modern preference |
|---|---|---|
| Same source, same page | Ibid. | Cannadine, Ornamentalism, 58. |
| Same source, different page | Ibid., 72. | Cannadine, Ornamentalism, 72. |
| Different source follows | N/A | Short title (see below) |
Short-Title Format
After the first full note, all subsequent citations of the same work use a shortened form: Author Last Name, Short Title, Page.
8. Skinner, "Meaning and Understanding," 22.
Every note (first or subsequent) must include the specific page or page range you are drawing from. "Cannadine, Ornamentalism" alone is insufficient — "Cannadine, Ornamentalism, 58" is the minimum required form.
Bibliography Format
The bibliography lists all sources you cited (and any consulted but not cited, at your discretion). Key differences from the note format:
- Inverted name: Last, First (for the first author only).
- No page number (bibliography entries cover the full work, not a specific page).
- For articles: include the full page range of the article.
- Entries are listed alphabetically by first author's last name.
- Use a hanging indent.
Note vs. Bibliography Entry Compared
| Element | Note (first) | Bibliography |
|---|---|---|
| Author | First Last | Last, First |
| Book title | Title (Publisher, Year), page. | Title. Publisher, Year. |
| Article title | "Title," Journal vol, no (Year): page. | "Title." Journal vol, no (Year): page range. |
| Specific pages | Required | Full article range only |
Worked Examples
Bibliography: Thompson, E. P. The Making of the English Working Class. Gollancz, 1963.
Bibliography: Davis, Natalie Zemon. "The Reasons of Misrule: Youth Groups and Charivaris in Sixteenth-Century France." Past & Present, no. 50 (1971): 41–75.
Bibliography: Tombs, Robert. "Whatever Happened to British History?" UnHerd, 14 June 2021. https://unherd.com/2021/06/whatever-happened-to-british-history/.
Archival and Primary Sources
Archival citations identify the document, the collection, and the repository. They generally do not appear in the bibliography in the same way as secondary sources — many historians maintain a separate "Primary Sources" section.
Common Chicago NB Errors
| Error | Correct approach |
|---|---|
| Using author-date format (Smith, 2001) in text | NB uses superscript numbers in text, not parenthetical citations |
| Bibliography entry in note format (First Last) | Bibliography uses inverted Last, First order |
| Missing pinpoint page in note | Every note must specify the page(s) cited |
| Placing bibliography before footnotes | Bibliography follows all text and notes, at the very end |
| Treating ibid. as always acceptable | Check department preference; short title is now the safer modern choice |
| Footnote numbers inside punctuation | Superscript note numbers follow punctuation (period, comma) |