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Citation Styles

A comprehensive guide to citing in various citation styles, offering examples of citations as well as links to outside sources.

What is a citation?

A citation or reference is the information given in a bibliography or a database about a particular title, which often includes:

  • article title or chapter title
  • periodical title or book title
  • author(s) or editor(s)
  • place of publication
  • date of publication
  • publisher name
  • volume/issue (articles) or edition (books)
  • page range
  • medium of publication
  • electronic access (URL or DOI)
  • date accessed

Citations give credit to those whose ideas have contributed to your research and give your readers enough information to locate the sources you used. There are many ways to format citations. The style you choose depends on your field and the requirements set by your professor or publisher.

End-of-Text References (Notes & bibliography style, 16th ed.)

Template

Author Last Name, Author First Name. "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume, no. Issue (Year of Publication): Page range. DOI or URL.

Examples

Print article

Ellery, Karen. "Undergraduate Plagiarism: A Pedagogical Perspective." Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 33, no. 5 (2008): 507.

Online Article

Mozgovoy, Maxin, Tuomo Kakkonen, and Georgina Cosma. "Automatic Student Plagiarism Detection: Future Perspectives." Journal of Educational Computing Research 43, no. 4 (2010): 511-31. doi:10.2190/EC.43.4.e.

Template

Book

Author Last Name, Author First Name. Title of Book. Edition ed. Place of Publication: Publisher Name, Year of Publication.

Chapter in an edited book

Author Last Name, Author First Name "Title of Chapter/Essay." In Title of Book, edited by Editor's Name, Page Range. Place of Publication: Publisher Name, Year of Publication.

Examples

One author

Shields, Charles. Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee. New York: Henry Holt, 2006.

Multiple authors

Ormrod, Jeanne Ellis, and Dinah Jackson McGuire. Case Studies: Applying Educational Psychology. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2007.

Chapter in an edited book

Smith, Paul. "The Diverse Librarian." In An Introduction to Reference Services in Academic Libraries, edited by Elizabeth Connor, 137. Binghampton, NY: University of North Carolina Press, 2000.

In-Text References (Notes & bibliography style, 16th ed.)

Each time you refer to an outside source, it should be documented in a footnote or an endnote. Ask your professor which style you should use. The format of the footnote/endnote citation is different than that of the bibliography citation. 

  • Footnotes appear at the bottom of the page on which the source is referenced. Endnotes appear at the end of the chapter or document in which the source is referenced.
  • A superscript number should appear at the end of the sentence in which the source is quoted or paraphrased.
  • Each footnote/endnote must correspond to a superscript number in consecutive order beginning with 1.
  • If you cite the same source more than once, you can use the shortened form or use "Ibid". For more information check the Chicago Manual of Style Online.

In text:

Shields describes the 1950's New York art scene as "tailor-made for socializing." 1

Footnote:

1. Charles Shields, Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee (New York: Henry Holt, 2006), 21.

Template

Note number. Author First Name Author Last Name, "Title of Article," Title of Journal Volume, no. Issue (Year of Publication): Page range.

Examples

Print Article

1. Karen Ellery, "Undergraduate Plagiarism: A Pedagogical Perspective," Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 33, no. 5 (2008): 507.

Online Article

2. Maxin Mozgovoy, Tuomo Kakkonen, and Georgina Cosma, "Automatic Student Plagiarism Detection: Future Perspectives," Journal of Educational Computing Research 43, no. 4 (2010): 511-12, doi:10.2190/EC.43.4.e.

Template

Book

Note number. Author First Name Author Last Name, Title of Book, Edition ed. (Place of Publication: Publisher Name, Year of Publication), Page Range.

Chapter in an edited book

Note number. Author First Name Author Last Name, "Title of Chapter/Essay," in Title of Book, ed. Editor's name (Place of Publication: Publisher Name, Year of Publication), Page Range.

Examples

One author

4. Charles Shields, Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee (New York: Henry Holt, 2006), 21.

Multiple authors

5. Jeanne Ellis Ormrod and Dinah Jackson McGuire, Case Studies: Applying Educational Psychology, 2nd ed. (Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2007), 114-15.

Chapter in an edited book

6. Paul Smith, "The Diverse Librarian," in An Introduction to Reference Services in Academic Libraries, ed. Elizabeth Connor (Binghamptom, NY: Haworth Press, 2006), 137.

Formatting Requirements

Chicago Style uses two different systems for citing. This guide focuses on Notes & Bibliography system, commonly used in the humanities. For more information on the Author-Date system used in the sciences, see the Chicago Manual of Style Online.

Even though you use footnotes/endnotes, a bibliography of all the sources cited must appear at the end of the work.

  • The works cited list should be labeled "Bibliography" and appear at the top center of the page.
  • The list should be alphabetized by author last name.
  • All entries are single spaced, with double space in between each entry (unless your instructor advises otherwise).
  • The second line and all subsequent lines of a citation must be indented. 

Chicago footnote & bibliography example: