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Chicago Citation Guide

Order of Book Elements

Here is the order of elements for a book citation. Please note that most books will not include all these elements, but the order will allow you to plug in the pieces you have.

  1. Author/Editor
  2. Year
  3. Date
  4. Edition
  5. Editor, compiler, translator, illustrator, etc.
  6. Volume
  7. Series title
  8. Publisher
  9. For online books: URL, website, or database.

Books

Template

Author. Year. Title of Book. Edition.* Publisher.

*Omit edition if book is a first edition or does not have an edition statement.

Example

Cooper, William J., Jr., Thomas E. Terrill, and Christopher Childers. 2017. The American South: A History. 5th ed. Rowman & Littlefield.

(Cooper et al. 2008, 33–37)

George, Mary W. 2008. The Elements of Library Research: What Every Student Needs to Know. Princeton University Press.

(George 2008, 12–13)

Books with Translator or Illustrator

Template

Author. Year. Title of Book. Translated/Illustrated by Name. Publisher.

Example

Brown, Margaret Wise. 2005. Goodnight Moon. Rev. ed. Illustrated by Clement Hurd. Harper Collins.

(Brown 2005)

Homer. 1990. The Iliad. Translated by Robert Fagles. Viking.

(Homer 1990, 12–13)

eBooks

Template

Author. Year. Title of Book. Publisher. Website/Database or Format.

Example

Otto, Mary. 2017. Teeth: The Story of of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America. New Press. Kindle.

(Otto 2017, chap. 2)

Teays, Wanda. 2015. Business Ethics through Movies: A Case Study Approach. Wiley Blackwell. Ebook Central.

(Teays 2015)

Archived eBooks (e.g., Project Gutenberg or Internet Archive)

Template

Author. (Original Year) Reprint Year. Title of Book. Original publisher. Reprint. Project Gutenberg. URL.

Example

Austen, Jane. (1813) 2013. Pride and Prejudice. T. Egerton. Reprint, Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42671.

(Austen 2013, 98)

Grubben, G. J. H. 2004. Vegetables. Prota. https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_6jrlyOPfr24C.

(Grubben 2004, 120)

Audiobooks

Template

Author. Year. Title of Book. Narrated by Name. Publisher. Length.

Example

Clear, James. 2018. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. Narrated by the author. Penguin Audio. 5 hr., 35 min.

(Clear 2018, 04:13:22)

Sánchez, Erika L. 2017. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. Narrated by Kyla Garcia. Listening Library. 9 hr., 41 min.

(Sánchez 2017, chap. 4)

Edited Books

Template

Editor, ed. Year. Title of Book. Publisher.

Example

Rosenblum, Joseph, ed. 2017. The Definitive Shakespeare Companion: Overviews, Documents, and Analysis. Greenwood Press.

(Rosenblum 2017)

Chapters

Template*

Chapter Author. Year. "Title of Chapter." In Title of Book, edited by Editor. Publisher.

Example

Carbone, Teresa A. 2016. "Busted Seams and Bad Behavior: Bodies for the 1930s." In America after the Fall: Painting in the 1930s, edited by Judith A. Barter. The Art Institute of Chicago.

(Carbone 2016, 150)

*If using more than one chapter from an edited book, it is preferable to cite the book as a whole in your bibliography and then refer to chapters in-text. For instance, cite the Barter book (above) in the bibliography and then cite the author of the chapter in your text:

Barter, Judith A., ed. 2016. America After the Fall: Painting in the 1930s. The Art Institute of Chicago.

Carbone discusses this very problem (Barter 2016, 150).

Anthologies

Template

Work Author. Year. "Title of Work." In Title of Book, edited by Editor(s). Publisher.

Examples

Spiotta, Dana. 2016. "Jelly and Jack." In The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2016, edited by Rachel Kushner. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

(Spiotta 2016)

In this example, the original publication date of "The Pit and the Pendulum," 1842, is included along with the publication date of the book consulted. This is an optional element.

Poe, Edgar Allan. (1842) 2002. "The Pit and the Pendulum." In The Complete Tales & Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. Castle Books.

(Poe 2002, 240)

Reference Books

Template

Entry Author. Year. "Title of Entry." In Title of Book, edited by Editors. Publisher. Database.

Example

Orme, Nicholas. 2012. "Christianity, Cornwall." In The Celts: History, Life and Culture, edited by John T. Koch and Antone Minard. ABC-CLIO.

In this case, the entry is from volume one, so this is included in the in-text citation to assist readers in quickly locating the entry.

(Orme 2012, 1:192)

In this example, there is no separate entry author so the editor is listed first.

Rogers, Shannon L., ed. 2007. "Allusions, Biblical." In All Things Chaucer: An Encyclopedia of Chaucer's World. Greenwood Press. Credo Reference.

(Rogers 2007)

Sacred Texts

Template

No bibliography entry needed. Simply use an in-text citation including the version and location. Use common abbreviations for books of the Bible.

Example

The so-called golden rule is given as "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise" (Luke 6:31, Authorized King James Version). However, Jesus goes further and tells his followers to "love ye your enemies, and do good" (Luke 6:35).

Exhibition Catalogs

Template

Author. Year. Title of Book. With additional contributions. Publisher. Distributor. Exhibition catalog.

Example

Griggs, C. Wilfred, ed. 1986. Ramses II: The Pharaoh and His Time. With historical background and object descriptions by Lisa K. Sabbahy. Jacksonville Art Museum. Exhibition catalog.

(Griggs 1986)

Self-Published Books

Template

Author. Year. Title of Book. Published by the author.

Example

Fischer, Maik. 2024. How to Cite in Chicago Style. Published by the author.

(Fischer 2024, 60)

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