How do I cite a book in Chicago style?

Chicago style uses two systems for book citations. In the notes-bibliography system (common in humanities), the bibliography entry is: Last, First. Title of Book. Edition. Place: Publisher, Year. For example: Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers. 9th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018. The first footnote uses: First Last, Title of Book (Place: Publisher, Year), page. In the author-date system (common in sciences), the reference list entry is: Last, First. Year. Title of Book. Edition. Place: Publisher. The in-text citation is (Last Year, page). Both systems require the city of publication — unlike APA 7 and MLA 9, which dropped this requirement. Italicize the book title and use headline-style capitalization (title case) for all major words.

How do I cite an e-book in Chicago style?

For e-books, start with the standard book citation format and then add the e-book information at the end. If the e-book has a DOI, include it as a URL: https://doi.org/10.xxxx. If accessed on a specific platform with no DOI, add the platform name: "Kindle edition" or "Apple Books edition." If accessed via a URL, include the full URL at the end. For example: Newport, Cal. Deep Work. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2016. Kindle edition. If the e-book has different pagination than the print version, note "unpaginated" or use chapter/section numbers in your in-text citation instead of page numbers.

How do I cite a book with multiple authors in Chicago?

For 2–3 authors, list all names in the bibliography. The first author is inverted (Last, First), and subsequent authors are in normal order: Smith, John, and Maria Garcia. Title. Place: Publisher, Year. For 4 or more authors, the bibliography lists all authors, but footnotes and in-text citations use only the first author followed by "et al." In footnotes: John Smith et al., Title (Place: Publisher, Year), page. In the author-date system: (Smith et al. 2024, 45). Note that "et al." is not italicized. For edited volumes with multiple editors, use the same pattern but add "ed." or "eds." after the names.

Template + Example

Chicago Book Citation Template

Complete guide to citing books in Chicago format (17th ed.). Examples for single author, multiple authors, and edited volumes.

Copy-ready template

Last, First. Title of Book. Place: Publisher, Year.

Filled example

Reference

Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 9th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018.

In-text citation

(Turabian 2018, 45)

Field mapping

author: Turabian, Kate L.
title: A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations
edition: 9th ed.
location: Chicago
publisher: University of Chicago Press
year: 2018

Common mistakes

⚠Omitting the place of publication
⚠Using sentence case instead of headline case
⚠Forgetting to italicize the title
⚠Not including edition information

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