Guide on Learning Book Citations in Chicago Style

Students often regard book citations in Chicago Style as very confusing at times. Mostly because there are two ways of doing it. First is the Notes and Bibliography system and second is the Author Date System.

Don’t worry if you are not familiar with these citation styles yet. Because this expert guide has all the details you need to know to get better at them.

Table of Contents

All You Need to Know About Book Citations in Chicago Style

Notes and Bibliography System

This style requires you to use endnotes or footnotes to cite the sources. Plus, it also needs you to provide a bibliography at the end of whatever document you are crafting.

The Basic Format for Footnotes/Endnotes in Notes and Bibliography System

Author(s). Title of the Book (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year), Page Number.

The Basic Format of Bibliography

Author(s). Title of the Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year.

Let’s elaborate on each of these elements in detail.

Author

It includes the name of the author or authors (in case there are more than one). You have to write that in last name, first name format. A practical example might help here:

If the book has only one Author

Smith, John.

If the Book Has Two Authors

Smith, John, and Mary Johnson.

If the Book Has Three or More Authors

Smith, John, et al.

Title of the Book

Book citations in Chicago style need you to italicize the book title in essay. Also, you have to capitalize the first letter of the title, subtitles and any other important word.

Consider these examples:

The Great Gatsby

The Art of Writing: A Comprehensive Guide

Place of Publication

You’ll have to mention the city or location where the book was published. Like, if the book you are using as a source of evidence was published in New York, write New York.

Publisher

After the place of publication comes the publisher’s place. This citation style needs you to put that as well. Consider this an example:

Scribner

Penguin Random House

Year of Publication

This style also needs you to mention the year the book was published. Like:

2003.

2021.

A Full Example

Footnote/Endnote Citation

Smith, John. The Great Gatsby (New York: Scribner, 2003), 45.

Bibliography Entry

Smith, John. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2003.

Footnote/Endnote Citation for a Book with Two Authors:

Smith, John, and Mary Johnson. Effective Communication Strategies (London: Penguin Random House, 2017), 72.

Bibliography Entry for a Book with Two Authors

Smith, John, and Mary Johnson. Effective Communication Strategies. London: Penguin Random House, 2017.

Author-Date System

Here comes the second method of citing a book source in Chicago. It’s known as the author-date system. Here you are required to put parenthetical citations within the text that goes with the reference list at the end of your document. Yes, it is a bit similar to MLA but the two are slightly different.

Basic Format for Parenthetical Citations

(Author(s) Year, Page Number)

Basic Format for the Reference List

Author(s). Year. Title of the Book. Place of Publication: Publisher.

Examples:

Parenthetical Citation

(Smith 2003, 45)

Reference List Entry

Smith, John. 2003. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner.

Parenthetical Citation for a Book with Two Authors

(Smith and Johnson 2017, 72)

Reference List Entry for a Book with Two Authors

Smith, John, and Mary Johnson. 2017. Effective Communication Strategies. London: Penguin Random House.

Table Summary for Notes and Bibliography System

Here’s a summary in tabular form to help you understand book citations in Chicago’s Notes and Bibliography system:

Element	Format	Example
One Author	Last name, First name.	Smith, John.
Two Authors	Last name, First name, and First name Last name.	Smith, John, and Mary Johnson.
Multiple Authors	Last name, et al.	Smith, John, et al.
Title of the book	Title of the book.	The Great Gatsby.
Place of Publication	Place of Publication.	New York.
Publisher	Publisher.	Scribner.
Year of Publication	Year of Publication.	2003

A Table to Improve Our Understanding of Author-Date System

Let’s understand the Chicago’s Author-Date system with the help of a table:

Element	Format	Example
Author	Last name, First name	Smith, John
Multiple Authors	Last name, First name, and First name Last name.	Smith, John, and Mary Johnson.
Title of the Book	Title of the Book.	The Great Gatsby.
Place of Publication	Place of Publication.	New York.
Publisher	Publisher.	Scribner.
Year of Publication	Year	2003

Take Away

Hopefully. You now have a good understanding of book citations in Chicago Style using both the methods. Just don’t forget to consult the latest edition of The Chicago Manual of Style or your instructor’s guidelines for any specific cases that may not fit the standard format.