How to Cite a Book in Chicago Style (18th Edition)

To cite a book in Chicago style (18th edition), give the author's name, the title in italics, the publisher and the year. In notes-bibliography style the first footnote puts the publisher and year in parentheses and ends with a page number, a later note shortens to surname, short title and page, and the bibliography entry inverts the author's name. In author-date style the in-text citation is (Yu 2020, 45). You no longer need the city of publication.

Full note: 1. First Last, Title of Book (Publisher, Year), page. Short note: 2. Last, Short Title, page. Bibliography: Last, First. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Most of the examples below are taken from the Chicago Manual of Style's own notes and bibliography sample citations, so you can check every comma against the publisher's page.

How to cite a book in Chicago style: the 18th edition rule

Here is the plain one-author book, cited three ways. This is Charles Yu's novel, straight from Chicago's sample page.

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1. Charles Yu, Interior Chinatown (Pantheon Books, 2020), 45.

1. Yu, Interior Chinatown, 48.

Yu, Charles. Interior Chinatown. Pantheon Books, 2020. `

The first line is the full note, used the first time you cite the book. The author's name runs in normal order, commas separate the parts, and the publication facts sit inside parentheses. The page you are citing comes after the closing parenthesis.

The second line is the shortened note, used every time after that. It carries the surname, a short form of the title, and the page. Nothing else.

The third line is the bibliography entry. The name is inverted so the list can be alphabetized, periods replace the commas, the parentheses disappear, and there is no page number because the entry points to the whole book.

Italicize the title in all three. Chicago capitalizes book titles in headline style (major words capitalized), and you keep the subtitle after a colon.

What the 18th edition changed for books

Chicago published the 18th edition in September 2024. The University of Portland's summary of what is new in Chicago 18 lists the changes, and four of them reach almost every book citation:

Dropping the city is the change people miss. Under the 17th edition a note read (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2000); under the 18th it reads (Krause Publications, 2000). Plenty of guides that rank for this search still teach (Place: Publisher, Year), and a template copied from one of them puts a 17th edition element into a paper your instructor marks against the 18th. If your department still uses the 17th edition, keep the city. If the assignment says "Chicago" with no edition, use the 18th.

Notes-bibliography or author-date?

Chicago has two systems, and a book looks different in each. The humanities mostly use notes-bibliography: a superscript number in your sentence points to a footnote or endnote, and a bibliography closes the paper. The sciences and much of the social sciences use author-date: a short parenthetical in the sentence points to a reference list.

The same two books in author-date style, from Chicago's author-date sample citations:

` Binder, Amy J., and Jeffrey L. Kidder. 2022. The Channels of Student Activism: How the Left and Right Are Winning (and Losing) in Campus Politics Today. University of Chicago Press.

Yu, Charles. 2020. Interior Chinatown. Pantheon Books.

(Binder and Kidder 2022, 117–18) (Yu 2020, 45) `

The year moves up to sit straight after the author's name, because the in-text citation finds the entry by name and year together. There is no comma between the name and the year inside the parentheses, and a comma comes before the page number.

The rest of this guide shows notes-bibliography first, since that is what most people searching for a Chicago book citation are being asked for. Each author-date variant follows the same move: take the bibliography entry, lift the year to after the name, and drop it from the end. Our guides to Chicago notes-bibliography and Chicago author-date cover the systems as a whole.

Worked examples

1. Book with one author

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1. Charles Yu, Interior Chinatown (Pantheon Books, 2020), 45.
2. Yu, Interior Chinatown, 48.

Yu, Charles. Interior Chinatown. Pantheon Books, 2020. `

Author-date: Yu, Charles. 2020. Interior Chinatown. Pantheon Books. and in the text (Yu 2020, 45).

2. Book with two authors

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1. Amy J. Binder and Jeffrey L. Kidder, The Channels of Student Activism: How the Left and Right Are Winning (and Losing) in Campus Politics Today (University of Chicago Press, 2022), 117–18.
2. Binder and Kidder, Channels of Student Activism, 125.

Binder, Amy J., and Jeffrey L. Kidder. The Channels of Student Activism: How the Left and Right Are Winning (and Losing) in Campus Politics Today. University of Chicago Press, 2022. `

Both names appear in the note and in the bibliography. Only the first name in the bibliography is inverted; the second runs first name first. Note the comma after "Amy J." before "and", which Chicago uses in the inverted form.

The short title drops the leading "The" and cuts the title to its key words. Chicago prints page ranges as 117–18 with an en dash; in Word, Ctrl+minus on the number pad types one.

3. Book with three to six authors

For three or more authors, the note gives only the first author followed by "et al." The bibliography lists every author up to six. The University of Portland's Chicago 18 book examples show a four-author book:

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1. Julie Evans et al., Equal Subjects, Unequal Rights: Indigenous Peoples in British Settler Societies (Manchester University Press, 2003), 52.

Evans, Julie, Patricia Grimshaw, David Philips, and Shurlee Swain. Equal Subjects, Unequal Rights: Indigenous Peoples in British Settler Societies. Manchester University Press, 2003. `

Two authors is the most a note names in full. A short note follows the same rule: Evans et al., Equal Subjects, 52.

In author-date, the in-text citation for three or more authors also uses the first name and "et al.": (Evans et al. 2003, 52).

4. Book with seven or more authors

The bibliography caps at six. With seven or more, list the first three, then "et al." Chicago's own sample page shows the pattern on a seven-author journal article; it applies to books the same way.

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1. First Author et al., Title of Book (Publisher, Year), page.

Author, First, Second Author, Third Author, et al. Title of Book. Publisher, Year. `

Books with that many authors are rare outside the sciences, but edited handbooks and technical reports sometimes reach it.

5. Edited book cited as a whole

When you cite the whole collection, the editors take the author position, followed by "eds." (or "ed." for one editor).

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1. P. J. M. Marks and Stephen Parkin, eds., The Book by Design: The Remarkable Story of the World's Greatest Invention (University of Chicago Press, 2023).
2. Marks and Parkin, Book by Design.

Marks, P. J. M., and Stephen Parkin, eds. The Book by Design: The Remarkable Story of the World's Greatest Invention. University of Chicago Press, 2023. `

The short note drops "eds." altogether, a rule spelled out in the University of Portland's short-form guide: use the editor's last name and leave out the abbreviation.

6. Chapter in an edited book

Most of the time you are citing one chapter. Cite the chapter's author, put the chapter title in quotation marks, then "in" and the book.

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1. Kathleen Doyle, "The Queen Mary Psalter," in The Book by Design: The Remarkable Story of the World's Greatest Invention, ed. P. J. M. Marks and Stephen Parkin (University of Chicago Press, 2023), 64.
2. Doyle, "Queen Mary Psalter," 65.

Doyle, Kathleen. "The Queen Mary Psalter." In The Book by Design: The Remarkable Story of the World's Greatest Invention, edited by P. J. M. Marks and Stephen Parkin. University of Chicago Press, 2023. `

Three details go wrong often. The note says "ed." (edited by) even when there are two editors, because here it is a verb, and the bibliography spells it out as "edited by". The "In" in the bibliography is capitalized because it starts a new sentence-like unit after a period. And the bibliography no longer needs the chapter's page range (CMOS 14.8), although your note still gives the page you used.

In author-date: Doyle, Kathleen. 2023. "The Queen Mary Psalter." In The Book by Design... and (Doyle 2023, 64).

7. Translated book

The translator follows the title: "trans." in the note, "Translated by" in the bibliography.

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1. Liu Xinwu, The Wedding Party, trans. Jeremy Tiang (Amazon Crossing, 2021).
2. Liu, Wedding Party, 279.

Liu Xinwu. The Wedding Party. Translated by Jeremy Tiang. Amazon Crossing, 2021. `

This example also shows a name in Eastern order. Liu is the family name and already comes first, so the bibliography does not invert it and adds no comma, and the short note uses "Liu" (CMOS 13.75). Check how the author's name appears on the title page before you invert anything.

8. Edition other than the first

Put the edition after the title, abbreviated: "2nd ed.", "3rd ed.", "rev. ed." In the note it goes inside the commas before the parentheses; in the bibliography it is its own unit followed by a period.

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1. Brooke Borel, The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking, 2nd ed. (University of Chicago Press, 2023), 92, EBSCOhost.
2. Borel, Fact-Checking, 104–5.

Borel, Brooke. The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking. 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press, 2023. EBSCOhost. `

The short note does not repeat the edition. The "EBSCOhost" at the end is there because this copy was read in a library database, which the next section covers.

Ebooks, Kindle and library databases

A book you read online gets the same citation as print, plus one of three things at the end: the ebook format, a URL, or the database name. Chicago covers these in CMOS 14.58–62.

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1. Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things (Random House, 2008), chap. 6, Kindle.
2. Roy, God of Small Things, chap. 7.

Roy, Arundhati. The God of Small Things. Random House, 2008. Kindle. `

The Kindle example has no page number. A downloadable ebook with reflowing text has no fixed pages, so Chicago says to cite a chapter or section number instead, or leave the locator out. Kindle "location" numbers change with font size and device, so a reader holding the print copy cannot use them.

If your ebook shows the print edition's page numbers (many library PDFs and some Kindle editions do), cite those pages and you do not need "chap."

A book read through a library platform names the database, as in the Borel example above. A book that is freely available on the open web gets the URL:

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1. Philip B. Kurland and Ralph Lerner, eds., The Founders' Constitution (University of Chicago Press, 1987), chap. 10, doc. 19, https://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/.

Kurland, Philip B., and Ralph Lerner, eds. The Founders' Constitution. University of Chicago Press, 1987. https://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/. `

Skip long session URLs from a library proxy. A link with your university's login prefix only works for people at your university. Naming the database (EBSCOhost, ProQuest Ebook Central, JSTOR) is shorter and lets anyone find the book.

An access date is only needed when the source has no publication date. Books almost always have one.

Special cases

A book published before 1900

For older books, Chicago lets you give the place of publication instead of the publisher (CMOS 14.31). Chicago's sample uses Moby-Dick:

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1. Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale (New York, 1851), 627, https://melville.electroniclibrary.org/moby-dick-side-by-side.

Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. New York, 1851. https://melville.electroniclibrary.org/moby-dick-side-by-side. `

If you read a modern reprint, cite the reprint you held, with its publisher and year. Your page numbers come from that copy, and a reader needs the same edition to find them.

Introduction, preface or foreword

Cite the part by its plain name, not in quotation marks or italics, followed by "to" and the book. When someone other than the book's author wrote it, name the book's author after the title with "by". The University of Portland's book examples include both cases:

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1. Paul Shepard, introduction to Nature and Madness (University of Georgia Press, 1998), 35.

1. Oliver Sacks, foreword to A Man Without Words, by Susan Schaller, 2nd ed. (University of California Press, 2012), 10.

Sacks, Oliver. Foreword to A Man without Words, by Susan Schaller. 2nd ed. University of California Press, 2012. `

One volume of a multivolume work

Give the volume number after the book title. For a chapter in a volume, the volume follows the editors:

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1. Robert C. Atchley, "The Continuity of the Spiritual Self," in Aging, Spirituality, and Religion: A Handbook, ed. Melvin Kimble and Susan H. McFadden, vol. 1 (Fortress Press, 1995), 55.

Atchley, Robert C. "The Continuity of the Spiritual Self." In Aging, Spirituality, and Religion: A Handbook, edited by Melvin Kimble and Susan H. McFadden. Vol. 1. Fortress Press, 1995. `

Portland's own version of this note writes "eds." before the editor names; with the CMOS rule from example 6, "ed." stays singular here because it means "edited by", and that is what the version above uses.

An encyclopedia or dictionary entry

Well-known reference works are usually cited in a note only, with the entry title. The 18th edition replaced "s.v." with the word "under" (CMOS 14.130):

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1. The New Catholic Encyclopedia, under "Ephesus."

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If your instructor wants it in the bibliography, cite the entry like a chapter, with its author, as in the University of Portland's reference-book examples.

The same author twice in the bibliography

List the works alphabetically by title, ignoring an opening "A", "An" or "The" (CMOS 13.100), and write the author's name out in full on each entry. The 3-em dash for a repeated name is no longer Chicago's preference. Our guide to alphabetizing a Chicago bibliography covers the rest of the ordering rules.

The author is also the editor

If one person is both the author and the editor of a work (an edited diary or a collected edition, for example), Chicago 18 gives the name in full for both roles (CMOS 14.12).

A novel with "A Novel" in the subtitle

You can usually drop the subtitle "A Novel", even when it appears on the title page (CMOS 13.91).

Publisher names

Shorten the publisher's name the way the University of Portland guide describes: drop an opening "The" and abbreviations like "Inc.", "Ltd." and "Co." Keep "Press" and "Books", because they are part of what identifies the publisher: "Pantheon Books", "University of Chicago Press".

Ibid. and shortened notes

Chicago 18 discourages "ibid." Use the shortened note even when you cite the same book twice in a row. As Portland's short-form page puts it, ibid. "can obscure the identity of a source." A reader who jumps into your notes partway through sees "ibid." and has to scroll back to find out which book it means.

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1. Yu, Interior Chinatown, 48.
2. Yu, Interior Chinatown, 52.

`

To build a short title, take two to four key words from the full title, keep their order, and drop an opening article. Titles of four words or fewer can stay whole. The Channels of Student Activism: How the Left and Right Are Winning (and Losing) in Campus Politics Today becomes Channels of Student Activism. The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking becomes Fact-Checking. Keep the italics, or the quotation marks for a chapter.

If your instructor or press still asks for ibid., follow them. Chicago discourages it but does not ban it, and some departments' style sheets are slower to change than the manual.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

• Keeping the city. (New York: Vintage Books, 1999) is 17th edition. Unless you are told to use the 17th, write (Vintage Books, 1999). Copy-paste templates are the usual source of this one.
• Using the note shape in the bibliography. Notes use commas and parentheses and run the name first-last. The bibliography uses periods, no parentheses, and inverts only the first author's name. Converting one into the other changes the name order, the separators and the parentheses.
• Putting "et al." in the bibliography for three authors. "Et al." for three or more is a note rule. The bibliography lists up to six names.
• Writing "eds." inside a chapter note. Before editor names in a chapter citation, "ed." means "edited by" and does not take an s.
• Citing Kindle locations. Use the chapter or section, or the print page numbers if the ebook shows them.
• Repeating the full note. After the first citation of a book, every later note is the short form, including the next one in sequence.
• Mixing systems. Footnotes with an author-date reference list, or parenthetical citations with a notes bibliography, are both wrong. Pick the system your course uses and keep to it.

Quick-reference table