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Chicago A: 18th edition

Guide to the 18th ed. of Chicago A (Notes and Bibliography)

Is it a book or a book chapter?

When to cite the whole book

If the entire book has been written by the same author(s), then you reference the book, not its individual chapters. (For how to reference a book, see books & ebooks). If you use three different chapters from the same book, it still counts as the one source in your reference list, the book.

When to cite individual chapters

If the book has been edited or compiled, and each chapter has its own author(s), then you need to cite each chapter you use from the edited book as a separate source in your reference list, using the format below.

Basic elements

Footnote

Click on the elements below to learn about the basic requirements for footnoting a chapter from an edited book in Chicago 18 style.

The basic elements and formatting for a chapter footnote are:

Number Chapter Author/s, “Chapter Title: Subtitle,” in Title of Book: Subtitle, ed. Editor(s) Full Names (Publisher, Year), Pinpoint.

Footnote number

  • In your footnotes, the reference numbers can either be in superscript (without a full-stop), or full-sized followed by a period (for example, 1.).
  • The first line of each footnote is indented.

Authors

  • List chapter authors full given names in the order they appear, with their first names followed by surname.
  • Use 'and' instead of the & symbol before the final chapter author.
  • A comma appears between the last chapter author and the book title.

Chapter Title: Subtitle

  • Enter a comma, then put the chapter title in quotation marks.
  • Use title case, where prepositions (such as in, the, of) of less than 5 characters do not start with a capital letter.

Title of book

  • Enter the word 'in' (without a capital letter), followed by the book title entered in italics.
  • Use title case, where prepositions (such as in, the, of) of less than 5 characters do not start with a capital letter.

Editor

  • Put a comma after the book title, then 'ed.' followed by the book editors with their Given Name(s) followed by their Surname.

Publication details

  • In brackets, list the publisher, and year of publication.
  • A comma appears between the publisher and the year.

Pinpoint

  • List any relevant page number(s) or sections you are referring to. For example, 33-35, 401-12. Do not include p. or pp.

Bibliography

Click on the elements below to learn about how to reference book chapters for your bibliography using Chicago 18 style.

The basic elements and formatting for the bibliographic entry are:

Chapter Author/s "Title of Book Chapter." In Title of Book: Subtitle, edited by Editor's Given Name(s) and Surname. Publisher, Year.

Chapter authors

  • List the chapter authors' full given names in the order they appear.
  • The first author's name is inverted with surname appearing first.
  • Use 'and' instead of the & symbol before the final author.
  • A full stop appears between the last chapter author and the book title.

Title of Book Chapter

  • Put the chapter title followed by a full stop in quotation marks.
  • Use title case for the chapter title, where prepositions (such as in, the, of) of less than 5 characters do not start with a capital letter.
  • Chapter title and subtitle are separated by a colon.

Book Title

  • Enter the word 'In' followed by the book title entered in italics.
  • Use title case, where prepositions (such as in, the, of) of less than 5 characters do not start with a capital letter.

Book Editors

  • Put a comma after the book title and the words "edited by". 
  • Then list the book editors, with their Given Name(s) followed by their Surname.

Publisher, Year

  • The year of publication follows the publisher, preceded by a full stop.
  • In your bibliography, this information is not surrounded by brackets.

Chapter in an edited book

First footnote

No Chapter Author's Given Name(s) Surname, "Chapter Title: Subtitle," in Title of Book: Subtitle, ed. Editor Full Name (Publisher, Year), Pinpoint.

Examples:

1 Allon Vishkin et al., "Religion, Emotion Regulation, and Well-being," In Religion and Spirituality Across Cultures, ed. Chu Kim-Prieto (Springer, 2014), 246.

Subsequent footnotes

3 Vishkin et al., "Religion, Emotion Regulation, and Well-Being," 248

Bibliography

Chapter Author's Surname, Given Name(s) and Chapter Author's Given Name(s) Surname. "Chapter Title." In Title of Book. Edited by Editor Full Name.  Publisher's Name, Year of Publication. 

Example:

Vishkin, Allon, Yochanan Bigman, and Maya Tamir. "Religion, Emotion Regulation, and Well-being." In Religion and Spirituality Across Cultures. Edited by Chu Kim-Prieto. Springer, 2014.

Notes

  • Formatting and Punctuation: Footnotes use commas to separate citation elements, while the bibliography uses periods. Footnotes have a first-line indent, and bibliography entries have a hanging indent.
  • Author/s: In the bibliography, the first author's name is inverted (surname first). Don't invert the names of authors whose cultural naming conventions place the family name first (as in many Asian, Hungarian, and other naming traditions). For multiple authors and editors, check the author layout table.
  • Pages: In the 18th edition of Chicago, the page range for a cited chapter in an edited book is no longer required in a bibliography entry. As required, pinpoint specific pages in your footnotes. 
  • Ebooks: Online books in fixed-page format, where the online version matches a printed counterpart can be cited without a URL. However, reflowable formats where page numbers do not match (for example, Kindle, Apple Books) should be noted. (See CMOS 14.58)
  • Subsequent Footnotes: Chicago discourages the use of Ibid., for citations referring to the immediately preceding footnote. In such cases, the title may be excluded from the subsequent footnote.