So here comes the big question – how to cite a book in Chicago style?
In our guide you will find two examples — one for the bibliography section and the other for footnotes.
The general format is like this:
Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication.
Footnote citation:
1. Firstname Lastname, Title of Book (Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication), page number.
In our citation examples we use the following color coding:
- Red – Author
- Blue – Title of book/article/charter/webpage
- Pink – Date
- Orange – Website/Publisher
- Turquoise – Place of publication
- Violet – Editor/Translator
- Black – Volume/Issue
- Sienna – Pages
- Gold – Book, a part/chapter of which is being cited
- Peach – Additional information about the source (i.e. its type, specific features etc.)
- Light magenta – Encyclopedia/dictionary entry
Single author
Example:
Dessler, Gary. Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. New York: Pearson, 2020.
Footnote citation:
1. Gary Dessler, Fundamentals of Human Resource Management (New York:Pearson,
2020), 33.
Two or three authors
Example:
Kulik, Carol T., and Elissa L. Perry. Human Resources for the Non-HR Manager.
London: Routledge, 2023.
Footnote citation:
1. Carol T. Kulik and Elissa L. Perry, Human Resources for the Non-HR Manager
(London: Routledge, 2023), 55-57.
Four or more authors
Example:
Bratton, John, Jeff Gold, Andrew Bratton, and Laura Steele. Human Resource Management.
London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021.
Footnote citation:
1. John Bratton et al., Human Resource Management (London: Bloomsbury
Publishing, 2021), 14.
No author
Wondering how to cite a book with no author?
If there are no authors or editors in the source, then they should be cited by title. In footnotes, endnotes, and bibliographical entries, citations should begin with the title.
In other words — just omit the name.
The citation looks like this:
Example:
Title of Book. Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication.
Footnote citation:
1. Title of Book (Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication), page number.
Multiple works by the same author
Using multiple works of the same author poses no challenge as all of them are promptly cited in footnotes at the bottom of the page.
Example:
Perloff, Marjorie. Infrathin: An Experiment in Micropoetics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2020.
—. Rhyme and Meaning in the Poetry of Yeats. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2021.
Footnote citation:
1. Marjorie Perloff, Infrathin: An Experiment in Micropoetics (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 2020), 34.
2. Marjorie Perloff, Rhyme and Meaning in the Poetry of Yeats (Berlin: Walter de
Gruyter, 2021), 68-70.
Different editions
It may be required to further specify the place of publication. In this example, it is Hove, East Sussex. In most cases, it would be sufficient to simply list the city.
Example:
Esterhuizen, Philip. Reflective Practice in Nursing. 5th ed. Hove, East Sussex: SAGE, 2022.
Footnote citation:
1. Philip Esterhuizen, Reflective Practice in Nursing, 5th ed. (Hove, East Sussex: SAGE,
2022), 104-107.
Editor or translator instead of author
In the case with a translator, use “trans.” instead of “ed.”
Example:
Smith, Jane, ed. The Stanford Handbook of Business and the American Press. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2022.
Footnote citation:
1. Jane Smith, ed., The Stanford Handbook of Business and the American Press (New
York: Oxford University Press, 2022), 202.
Authors plus editors or translators
Quick advice on how to reference an edited book:
Use phrases like edited by (ed.), compiled by (comp.) or translated by (trans.) when it is necessary.
Example:
Churchill, Winston. Churchill: The Power of Words. Edited by Martin Gilbert. New York:
Hachette Books, 2024.
Footnote citation:
1. Winston Churchill, Churchill: The Power of Words, ed. Martin Gilbert (New York:
Hachette Books, 2024), 12.
Encyclopedia or dictionary
The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th ed. s.v. “Tradition.”
If there is a need to cite the encyclopedia multiple times on the same page, use s.vv. instead of s.v., and cite all the words after.
You have to specify any edition other than the first in both bibliography and footnotes. Since all words in a dictionary or encyclopedia are typically placed in alphabetical order, no pages are necessary. However, the words must also be arranged in alphabetical order.
Example:
The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th ed. s.vv. “Astronomy,” “Chemistry,” “Tradition,”
“Philosophy.”
Footnote citation:
1. The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th ed., s.v. “Tradition.”
2. The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th ed., s.vv. “Astronomy,” “Chemistry,”
“Tradition,” “Philosophy.”
This color is used to refer to various categories of encyclopedia.
Chapter in an edited book
To illustrate that a book or a chapter was edited or otherwise altered, footnotes and bibliography should include phrases like “edited by” or “ed.”, “compiled by” or “comp.”, or “translated by” or “trans.”
Example:
Rooke, Nickey, and Mark Morson. “Chapter Three: Leading Change and Working with
Others.” In Quality Improvement in Nursing, edited by Gillian Janes and Catherine Delves-Yates, 67-94. London: SAGE, 2022.
Footnote citation:
1. Nickey Rooke and Mark Morson, “Chapter Three: Leading Change and Working
with Others,” in Quality Improvement in Nursing, ed. Gillian Janes and Catherine Delves-
Yates (London: SAGE, 2022), 67-68.
E-book
Including the format of the document is important, so it must be specified. Most common formats are PDF, Kindle, Microsoft Reader, Dejavu, etc. Pages in electronic versions of a book may differ from the original print. You can use chapters or sections of the book as locators.
Example:
Carr, Michelle, and Matthias Beck. Healthcare Management Control: A Research Overview.
London: Routledge, 2022. EPUB.
Footnote citation:
1. Michelle Carr and Matthias Beck, Healthcare Management Control: A Research
Overview (London: Routledge, 2022), chap. 2, EPUB.
Preface, foreword, afterword, or introduction
If the book has several publishers, don’t make your life difficult — include only the first one.
Example:
Lucio, Miguel Martinez. Preface to International Human Resource Management: The
Transformation of Work in a Global Context, edited by Miguel Martinez Lucio and
Robert MacKenzie, xiv-xv. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, 2022.
Footnote citation:
1. Miguel Martinez Lucio, preface to International Human Resource Management:
The Transformation of Work in a Global Context, ed. Miguel Martinez Lucio and Robert
MacKenzie (Thousand Oaks: SAGE, 2022), xiv.
Co-Publishers
Sometimes, books are published in different countries. In that case, include only one version. In case the publishing dates for both authors are different, then you must include them in both Bibliography and footnote citations.
Example:
Singh, Hari, Ravindara Bhatt, Prateek Thakral, and Dinesh Chander Verma, eds. Data
Science for Effective Healthcare Systems. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2021. London:
Routledge, 2022.
Footnote citation:
1. Hari Singh et al., eds., Data Science for Effective Healthcare Systems (Boca Raton:
CRC Press, 2021; London: 2022), 118-120.
Corporate author
Example:
World Health Organization. Advances in Science and Risk Assessment Tools for Vibrio
Parahaemolyticus and V. Vulnificus Associated with Seafood. Rome: Food &
Agriculture Organization, 2021.
Footnote citation:
1. World Health Organization, Advances in Science and Risk Assessment Tools for
Vibrio Parahaemolyticus and V. Vulnificus Associated with Seafood (Rome: Food &
Agriculture Organization, 2021), 14-18.