The Citation Parts of the Chicago Style
The Chicago style provides its users with guidelines to follow to cite a variety of resource materials. However, knowing the common citation parts that most works share, such as author, title, format, date, and location, will help make creating your citations easier – especially when working with new and emerging publishing platforms.
Depending on the source you are using, you may not need to include all of the parts, but the parts used must appear in the same order and using the punctuation marks as the Chicago Manual of Style requires.
The ways in which parts are ordered, formatted, and punctuated vary depending on the type of resource you are citing. To look at specific formatting formulas and citation examples, visit the various sub-tabs under the "Citation Examples" page.
Chicago Citation Parts in Brief
The following are examples of a few of the most commonly used citation parts in the Chicago style. If you are uncertain about the parts of a citation, check with your instructor, visit the Library Research Help Desk, or contact AskAway.
Author
The author(s) or creator(s) of the work. Consists of a first name and last name, and sometimes middle initials.
Title of article, chapter, or webpage
Title of the work. Subtitles are included after the main title, and separated from the main title using a full colon ":".
Title of journal, book, or website
This is the name of the journal, website, newspaper, etc. that contains the work you are referring to.
Other contributors
This refers to other people who were involved with the work, such as an editor, narrator, or translator.
Version
Use this when your source indicates it is a different version from the original, e.g., revised edition, 8th edition, or director's cut.
Number
This element is used to refer to volume numbers in books, volume and/or issue numbers in journals, seasons and episodes in television shows, etc.
Publisher (or sponsor of website)
The publisher is the organization responsible for making the source available to the public, whether in print or online.
Date
This is the date when the source was published. In the case of online resources, date can also be used to indicate the date the information was last updated or accessed.
Publication place
This refers to the city or place the source was published.
Pages
This refers to the page location of your source. For example, the page numbers of an article in a journal or magazine, or the pages of a chapter in a book.
URL or DOI
For online resources, use the URL to indicate where you found the article. Wherever possible, use a persistent or stable URL, or "permalink". Many resources found using Library Databases have been assigned a DOI. In cases where both URL and DOIs are available, use the DOI instead.
Format
When referencing audiovisual media, including CDs, DVDs, VHS, film, and digital formats such as MPEG, MP3, and WAV, the format of the resources are included in the citation.