Skip to Main Content

Chicago Style Guide - 17th Edition

E-books and Books

Citations for E-books and Books

The formatting of citations for electronic books draws heavily from the formulas used for print books. In fact, e-books are cited the same as print books with one extra piece of information added at the end of the citation:

  • E-books read on a device/eReader: add the format accessed – e.g., Microsoft Reader e-book, Kindle edition, PDF e-book, and CD-ROM. 
  • Online e-books: add the DOI or URL the resource was accessed at.
  • When citing a URL, use a stable url or permalink whenever possible.

See the "Books" sub-tab of this guide for more variations on citation formatting for books. All of these guidelines are applicable to e-book citations, just remember to add the e-book format or DOI/URL to the end of the citation.

E-books

FORMAT

Author's LastName, FirstName. Title of E-book. PlacePublished: Publisher, Year. DOI, URL or e-book type edition.

EXAMPLE

Antokoletz, Elliot. Musical Symbolism in the Operas of Debussy and Bartok. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195365825.001.0001.

FOOTNOTE FORM

11. Elliot Antokoletz, Musical Symbolism in the Operas of Debussy and Bartok (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195365825.001.0001.

MORE DETAILS

  • If a book is available in more than one format, you should cite the version that you consulted.
  • When citing the online version of a book, cite it like the print version, but add the URL (or DOI if available) or e-book format (e.g., Kindle, PDF e-book, Microsoft Reader e-book, ProQuest Ebrary) at the end of the citation.
  • If no fixed pages numbers are available, you may include the chapter number, section or other suitable locator.
  • Chicago style indicates that when citing web sources you can include publication dates and/or access dates if they are available. Depending on the requirements of your paper, use your own best judgment. When in doubt, check with your instructor.

EXAMPLE

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. New York: Penguin Classics, 2007. Kindle.

FOOTNOTE FORM

12. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (New York: Penguin Classics, 2007), chap. 8, Kindle.


EXAMPLE

Kurland, Philip B., and Ralph Lerner, eds. The Founders’ Constitution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987. Accessed March 25, 2011. http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/.

FOOTNOTE FORM

13. Philip B. Kurland and Ralph Lerner, eds., The Founders’ Constitution (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987), accessed March 25, 2011, http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/.


EXAMPLE

Sirosh, Joseph, Risto Miikkulainen, and James A. Bednar. “Self-Organization of Orientation Maps, Lateral Connections, and Dynamic Receptive Fields in the Primary Visual Cortex.” In Lateral Interactions in the Cortex: Structure and Function, edited by Joseph Sirosh, Risto Miikkulainen, and Yoonsuck Choe. Austin, TX: UTCS Neural Networks Research Group, 1996. http://nn.cs.utexas.edu/web-pubs/htmlbook96/. 

FOOTNOTE FORM

7. Joseph Sirosh, Risto Miikkulainen, and James A. Bednar, “Self-Organization of Orientation Maps,Lateral Connections, and Dynamic Receptive Fields in the Primary Visual Cortex,” in Lateral Interactions in the Cortex: Structure and Function, ed. Joseph Sirosh, Risto Miikkulainen, and Yoonsuck Choe (Austin, TX: UTCS Neural Networks Research Group, 1996), in section “Dynamic Receptive Fields, http://nn.cs.utexas.edu/web-pubs/htmlbook96/.