Chicago Style: Citing Books

• Book with single author
• Book with 2 or 3 authors
• Book with 4 or more authors
• Electronic book
• Book with a translator
• Book with group/corporate author
• Book with no given author
• Book that has been reissued or republished
• Book that is an edition other than the first

Book With One Author

First Footnote/Endnote

1. Finis Dunaway, Natural Visions: The Power of Images in American Environmental Reform (University of Chicago Press, 2005), 15.

Subsequent Footnotes/Endnotes

2. Dunaway, Natural Visions, 200.

Bibliography

LastName, FirstName. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication.

Example

Dunaway, Finis. Natural Visions: The Power of Images in American Environmental Reform. University of Chicago Press, 2005.

Notice:

1. In the footnote, the author's first name is listed first. In the bibliography, the author's last name is listed first.
2. Titles of books are listed in italics.

Book With Two or Three Authors

If the book has two or three authors or editors, list both names in the order that they appear on the title page. Separate the names with commas and write "and" before the last name.

First Footnote/Endnote

1. Myra Sadker and David Sadker, Failing at Fairness: How America's Schools Cheat Girls (Touchstone, 1995), 12.

Subsequent Footnotes/Endnotes

2. Sadker and Sadker, Failing at Fairness, 15.

Bibliography

LastName, FirstName, and FirstName LastName. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication.

Example

Sadker, Myra, and David Sadker. Failing at Fairness: How America's Schools Cheat Girls. Touchstone, 2005.

Notice:

1. In the bibliography, the first author's name is inverted but the second author's name is not.
2. In the bibliography, there is a comma in between the first author's first and last names AND between her last name and the word "and." You write out the full word "and" rather than using the “&” symbol.

Book With Four To Ten Authors

In the footnote or endnote, list only the first author followed by "et al." In the bibliography, you should list all of the authors if there are five or less. If a text has six or more authors, then you list the first three authors and then write "et al." in the Bibliography entry. 

First Footnote/Endnote

1. Paul Boyer et al., The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007), 18.

Subsequent Footnotes/Endnotes

2. Boyer et al., The Enduring Vision, 25.

Bibliography

LastName, FirstName, FirstName LastName, FirstName LastName, FirstName LastName. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication.

Example

Boyer, Paul, Clifford Clark, Joseph Kett, Neil Salisbury, and Harvard Sitkoff. The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2005.

Notice:

1. In the bibliography, the first author's name is inverted but the rest of the authors' names are not.
2. In the bibliography, there is a comma in between the first author's first and last names AND between the second last name and the word "and." You write out the full word "and" rather than using an ampersand (&).

Electronic Book

For books used in an electronic format, indicate the format used at the end of your citation. These are often the service used to access the book, such as Kindle, EPUB, Apple Books, Google Play Books. Because many e-books will not have page numbers, or have page numbers which differ from its printed counterpart, include chapter or section numbers as locators.

When citing a book that you read online, include the web address for the book (DOI or URL) and, if it is time sensitive, the date on which you accessed it.

Downloaded e-book

First Footnote/Endnote

1. Kevin Chong, My Year of the Racehorse: Falling in Love With the Sport of Kings (Greystone Books, 2012), Kindle edition, chapter 10.

Subsequent Footnotes

2. Chong, My Year of the Racehorse, Chapter 4.

Bibliography

LastName, FirstName. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication. E-book format.

Example

Chong, Kevin. My Year of the Racehorse: Falling in Love With the Sport of Kings. Greystone Books, 2012. Kindle edition.

Books Used Online

First Footnote/Endnote

1. Walter L. Adamson, Avant-grade Florence: From Modernism to Fascism (Harvard University Press, 1993), 82, https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/3r074v01q. 

Subsequent Footnote/Endnotes

2. Adamson, Avante-garde Florence, 12.

Bibliography

LastName, FirstName. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication. URL

Example

Adamson, Walter L. Avant-garde Florence: From Modernism to Fascism. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993. http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pagevieweridx?c=acls;cc=acls;rgn=fu... =image;seq=00000005

Notice:

1. When a URL is too long to fit on one line, create a break where there is punctuation (period, slash, dash); do not add a hypen to the URL. The break comes after a single or double slash and before a period, comma, tilde, hyphen or underline. A line break can come before or after an ampersand or equals sign.

Book With A Translator

If a book has a translator, write the abbreviation "trans." after the name of the translator.

First Footnote/Endnote

3. Menander, Plays and Fragments, trans. Norma Miller (London: Penguin, 1987), 12.

Subsequent Footnotes/Endnotes

6. Meander, Plays and Fragments, 82.

Bibliography

LastName, FirstName. Title of Book. Translated by FirstName LastName. Publisher, Year of Publication.

Example

Meander. Plays and Fragments. Translated by Norma Miller. Penguin, 1987.

Notice:

While they are vital to our understanding of the text, do not include the translator in the author section. If you are citing multiple translations of the same book, include the translator in your shortened footnote.

Book With Group or Corporate Author

Some texts have a corporation, organization, association, or institution listed as their author rather than an individual. In such cases, the name of the organization is put in place of the author's name.

First Footnote/Endnote

1. American Psychological Association, Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed. (American Psychological Association, 2010), 25.

Subsequent Footnotes/Endnotes

3. American Psychological Association, Publication Manual, 25.

Bibliography

Group or Corporate Name. Title of Book. Number of ed. Publisher, Year of Publication.

Example

American Psychological Association. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 6th ed. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 2010.

Book With No Given Author

If a work has no author, editor, or other contributor, begin the note or bibliographic entry with the title of the work. Leave out articles such as "The" or "A" at the beginning of the title. If a book is only listed by the editor or translator, provide that information.

First Footnote/Endnote

1. 1990 Stoddart Restaurant Guide to Toronto (Toronto: Stoddart, 1990), 10.

Subsequent Footnotes/Endnotes

3. 1990 Stoddart, 15.

Bibliography

Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication.

Example

1990 Stoddart Restaurant Guide. Stoddart, 1990.

Notice:

1. In this example, for a work with no author, the title includes numbers which can make it tricky for your bibliography. Treat numerals as if they are in word form.  This entry would be listed alphabetically under "N" for "nineteen ninety".

Book that has been Reissued or Republished

First Footnote/Endnote

1. T. J. Jackson Lears, No Place of Grace: Antimodernism and the Transformation of American Culture, 1880-1920 (1981; reis., University of Chicago Press, 1994), 24.

Subsequent Footnotes/Endnotes

2. Lears, No Place of Grace, 200.

Bibliography

LastName, FirstName. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication. Original Publication information.

Example:

Lears, T. J. Jackson. No Place of Grace: Antimodernism and the Transformation of American Culture. University of Chicago Press, 1994. First published 1981 by Pantheon.

Notice:

1. In the footnote, the original date of publication is listed first and is followed by the publisher and date of reissue. In the footnote, "reis." is used as an abbreviation for reissued. In the bibliography, the publisher and date of reissue are listed first. The original publication date and publisher are listed last. If you do not know the original publisher, simple write "First published 1981" and do not specify the publisher's name.

Edition Other Than the First

When referencing a book that is an edition other than the first, write the edition number or description after the title followed by the abbreviation “ed.”

First Footnote/Endnote

1. Wayne Weiten and Doug McCann, Psychology: Themes and Variations, 2nd Canadian ed. (Nelson Education, 2010), 13.

Subsequent Footnotes/Endnotes

2. Weiten and McCann, Psychology, 212.

Bibliography

LastName, FirstName. Title of Book. Edition. Publisher, Year of Publication.

Example

Weiten, Wayne and Doug McCann. Psychology: Themes and Variations. 2nd Canadian ed. Touchstone, 2005.