The Chicago Manual of Style: Footnotes and Endnotes

Chicago manual of style has two styles: one that uses endnotes and footnotes, and one that uses parenthetical citations. See our Chicago Style author-date resource if your discipline uses parenthetical citations.

The Chicago Manual of Style is a reference and style guide that uses footnotes or endnotes. It is most often used in the humanities because the thorough information in the citation is useful to other researchers.

For information on the citation format for sources not covered in this guide, refer to the Chicago Manual of Style, 17thed.

Documenting Sources

Sources must be documented in two places: in a bibliography, and either in footnotes or endnotes.

Two puzzle pieces, labelled "footnote/endnote" and "bibliography", come together to make the complete chicago citation.

Sample Paragraph

In the 1840s, a camera cost only $5, but developing images was prohibitively expensive, and only those above the middle class could participate in a hobby that required such a significant financial investment.1 The financial constraints of daguerreotype photography forced all Canadian practitioners to engage with the medium as an occupation instead of as a hobby,2 and in spite of the high costs, many entrepreneurs saw photography as a potentially profitable endeavour. To offset the cost of production, Canadian daguerreotype photographers charged an exorbitant amount, typically ranging between $3 and $5 for one image, making it a luxury item only available to wealthy individuals such as John A. Macdonald or Louis Joseph Papineau, both of whom sat for portraits.3

1 Seiberling and Bloore, Amateurs, Photography, and the Mid-Victorian Imagination, 4; Taylor, Impressed by Light, vii, 57.

2 Ralph Greenhill, Early Photography in Canada (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1965), 22. 

3 Ralph Greenhill and Andrew J. Birrell, Canadian Photography, 1839-1920 (Toronto: Coach House Press, 1979), 25; Colleen Skidmore, “Women Workers in Notman’s Studio. ‘Young Ladies of the Printing Room,’” History of Photography 20, no. 2 (1996): 127; [Unknown Photographer]. Daguerreotype. Daguerreotype of John A. Macdonald. [n.d.]. PA-121571. John A. Macdonald family locket [graphic material]. R14218-0-6-E. Acc. 1968-086. LAC; Thomas Coffin Doane. Daguerreotype. Louis-Joseph Papineau (1786-1871), politician. c 1852. Mikan no. 3195235. 1974-095 NPC.

Footnotes and Endnotes: Guidelines

Insert a footnote or an endnote when you use a direct quote, paraphrase information, or need to add further explanation to your text. Check with your discipline to see if footnotes or endnotes are preferred. Footnotes are placed in the footer section of each page, while endnotes are placed in a separate section directly following your text but preceding your bibliography. Both are single spaced.

To create a footnote or endnote, use a superscript. Number your notes sequentially throughout the entire paper, and match the citation to the corresponding number in the footnote/endnote location.

Footnotes and endnotes tell readers exactly where you found specific information. Because footnotes and endnotes are meant to reflect the location of your evidence, they can contain the citation information for more than one source. See note 3 in the sample above.

If you are using endnotes instead of footnotes, your list will appear as it does in the example above, but on a separate sheet at the end of your essay, before your bibliography.

Bibliography: Guidelines

The bibliography is a list of all material you consulted for your project, even if you did not cite it in your text. Sources are listed alphabetically in a section titled “Bibliography” that is placed at the very end of your assignment.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Chicago Footnotes and Endnotes uses hanging indents in the bibliography which the following entries do not contain. They should be used as an example of the information to include in your bibliography. For page formatting, see the sample bibliography at the end of this resource.

Citation Format for Different Kinds of Sources

BOOKS

One Author

Footnote or Endnote

1. First name Last name, Title (City: Publisher, Publication year), Page number.

1. Ty Hawkins, Reading Vietnam Amid the War on Terror (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), 34.

Corresponding Bibliography Entry

Last name, First name. Title. City: Publisher, Publication year.

Hawkins, Ty. Reading Vietnam Amid the War on Terror. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

Multiple Authors

Footnote or Endnote

5. First name Last name and First name Last name, Title (City: Publisher, Publication year), Page number.

5. Rozsika Parker and Griselda Pollock, Old Mistresses: Women, Art and Ideology (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2013), 24.

Corresponding Bibliography Entry

Last name, First name, and First name Last name. Title. City: Publisher, Publication year.

Parker, Rozsika, and Griselda Pollock. Old Mistresses: Women, Art and Ideology. New York: I.B. Tauris, 2013.

Section within an Edited Collection

Footnote or Endnote

9. First name Last name, "Title of Section," in Title of Book, ed. First name Last name (City: Publisher, Publication year), Page number.

9. Jennifer Salahub, “Hannah Maynard: Crafting Professional Identity,” in Rethinking Professionalism Women and Art in Canada, 1850-1970, ed. Kristina Huneault and Janice Anderson (Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2012), 157.

Corresponding Bibliography Entry

Last name, First name. "Title of Section." In Title of Book, edited by First name Last name, Page range of section. City: Publisher, Publication year.

Salahub, Jennifer. “Hannah Maynard: Crafting Professional Identity.” In Rethinking Professionalism Women and Art in Canada, 1850-1970, edited by Kristina Huneault and Janice Anderson, 135-67. Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2012.

Electronic Books

Footnote or Endnote

2. First name Last name, Title of Book (City: Publisher, Publication (year), URL.

2. Laurel Sefton MacDowell, An Environmental History of Canada (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2012), http://www.URL.ca.

Corresponding Bibliography Entry

Last name, First name. Title of Book. City: Publisher, Publication year. URL.

MacDowell, Laurel Sefton. An Environmental History of Canada. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2012. http://www.URL.ca.

PERIODICALS OR JOURNAL ARTICLES

Journals

Footnote or Endnote

6. First name Last name, “Article Title,” Journal Title volume number, issue number (publication year): page number.

6. Penny Tinkler, “A Fragmented Picture: Reflections on the Photographic Practices of Young People,” Visual Studies 23, no. 3 (2008): 255-66.

Corresponding Bibliography Entry

Last name, First name. “Article Title.” Journal Title volume number, issue number (publication year): page range.

Tinkler, Penny. “A Fragmented Picture: Reflections on the Photographic Practices of Young People.” Visual Studies 23, no. 3 (2008): 255-66.

Electronic Journals

Footnote or Endnote

8. First name Last name, “Article Title,” Journal Title volume number, issue number (Publication year): page number, access date, URL.

8. Erin A. Cech and Tom J. Waidzunas, “Navigating the Heteronormativity of Engineering: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students,” Engineering Studies 3, no. 1 (2011): 1-24, accessed January 7, 2012, doi:10.1080/19378629.2010.545065.

Corresponding Bibliography Entry

Last name First name. "Article Title.” Journal Title Volume number, Issue number (Publication year): Page range. Accessed date. URL or DOI.

Cech, Erin A., and Tom J. Waidzunas. “Navigating the Heteronormativity of Engineering: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students.” Engineering Studies 3, no. 1 (2011): 1-24. 1 June 2015. doi: 10.1080/19378629.2010.545065.

NEWSPAPERS

In the Chicago style, daily newspapers are not usually included in a bibliography. Instead, attribution may be given to information from a daily newspaper in footnotes or endnotes. Please refer to The Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition for more information.

WEB SOURCES

Webpage with Known Author and Date

Footnote or Endnote

7. First name Last name, “Webpage Title,” Publisher or Website Name, Last modified full date, URL.

7. Jim Wilson, “Journey to Mars,” NASA, Last modified April 20, 2016, http://www.URL.ca.

Corresponding Bibliography Entry

Last name, First name. “Webpage Title.” Publisher or Website Name. Last modified date. URL.

Wilson, Jim. “Journey to Mars.” NASA. Last modified April 20, 2016.  http://www.URL.ca.

Webpage with Unknown Author and Date

Footnote or Endnote

9. “Webpage Title,” Publisher or Website Name, Accessed date, URL.

9. “Dogs of Canada,” Canadian Dog Association, accessed May 1, 2016, http://www.URL.ca.

Corresponding Bibliography Entry

Publisher or Website Name. “Webpage Title.” Accessed date. URL.

Canadian Dog Association. “Dogs of Canada.” Accessed May 1, 2016. http://www.URL.ca.

Online multimedia

Footnote or Endnote

1. First name Last name of Performer, Writer or Creator, Title of Text, Publication date, indication of format/medium, Running time, URL.

1. John Lee, Live in Toronto, May 20, 2012, video blog, 4:23, http://www.URL.ca.

Corresponding Bibliography Entry

Last name, First name of Performer, Writer or Creator. Title of Text. Indication of medium, Running time. Publication date. URL.

Lee, John. Live in Toronto. Video blog, 4:23. May 20, 2012. http://www.URL.ca.

ARTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS

Footnote or Endnote

4. First name Last name, Title, Year, Medium, Dimensions. Repository, City.

4. Yousuf Karsh, Martin Luther King (1929-1968), 1962, gelatin silver print, 49.6 x 40 cm. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

Corresponding Bibliography Entry

Last name, First name. Title. Year. Medium. Dimensions. Repository, City. URL.

Karsh, Yousuf. Martin Luther King (1929-1968). 1962. Gelatin silver print. 49.6 x 40 cm. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. http://www.URL.ca.

INDIRECT INFORMATION

The use of a source that was found in another source is discouraged, but if the original source is absolutely unavailable, use “quoted in” to show where you found the information. In these cases, first provide the full citation information for the original source. Following “quoted in,” provide the full citation information for the secondary source using the appropriate source formatting (as detailed above).

Footnote or Endnote

6. First name Last name of original author, Title of Original Source (Publication City of Original Source: Publisher of Original Source, Publication Year of Original Source), page number of original source, quoted in…

6. Susan Sontag, On Photography (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1977), 24, quoted in Payne, Carol J. The Official Picture: The National Film Board of Canada’s Still Photography Division and the Image of Canada, 1941-1971, 2013.

Corresponding Bibliography Entry

Last name, First name of original author. Title of Original Source. Publication City of Original Source: Publisher of Original Source, Publication year of Original Source. Quoted in…

Sontag, Susan. On Photography. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1977. Quoted in Payne, Carol J. The Official Picture: The National Film Board of Canada’s Still Photography Division and the Image of Canada, 1941-1971, 2013.

What to do when bibliographic information is missing

  • Missing author: Cite by title
  • Missing date: Use n.d. in place of the date
  • Missing publisher: Use n.p. in place of the publisher
  • Missing place of publication: Use n.l. in place of the location

Sample Bibliography

Please note that a reference list will always occur on its own page. Review a sample bibliography (PDF).