Hold up, fam! You've just stumbled into the ultimate cheat sheet for Chicago Style in-text citations. Don't let the fancy name fool you; this ain't some ancient scroll only professors can decode. It's basically a secret handshake you use when you borrow a super cool idea from someone else's book or website. If you're 12 and thinking, "Ugh, another rule?" I hear you, but trust me, this is way less complicated than remembering to take out the trash.
We're going to break this down into bite-sized, hilariously easy steps. Get ready to level up your paper game from "meh" to "OMG, they know their stuff!"
The Lowdown: Two Types of Chicago Citations
Before we get to the steps, you gotta know there are two main squads in Chicago-land:
Notes and Bibliography (N-B): This is the OG, the fancy one. You use little superscript numbers in your text (like , , etc.) and then stick the full info at the bottom of the page in a footnote. Super stylish. This is the one we'll focus on because it's the most common for history papers and stuff like that.
Author-Date: This one is chill, used more in science and social studies. You just put the author's last name and the year in parentheses, like (Smith 2023). Easy peasy, but let's stick to the N-B for the big guide.
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| How To Do Chicago Style In Text Citations |
Step 1: Catching the Vibe and Dropping the Footnote
This is where the magic starts. You read something epic, and you want to use it in your paper. Slay. Now you gotta tell everyone where you got it.
1.1 Quoting vs. Paraphrasing: What's the Diff?
Quoting: You take the author's words exactly as they wrote them. It's a direct copy-paste (but only a sentence or two, don't be a bandit!). You wrap these bad boys in quotation marks ("Like this").
Paraphrasing: You take the author's idea and rewrite it in your own words. It's like summarizing a movie for your friend. You don't use quotation marks, but you still need a citation, because the idea isn't yours.
1.2 Dropping the Superscript: The Tiny Number Secret
Tip: Don’t skim past key examples.
Once you've dropped the quote or the paraphrase, you need to sneak in the citation. You do this by adding a tiny number right after the punctuation mark (like a period or a comma).
Example: Tater tots are the real MVP of breakfast foods. (See how the is tiny and comes after the period? It's clutch.)
This tiny number is called a superscript. It points your reader down to the bottom of the page, which is our next step!
Step 2: The Footnote Fiesta (Where the Real Info Lives)
The footnote is where you spill all the tea about your source. It sits at the bottom of the page (that's the "foot" of the "note"—makes sense, right?). It starts with the same number you used in the text.
2.1 First Time's the Charm: The Full Note
The very first time you mention a source, you gotta give the full deets. Think of it like a formal intro: "Meet my main source, The History of Snarky Tacos by Reginald Awesome!"
The order is super important, so don't mix it up. Here's the recipe for a book:
Real Example (First Note):
Reginald Awesome, The History of Snarky Tacos (New York: Flimsy Press, 2025), 45.
Real Example (Website): Websites are a little different and need a URL.
Jane Doe, "Why Cats Are Secret Geniuses," https://www.google.com/search?q=CatFanatics.com, accessed June 1, 2026,
https://www.catfanatics.com/geniuses
Pro Tip: Websites need an "accessed" date because they can disappear faster than your allowance.
QuickTip: Look for lists — they simplify complex points.
2.2 Short and Sweet: The Repeat Note
Okay, so you mentioned Reginald Awesome's taco book once, and now you want to cite it again a few paragraphs later. You don't have to write the whole thing out again! That would be a major vibe killer.
For a repeat citation, you use a shorter version. It only needs the author's last name, a shortened title (if the title is long), and the page number.
Real Example (Second Note for the Taco Book):
Awesome, Snarky Tacos, 88.
See? Super chill. Just the last name, a few words from the title, and the new page number.
Step 3: The Bibliography Backup (Your Source Hall of Fame)
This is the very last page of your paper, and it’s a list of every single source you used. It's called the Bibliography. It’s basically your paper's flex list of all the cool research you did.
3.1 The Order of Operations
It should be on its own page, titled Bibliography.
All entries are listed in alphabetical order by the author’s last name.
The formatting is slightly different from the footnote! Pay attention!
3.2 Footnote vs. Bibliography: The Great Flip
QuickTip: Don’t ignore the small print.
The main difference is that you flip the author’s name (Last Name, First Name) and use periods instead of commas in a lot of spots. This is not a drill.
Footnote (Remember this one?):
Reginald Awesome, The History of Snarky Tacos (New York: Flimsy Press, 2025), 45.
Bibliography Entry (The Final Form):
Awesome, Reginald. The History of Snarky Tacos. New York: Flimsy Press, 2025.
Notice how:
Awesome comes before Reginald.
The page number is gone.
The parentheses around the publication info are gone.
Periods are used to separate the main chunks.
And that, my friend, is how you nail the Chicago Style. It’s all about the tiny number in the text, the full info at the bottom of the page, and the complete list at the end. You're basically a citation ninja now. Go forth and write your paper!
FAQ: Your Quick Citation Help Desk
How to format a book title in the text?
Italicize the title of a full book, like The Secret History of Pizza.
How to cite a source I already used?
Use a shortened note with just the author's last name, a short title, and the new page number.
How to know if I should use a footnote?
QuickTip: Revisit posts more than once.
Every time you use a direct quote or paraphrase a specific idea that isn't general knowledge, you need a footnote.
How to cite a website with no author?
Start the footnote with the title of the webpage instead of an author's name.
How to put the footnote number in the paper?
Place the tiny, superscript number right after the punctuation mark (period or comma) at the end of the sentence or clause.
How to format the date on a website citation?
Use the full date (like October 26, 2026) and add the word "accessed" before it in the footnote.
How to tell the difference between a footnote and a bibliography entry?
The footnote uses commas and includes the page number. The bibliography entry uses periods, flips the author's name, and does not include the page number.
How to alphabetize the bibliography?
List all sources in A-Z order based on the author’s last name. If there is no author, use the first main word of the title.
How to cite a chapter in a book?
Use quotation marks around the chapter title and italicize the main book title.
How to handle a long quote (more than two sentences)?
For quotes longer than four or five lines, you set it off as a "block quote" (indented from the margin) and don't use quotation marks. The footnote number goes after the final punctuation of the block quote.
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