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Chicago Style Guide, for 17th Edition

Books / E-Books

Introduction

         The method for citing books serves as a model for constructing bibliographic entries in many other types of sources. A complete reference should always contain enough information to enable any reader to locate the book (either physically or digitally). There are 8 elements to each entry (depending on your source, some elements will be omitted). Remember that each element is separated by a period.
 

  1. Author: full name of author(s) or editor(s) or, if no author or editor is listed, name of editors or institution standing in their place (Lastname, Firstname for the first author, Firstname Lastname for any subsequent authors)
  2. Title: full title of the book, including subtitle if there is one, written in italicized characters with all major words capitalized. If referencing a chapter write (chapter name) in (book title), encasing the chapter title in quotation marks, and writing the book title in italicized characters.
  3. Editor: compiler, or translator, if any, preceded with ‘Edited by’ (firstname lastname).
  4. Edition: if not the first (e.g. 4th ed.)
  5. Volume: total number of volumes if multivolume work is referred to as a whole; individual number if single volume of multivolume work is cited, and title of individual volume if applicable (title written in italicized characters and preceded by ‘of’).
  6. Series title:, if applicable and volume number within series if series is numbered.
  7. Publication Facts  (e.g. city, publisher and date).
  8. URL/DOI/Medium: (For electronic books accessed online) , or, for other types of electronic books, an indication of the medium consulted (e.g. Kindle e-book, CD-ROM)

Basic Layout

(Footnote/Endnote)

Author Lastname, Firstname (additional authors firstname lastname). “Chapter of Book” in Title of Book. Edited by Firstname Lastname. nth ed. vol. #, of volume title. City of Publication: Publisher, Year. URL/DOI/Medium.
 

(Author-Date)

Author Lastname, Firstname (additional authors firstname lastname). Publication Year. “Chapter of Book” in Title of Book. Edited by Firstname Lastname. nth ed. vol. #, of volume title. City of Publication: Publisher. URL/DOI/Medium.

Examples
(Footnote/Endnote & Author-Date)

(FN/EN)

Shields, David. The Thing about Life Is That One Day You’ll Be Dead.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2008.

Samples, John. “The Origins of Modern Campaign Finance Law.” Chap. 7 in The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006.

(A-D)

Shields, David. 2008. The Thing about Life is That One Day You’ll Be Dead. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Samples, John. 2006. “The Origins of Modern Campaign Finance Law.” Chap. 7 in The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

(FN/EN)

Levitt, Steven D. and Stephen J. Dubner. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. New York: William Morrow, 2005.

(A-D)

Levitt, Steven D. and Stephen J. Dubner. 2005. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. New York: William Morrow.

(FN/EN)

Greenberg, Joel, ed. Of Prairie, Woods, and Water: Two Centuries of Chicago Nature Writing.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.

(A-D)

Greenberg, Joel, ed. 2008. Of Prairie, Woods, and Water: Two Centuries of Chicago Nature Writing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

(FN/EN)

Bonnefoy, Yves. New and Selected Poems. Edited by John Naughton and Anthony Rudolf. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.

(A-D)

Bonnefoy, Yves. 1995. New and Selected Poems. Edited by John Naughton and Anthony Rudolf. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

(FN/EN)

Harper-Dorton, Karen V. and Martin Herbert. Working with children, Adolescents, and Their Families, 3rd ed. Chicago: Lyceum Books, 2002.

(A-D)

Harper-Dorton, Karen V. and Martin Herbert. 2002.Working with children, Adolescents, and Their Families, 3rd ed. Chicago: Lyceum Books.

(FN/EN)

Edel, Leon, ed. The Complete Tales of Henry James. vol. 5, 1883-1884. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1963.

(A-D)

Edel, Leon, ed. 1963. The Complete Tales of Henry James. vol. 5, 1883-1884. London: Rupert Hart-Davis.

(FN/EN)

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.

The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. CD-ROM, 1.4.

(A-D)

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

The Chicago Manual of Style.2003. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. CD-ROM, 1.4.