This guide shows you how to cite correctly in Chicago 17th edition — the foundation of academic integrity. PaperDraft helps you format citations as you draft, so you practice sound attribution, not evasion.
The Chicago Manual of Style is the default reference for history, art history, and much academic publishing, and the 17th edition (2017) remains current. Chicago is unusual in offering two distinct citation systems, used by different fields. Getting the system right is the first decision — everything downstream depends on it.
Two systems — which do you use?
- Notes-Bibliography (NB) uses footnotes or endnotes, plus a bibliography at the end. This is the humanities system — history, literature, the arts. If your course assigns "Chicago" without qualification in a humanities context, it almost always means NB.
- Author-Date (AD) uses parenthetical in-text citations (Author Year, Page) and a reference list. This is the social-sciences system — sociology, anthropology, some political science. Chicago AD resembles APA structurally, but punctuation and capitalization differ.
If you are unsure which system your course expects, ask your instructor before you start drafting.
Notes-Bibliography (NB)
First footnote and shortened footnote
The first time you cite a source, use the full form:
¹ Jane R. Smith, Attention and Narrative (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020), 45.
Every subsequent citation of the same source uses the short form:
² Smith, Attention, 52.
Chicago 17th dropped the use of ibid. for immediately repeated citations in favor of the short form every time — though older publications still use ibid.
Bibliography entry
Bibliography entries invert the first author's name and end with a period:
Smith, Jane R. Attention and Narrative. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.
Core NB examples
Book chapter in edited volume (first note):
³ Kevin L. Jones, "Attention in Early Modern Drama," in Handbook of Renaissance Studies, ed. Margaret Brown and Paul Green (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2019), 50.
Journal article (first note):
⁴ Jane R. Smith and Kevin L. Jones, "Mediators of Attention in Victorian Fiction," Journal of Literary Studies 113, no. 4 (2021): 515, https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000456.
News article (first note):
⁵ Peter Harris, "New Findings in Attention Research," The Guardian, March 14, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/mar/14/attention-research.
Primary source / archival document (first note):
⁶ John Adams to Abigail Adams, May 17, 1776, Adams Family Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Author-Date (AD)
In-text citation
Chicago AD uses (Author Year, Page):
Attention mediates the effect (Smith 2020, 45).
For narrative: Smith (2020, 45) argues that attention mediates the effect.
Reference list entry
Smith, Jane R. 2020. Attention and Narrative. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
The year moves forward, directly after the author. Otherwise the format is close to NB's bibliography.
Journal article (AD):
Smith, Jane R., and Kevin L. Jones. 2021. "Mediators of Attention in Victorian Fiction." Journal of Literary Studies 113 (4): 512–30. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000456.
Edge cases
Source cited in another source. Avoid if possible — always try to locate the original. When necessary, cite in NB as:
⁷ Adams, Diary, as quoted in Smith, Attention, 78.
AD: (Adams 1776, quoted in Smith 2020, 78).
Translations. In NB: "John Adams, The Complete Diary, trans. Henry Fielding (Boston: Harvard UP, 2020), 45." In AD, similarly with the translator after the title.
Archival sources. Identify the collection, box/folder if relevant, and repository. Chicago NB permits longer descriptive notes for archival material than other styles.
Generative AI. Chicago's 17th-edition guidance treats AI-generated content carefully: cite in a note only, not in the bibliography. Example note:
⁸ ChatGPT, response to "prompt text here," OpenAI, March 14, 2023.
Disclose broader use per your program's policy.
Multiple authors. NB first note lists up to ten authors in full; eleven or more lists the first seven and "et al." Shortened notes and bibliography follow similar rules. AD follows APA-like conventions with et al. for three or more.
Common mistakes
- Mixing NB and AD. You pick one system and use it throughout.
- Using "ibid." when the 17th edition has deprecated it. Use the short form instead.
- Forgetting the comma after the publisher location. NB requires: "Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020."
- Inconsistent capitalization of titles. Chicago uses headline capitalization in both systems.
- Formatting journal volume and issue incorrectly. In NB full note: Journal 113, no. 4 (2021): 515. In AD: Journal 113 (4): 512–30.
- Forgetting to include the access date for unstable web sources. Chicago recommends including it for time-sensitive pages (news, wikis).
How PaperDraft helps
PaperDraft stubs Chicago citations in your chosen system — NB or AD — as you draft. It knows the difference between a first footnote and a short one, between a bibliography and a reference list, and where italics and quotation marks belong. It does not verify that your citation matches the source you actually read. That verification — opening the book, matching the edition, confirming the page — is the part of academic integrity no tool can do for you. See our academic responsibility guide for the full frame.
Frequently asked questions
Notes-Bibliography or Author-Date — which do I use?
Notes-Bibliography for history, literary studies, art history, philosophy, and most humanities. Author-Date for sociology, anthropology, and social sciences influenced by Chicago. Your course's style guide or your supervisor will specify.
Do I still use ibid. in Chicago 17th?
The 17th edition prefers the short form (Smith, Attention, 52) over ibid. Older papers and some older style guides still use ibid. — follow your current course expectation.
How many authors before using et al.?
In NB, list up to ten authors in full; use et al. for eleven or more, listing the first seven. In AD, use et al. for three or more in-text citations but list up to ten in the reference list.
How do I cite an archive or primary source?
Name the item specifically, identify the collection and repository, and include box and folder numbers where relevant. Chicago NB allows for discursive notes on archival material — this is a strength of the NB system.
Is Chicago the same as Turabian?
Turabian is a student-oriented adaptation of Chicago. The core citation formats are identical; Turabian trims some options Chicago includes for professional publishing. See our Turabian guide for the student version.
How should I disclose the use of a drafting tool in Chicago papers?
Chicago treats AI-generated content in citations as described above. For broader drafting-tool disclosure, consult your program's policy; our disclosure guide walks through current expectations.