Free Online Citation Generator (Chicago) Tool

1. Select the source type, then choose notes-bibliography or author-date format.
2. Enter the author(s), title, container, year and any volume, issue, pages or URL.
3. Read the bibliography entry and the matching footnote or parenthetical citation.
4. Copy each part separately for your footnotes and your bibliography.

The Chicago Manual of Style, published by the University of Chicago Press, is in its 17th edition (2017) and offers two distinct documentation systems. Notes-bibliography style, favoured in history and the humanities, cites sources in numbered footnotes or endnotes and lists them again in a bibliography. Author-date style, favoured in the sciences and social sciences, uses parenthetical (Author Year) citations in the text with a matching reference list.

The two systems punctuate the same source differently. In notes-bibliography, a bibliography entry separates elements with periods and inverts the first author's name for alphabetising, while the footnote uses commas and lists the name in normal order. In author-date, the year moves up next to the author, mirroring APA. This tool lets you switch between the two modes and shows the appropriate output, with book titles and journal names italicised and article titles in quotation marks.

Chicago is known for the depth of its rules — it handles archival material, multivolume works, and discursive notes that few other styles address. The 17th edition expanded guidance on citing social media and other online sources. Because Chicago's coverage is so broad, always check complex sources against the manual itself. All formatting happens locally in your browser, with nothing uploaded.