Citation, Documentation of Sources

A. Students would cite their own work as if they were referring to themselves in the third person—or as someone else would cite them. Assuming these previous papers or essays are unpublished, follow the format for citing an unpublished manuscript (see CMOS 14.216). For example,

Smith, Jamelle. “Bartleby’s Refusal as Gen X Flex.” Unpublished manuscript, August 3, 2021.

In the text, however, the student would use a form of the first person to refer to or quote this earlier work:

In “Bartleby’s Refusal as Gen X Flex,” I suggest that . . . [not Smith suggests that]

[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]

A. Let’s assume you’re citing The Life of Queen Victoria, which was published in 1909 with the following title page:

At a minimum, you would stick to the information on the title page, resulting in the following listing in the bibliography:

Argyll, Duke of. The Life of Queen Victoria. London: George Bell and Sons, 1909.

This leaves out the initials for the Order of the Garter (“K.G.”) and the Order of the Thistle (“K.T.”), per CMOS 14.73 (and we’ve also omitted the “The,” which isn’t an important part of the name). To specify which duke, start by adding his name in square brackets (as you might do for a pen name):

Argyll, Duke of [John Douglas Sutherland Campbell]. The Life of Queen Victoria. London: George Bell and Sons, 1909.

If you were to cite several works by that author, including works that were published before he became a duke, you could provide a separate listing under any different name in the form of a cross-reference. For example,

Lorne, Marquis of [John Douglas Sutherland Campbell]. Our Railway to the Pacific. London, 1886.

———. See also Argyll, Duke of.

A similar cross-reference would be added under “Argyll.” See CMOS 14.80, 14.81, and 14.82 for additional considerations and examples. (For citing city and date only for works published before 1900, see CMOS 14.128.)

Finally, if you did want to include the duke’s number—for example, because you’ve cited works by the duke’s father, the 8th Duke of Argyll (George John Douglas Campbell, also a prolific author apparently)—use square brackets: “Argyll, [9th] Duke of.”

[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]

A. A blog post is different from a research paper or a historical monograph. In the latter formats, it’s generally important to record URLs in such a way that they might be assessed as such—and turned into links for a published version as needed. In an online forum like CMOS Shop Talk—unless the subject is URLs—it’s usually a bit more reader-friendly to take this:

Saller, Carol. “Gender-Neutral Pronouns in Creative Writing.” CMOS Shop Talk, April 20, 2021. https://cmosshoptalk.com/2021/04/20/gender-neutral-pronouns-in-creative-writing/.

and turn it into this:

Saller, Carol. “Gender-Neutral Pronouns in Creative Writing.” CMOS Shop Talk, April 20, 2021.

Readers can follow the link in that second version without having to face an eighty-character string whose main function is to tell a network where to go.

[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]

A. You’re facing two possible scenarios: (1) The owner of the copyright has given you formal permission to quote from a particular song or poem. In that case, they may specify the wording they want you to use when giving them credit. Such wording should be followed within reason (see CMOS 3.32). (2) You’re quoting no more than a word or two or simply mentioning or alluding to the song or poem or have otherwise determined that you don’t need permission (see CMOS 4.84–94). In that case, you simply cite the song or poem as you normally would.

A song can usually be mentioned in the text (with attribution) rather than formally cited; if you need something more formal, you’ll find examples at CMOS 14.263. A poem can likewise simply be mentioned in the text. But if it’s part of a collection (as in a book or on a website), cite the larger work. For example, you might mention “Still Life,” by Emma Hine, while citing Stay Safe (Louisville, KY: Sarabande Books, 2021)—the book of poems by Hine where that one is included.

[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]

A. According to CMOS 14.29, a source that’s cited in full in the bibliography need not be cited in full in the notes, even the first time it appears. So yes, in a work that features a bibliography, URLs included there may be omitted from the notes—even if a note appears in full rather than shortened form.

Note that this advice applies mainly to works intended for publication, where space is often at a premium and where readability is a primary consideration. If you’re a student, you should clear it with your instructor, who may prefer not to have to shuttle back and forth between notes and bibliography to double-check URLs and track down sources cited in your paper. See also “Taming Messy URLs” at CMOS Shop Talk for some strategies for making URLs more manageable.

[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]

A. If you have room to include them, and if the URLs are relatively user-friendly, then it is best to do so. For example (in a numbered note):

1. United Press, “French Troops Seize German Cities,” Daily Free Press (Kinston, NC), April 6, 1920, 1, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/75779563/.

It’s true that readers who don’t have access to Newspapers.com will be locked out. But the convenience of being taken directly to a preview of the cited page will outweigh the fact that readers may not have access to the full content without paying for it (or visiting a library that has access).

An alternative is to name the site without providing a direct link (as in this bibliography entry):

Oakland Tribune. “Visions of ’49 Come True in Opening at Gate Bridge.” May 26, 1937, 9. Newspapers.com.

The advantage is a cleaner citation, but the burden is then on the reader to find the article at Newspapers.com using the publication details. For some additional considerations related to URLs and subscription databases, see CMOS 14.9, 14.10, and 14.11.

[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]

A. This debate crops up every now and then. The problem is that URLs are designed to work in the background, where they facilitate links (e.g., to CMOS Shop Talk); they weren’t intended to appear in the run of ordinary text. When they do, Chicago allows not only for periods (as at the end of a footnote, in part to accommodate any text that follows) but also for commas, as in https://cmosshoptalk.com/, and parentheses (cmosshoptalk.com)—and so on for other punctuation. This approach, which prioritizes the surrounding text over the URL, is also used for MLA style, whether in text or notes. APA, on the other hand, leaves out the period after a URL at the end of a reference. We have no plans to change our recommendations, but editors who follow Chicago (or MLA) can help by double-checking that the links—minus any surrounding punctuation—point to the right place.

[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]

A. For the citation, use the date of the numbered journal issue rather than the date the article was originally published online, unless the article has not yet been assigned to a numbered issue. For example, here’s a reference list entry and parenthetical citation for an article in Freshwater Science that was received by the journal on June 17, 2019, accepted for publication on December 4, 2020, and published ahead of print on April 16, 2021—but not yet assigned to an issue:

Savoy, Philip, Emily Bernhardt, Lily Kirk, Matthew J. Cohen, and James B. Heffernan. 2021. “A Seasonally Dynamic Model of Light at the Stream Surface.” Freshwater Science. Published ahead of print, April 16. https://doi.org/10.1086/714270.

(Savoy et al. 2021)

Here’s an article received by that same journal on December 8, 2019, accepted on August 3, 2020, published online on February 12, 2021, and assigned to a numbered issue for March 2021:

Vanlandingham, Amanda L., Richard H. Walker, Adam Alford, and Sally A. Entrekin. 2021. “Intermittency Mediates Macroinvertebrate and Crayfish Effects on Leaf Breakdown in Temperate Headwater Streams.” Freshwater Science 40, no. 1 (March): 21–38. https://doi.org/10.1086/713094.

(Vanlandingham et al. 2021)

Note that many journal publishers include the dates of receipt, acceptance, and online (or ahead-of-print) publication as part of the record for an article once it’s been assigned a place in a numbered issue. If any of those dates are relevant, they can be discussed or noted in the text. The citation, on the other hand, will be most useful if it points to the numbered issue. For preprints, which are cited separately, see CMOS 14.173.

[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]

A. When citing an item in a museum collection, it is usually enough simply to describe it either in a caption or in the text and give credit to the museum. Museum websites usually do most of the work for you. For example, here’s a public-domain image from the website of the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

Borrowing from the museum’s information for the image (which does not cite a creator), your caption might read as follows:

Japanese censer, 19th century (Edo period), stoneware with inlaid design (Yatsushiro ware), 8.3 × 11.1 × 5.7 cm (ht. × rim diam. × foot diam.), Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In the text your description would be more straightforward: “The censer, a nineteenth-century example from the Edo period (1615–1868) in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, . . .” If the lack of a known creator is relevant to the discussion, that can also be mentioned. Artworks don’t usually need to be included in a bibliography, but if you were to include them for any reason, the entry for this one could be listed under the description of the work:

Japanese censer. 19th century. Stoneware with inlaid design (Yatsushiro ware), 8.3 × 11.1 × 5.7 cm (ht. × rim diam. × foot diam.). Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/62537.

For additional examples, see CMOS 14.235. Note that images that are not in the public domain may require permission before they can be reproduced in your work (see CMOS 4.95–105).

[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]

A. A curriculum vitae, like other such informal documents, can usually be cited in the text or in a note rather than in a bibliography or reference list. Because CVs are typically updated from time to time, it can be helpful to frame your mention with a date: “As of April 2021, Professor Smith’s CV listed more than thirty publications in peer-reviewed journals.” In other cases, a date may be unnecessary: “According to her CV, she taught at a high school (Gymnasium) in Göttingen.”

In either case, provide any additional details that readers would need in order to find the document, as in the following note:

1. “Faculty Profiles,” Department of Art History, University of Chicago, URL.

If, however, a teacher or publisher requires a more formal citation, adapt the following examples to suit:

Bibliography:

Smith, Joan. Curriculum Vitae. “Faculty Profiles,” Department of Art History, University of Chicago. Accessed April 6, 2021. URL.

Reference list (author-date):

Smith, Joan. n.d. Curriculum Vitae. “Faculty Profiles,” Department of Art History, University of Chicago. Accessed April 6, 2021. URL.

For access dates, which Chicago requires only for sources without a date of publication or revision, see CMOS 14.12. For the use of “n.d.” (no date) in author-date style, see CMOS 15.50.

[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]