Chicago footnotes: full notes, short notes, bibliography
Chicago’s notes-bibliography system cites a book three ways. Enter your source once and see all three, then step through a page to see where each one goes.
Railroads reorganised the farm economy of the Midwest around a single city.1
1. William Cronon, Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West (New York: W. W. Norton, 1991), 72.
The first note gives full publication facts, with the author in normal order and the facts in parentheses.
How notes-bibliography works
In Chicago’s notes-bibliography system, a superscript number in the text points to a note at the foot of the page (a footnote) or at the end of the paper (an endnote). Notes can also carry commentary, which is one reason historians favour them.
Book, article and website patterns
| Source | First note |
|---|---|
| Book | 1. William Cronon, Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West (New York: W. W. Norton, 1991), 72. |
| Journal article | 2. Richard White, “Information, Markets, and Corruption,” Journal of American History 90, no. 1 (2003): 25. |
| Website | 3. “History of the Illinois Central,” Illinois State Museum, accessed March 3, 2025, https://example.org/ic. |
| Short note | 4. Cronon, Nature’s Metropolis, 81. |
Note the punctuation shift: notes use commas and parentheses, the bibliography uses periods. In prose, Chicago writes numbers under 101 as words and uses en dashes in page ranges; the Chicago style checker checks those in your draft.
Questions
What is the difference between a full note and a short note?
The first time you cite a source, the note gives full details: author, title, publication facts and page. Every later note uses a short form: author’s surname, a shortened title of up to four words, and the page.
Should I still use ibid.?
The 17th edition discourages ibid. in favour of short notes, and the 18th edition (2024) recommends short notes even for consecutive citations. Some instructors still accept ibid.; follow their instructions.
Where does the footnote number go?
After the punctuation and at the end of the clause or sentence it relates to, except before a dash. Use a superscript number in the text and a full-size number followed by a period in the note itself.
Do I need a bibliography if I use footnotes?
Usually, yes. The bibliography lists every source alphabetically with the author’s name inverted. Chicago allows it to be omitted when full notes are given for every source, but most instructors require one.