Home › Chicago Style › Chicago Footnotes: 18th Edition Format & Examples

CHICAGO 18TH EDITION GUIDE

Chicago Footnotes: 18th Edition Format & Examples

Chicago footnotes use a superscript note number in the text that points to a numbered note at the bottom of the page. In Chicago Notes & Bibliography, the note contains the source citation and can include the specific page, chapter, section, timestamp, or other location being cited.

Written and reviewed by Muzammal Amin · Checked against Chicago 18th-edition guidance

SHORT ANSWER

A common pattern is: First citation: full note Later citation: shortened note For example: Full note

Charles Yu, Interior Chinatown (Pantheon Books, 2020), 45.

Shortened note

Yu, Interior Chinatown, 48.

Need a formatted footnote now? Use the Chicago Citation Generator in Notes & Bibliography mode to create full notes, shortened notes, and bibliography entries from one reviewed source.

ON THIS PAGE

How do Chicago footnotes work?
What does a Chicago footnote look like?
Where does the footnote number go in the text?
Should Chicago footnotes be numbered consecutively?
What is the difference between a full footnote and a shortened footnote?
When should I use a full note?
How short should a shortened Chicago footnote be?

How do Chicago footnotes work?

A Chicago footnote has two connected parts:

a raised note number in the main text;
the corresponding numbered note at the bottom of that page.

For example:

The passage changes how the narrator’s role can be interpreted.¹

The superscript 1 points to footnote 1, where the source information appears.

Footnotes belong to Chicago’s Notes & Bibliography system. That system usually combines:

superscript note number ↓ full or shortened footnote ↓ bibliography entry

The bibliography and the footnote are related, but they are not formatted identically.

If your assignment uses parenthetical citations such as (Yu 2020, 45), use Chicago Author-Date instead.

What does a Chicago footnote look like?

For a modern book, a full footnote commonly follows this pattern:

**First Name Last Name, Book Title (Publisher, Year), page.**

Example:

Charles Yu, Interior Chinatown (Pantheon Books, 2020), 45.

A later citation can be shortened:

Yu, Interior Chinatown, 48.

The note ends with a period.

The corresponding bibliography entry changes the name order and punctuation:

Yu, Charles. Interior Chinatown. Pantheon Books, 2020.

For the complete relationship among notes, shortened notes, and the bibliography, see Chicago Notes & Bibliography.

Where does the footnote number go in the text?

The superscript note number should identify the sentence, clause, quotation, or statement supported by the note.

As a general Chicago convention, note numbers are placed at the end of the relevant sentence or clause. They normally follow punctuation, except that a note number comes before a dash.

For example:

The evidence supports a different interpretation.¹

When a note applies to a quotation, place it where the reader can clearly tell what material the note supports.

Avoid putting the note number so early in a sentence that its relationship to the cited material becomes unclear.

For ordinary academic writing, let Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or another word processor create and manage the footnote numbers automatically.

Should Chicago footnotes be numbered consecutively?

Yes. Each note occurrence receives its own note number.

If the same source is cited again later, do not reuse the earlier note number. Insert a new note and use a shortened citation where appropriate.

For example:

Maya Bennett, Cities at Dusk (Northfield Press, 2025), 73.

Daniel Cho, “Memory and Public Space,” Journal of Urban History 51, no. 2 (2025): 214.

Bennett, Cities at Dusk, 81.

Note 3 points to the same book as note 1 but is still a new note occurrence.

Your word processor should handle the numbering as notes are inserted, moved, or deleted.

The Chicago Citation Generator creates the citation text, while your document editor normally controls the actual note number and its position on the page.

What is the difference between a full footnote and a shortened footnote?

A full footnote contains detailed information needed to identify the source.

A shortened footnote removes details that no longer need to be repeated.

Full note

Maya Bennett, Cities at Dusk (Northfield Press, 2025), 73.

Shortened note

Bennett, Cities at Dusk, 81.

Chicago’s regular short form is usually:

Author surname + shortened title + locator

For example:

Bennett, Cities at Dusk, 81.

For an article or chapter, the shortened title remains in quotation marks:

Cho, “Memory and Public Space,” 219.

The point of shortening is not merely to save space. A good shortened note still identifies the source clearly.

When should I use a full note?

A common student approach is to use a full note the first time a source is cited and shortened notes for later citations.

The official Chicago citation examples are presented in that pattern:

full citation → shortened citation → bibliography entry

However, Chicago Notes & Bibliography is flexible. When a complete bibliography supplies the full source information, a publication or instructor may allow shortened notes from the first citation.

For coursework, follow the instructions given by your:

instructor;
department;
dissertation or thesis office;
journal;
publisher.

If no special variation is specified, full note first and shortened notes afterward is a clear general workflow.

How short should a shortened Chicago footnote be?

A shortened note should contain enough information to identify the source without repeating unnecessary publication details.

Chicago 18 clarifies three possible shortened forms:

author + title;
author only;
title only.

The regular Chicago short form is author + title.

Author-title form

Bennett, Cities at Dusk, 81.

Author-only form

Bennett, 81.

Title-only form

Cities at Dusk, 81.

The shorter alternatives make sense only when there is no ambiguity.

For a general citation tool, author + shortened title is the most useful default because the citation remains understandable even when other notes are inserted or the document is revised.

Does Chicago still use “ibid.”?

Chicago recognizes ibid., but it prefers shortened citations over ibid. for repeated references.

A shortened note such as:

Bennett, Cities at Dusk, 81.

is usually clearer than:

Ibid., 81.

because the shortened citation still identifies the source directly.

If your instructor or publisher specifically requires ibid., follow that requirement.

If you do use ibid., remember that it refers to the source in the immediately preceding note. It should not be used to jump back several notes to an earlier source.

Do I need a page number in every Chicago footnote?

No. Include a page number or another locator when it helps the reader find the specific material you are citing.

A locator is especially useful when you:

quote a passage;
paraphrase a specific section;
summarize an argument found on particular pages;
refer to a specific chapter, figure, line, document, or timestamp.

For a general reference to a work as a whole, a locator may not be necessary.

Do not add a page number merely because the source has pages. Add it when the citation refers to a meaningful location in that source.

What can I use instead of a page number?

Chicago notes can use the locator that best matches the source.

Common locators include:

page;
page range;
chapter;
section;
paragraph;
volume;
figure;
line;
document number;
note;
timestamp.

Ebook without fixed pages

The official Chicago examples show chapter locators when an ebook has no stable page numbers:

Roy, God of Small Things, chap. 7.

Electronic historical collection

A citation may combine locators:

Kurland and Lerner, Founders’ Constitution, chap. 4, doc. 29.

Video

A timestamp can identify the exact portion being cited.

Use a locator that actually exists in the source. Do not invent paragraph or section numbers merely to make a citation look more precise.

Why should the page number stay separate from the source record?

The cited page belongs to the citation occurrence, not necessarily to the source itself.

Suppose you cite one book three times:

page 45 in note 1;
page 48 in note 5;
chapter 6 in note 11.

Those are three citations of one source, not three different books.

The source record contains information such as:

author;
title;
publisher;
year;
DOI;
URL;
ISBN.

The citation occurrence adds the page or other locator.

That is why the Chicago Citation Generator lets you change the cited location without changing the permanent source metadata.

Footnotes vs endnotes: what is the difference?

A footnote appears at the bottom of the page where its note number occurs.

An endnote appears in a separate notes section, usually later in the document or at the end of a chapter or work.

Both can use Chicago Notes & Bibliography citation forms.

Feature	Footnote	Endnote
Location	Bottom of page	Separate notes section
Distance from cited sentence	Immediate	Farther away
Citation system	Notes & Bibliography	Notes & Bibliography
Full/shortened citation forms	Yes	Yes
Reader convenience	Source is nearby	Requires moving to notes section

Your instructor or publisher may choose one over the other.

A Chicago 18 nuance

Chicago 18 clarifies that information already stated in the surrounding text can sometimes be omitted from a footnote because the note is physically close to the sentence.

That kind of omission is usually less appropriate in an endnote, where the reader may encounter the note away from the original wording.

In student writing, clarity is more important than aggressively shortening citations. If omitting a name or title would make the note difficult to understand, keep it.

Can I put explanatory text in a Chicago footnote?

Yes. Chicago notes can do more than cite sources.

A footnote may include:

a source citation;
a short explanatory comment;
both commentary and a source citation.

That flexibility is one reason Notes & Bibliography works well for humanities research, where a writer may need to discuss archival evidence, textual variants, translations, or other source-specific details without interrupting the main argument.

Do not move essential reasoning into footnotes merely to make the body of the paper look shorter. Important arguments should remain in the main text.

How do footnotes work when the author is mentioned in the sentence?

If the surrounding text already makes part of the citation unmistakable, Chicago allows some flexibility in what needs to be repeated in a nearby footnote.

For example, if the sentence clearly names the author and work, a footnote may not always need to repeat every identifying element.

But do not shorten the note so aggressively that it becomes ambiguous.

This flexibility is more defensible with footnotes, which readers see immediately below the page, than with distant endnotes.

For ordinary student papers, a standard full or shortened citation is often the easiest choice.

How many authors go in a Chicago 18 footnote?

Chicago 18 changed the author thresholds.

One author

List the author.

Two authors

List both authors.

Three or more authors

List the **first author followed by *et al.***

Number of authors	Footnote
1	First author
2	Both authors
3+	First author + et al.

For comparison, bibliography entries list up to six authors. If there are more than six, the bibliography lists the first three followed by et al.

This difference between notes and bibliography entries is easy to miss when using older Chicago 17 examples.

See Chicago 18th Edition for the other current citation changes.

How do I cite a book in a Chicago footnote?

For a modern book, the basic full-note pattern is:

**First Name Last Name, Book Title (Publisher, Year), page.**

Full note

Charles Yu, Interior Chinatown (Pantheon Books, 2020), 45.

Shortened note

Yu, Interior Chinatown, 48.

Chicago 18 no longer normally requires a city of publication for modern books.

For editions, editors, translations, ebooks, multiple authors, and other variations, see the Chicago Book Citation guide.

How do I cite a journal article in a Chicago footnote?

A journal-article footnote normally identifies:

author;
article title;
journal title;
volume;
issue;
year;
specific page or pages cited;
DOI-based URL or another appropriate online location when relevant.

Official Chicago example

Hyeyoung Kwon, “Inclusion Work: Children of Immigrants Claiming Membership in Everyday Life,” American Journal of Sociology 127, no. 6 (2022): 1842–43, https://doi.org/10.1086/720277.

Shortened note

Kwon, “Inclusion Work,” 1851.

Notice that the note uses the specific cited page, whereas a bibliography entry for the article gives the article’s full page range.

For the full distinction, see Chicago Journal Article Citation.

How do I cite a webpage in a Chicago footnote?

Webpage citations depend on the information the page provides.

A note may include:

author or organization;
page title;
site owner or sponsor;
publication, revision, or effective date;
access date when no publication or revision date is available;
URL;
archived URL where appropriate.

Chicago also notes that many ordinary webpages can simply be described in the text when a formal citation is unnecessary.

For dated, undated, organizational, and archived webpage examples, use the Chicago Website Citation guide.

How do I cite a book chapter in a Chicago footnote?

When the chapter has its own author inside an edited book, identify both levels of the source.

The note generally includes:

chapter author;
chapter title;
book title;
editor or editors;
publisher;
year;
specific cited page.

Official Chicago example

Kathleen Doyle, “The Queen Mary Psalter,” in The Book by Design: The Remarkable Story of the World’s Greatest Invention, ed. P. J. M. Marks and Stephen Parkin (University of Chicago Press, 2023), 64.

Shortened note

Doyle, “Queen Mary Psalter,” 65.

Chicago 18 no longer requires the chapter’s full page range in the standard bibliography entry, but a specific page remains important in a note when that is what you are citing.

See Chicago Book Chapter Citation for the complete source format.

Should a Chicago footnote include a DOI or URL?

When an online source needs an online location, include the appropriate DOI-based URL, URL, database name, or other access information in the note.

For journal articles, Chicago prefers a DOI-based URL when one is available.

For example:

https://doi.org/10.1086/720277

For books consulted online, the note may use:

URL;
database name;
ebook format.

For ordinary webpages, use the relevant page URL.

Do not add a DOI, URL, and database name mechanically when one clear access route is sufficient.

Do footnotes and bibliography entries use the same punctuation?

No.

A note reads more like a sentence and therefore relies heavily on commas, with publication information often grouped together.

A bibliography entry separates major elements more strongly with periods and normally inverts the first author’s Western-order name for alphabetization.

Note

Charles Yu, Interior Chinatown (Pantheon Books, 2020), 45.

Bibliography

Yu, Charles. Interior Chinatown. Pantheon Books, 2020.

Do not copy a bibliography entry into a footnote unchanged.

For detailed end-list formatting, see Chicago Bibliography.

Do Chicago footnotes need a bibliography?

Usually, Notes & Bibliography includes a bibliography, but not every source cited in a note necessarily belongs there.

Some sources may be cited only in the text or notes, including certain:

personal communications;
reader comments;
live events;
informal or ephemeral materials.

Your instructor or publisher may also specify whether a bibliography is required.

For conventional research sources such as books and journal articles, a bibliography entry is normally expected when the paper requires a bibliography.

See the Chicago Bibliography guide for the detailed rules.

What changed for footnotes in Chicago 18?

Several 18th-edition changes affect footnote formatting directly or indirectly.

Notes now use et al. for three or more authors

Up to two authors are listed in a note. For more than two, list the first author followed by et al.

Modern book citations usually omit the publication city

The publisher and year are normally sufficient for modern books.

Shortened citations are clarified

Chicago identifies author-title as its regular short form and also recognizes author-only and title-only shortened forms when context makes them clear.

Chicago prefers shortened citations over ibid.

Shortened notes identify the source directly and remain clearer during revision.

Footnotes can sometimes omit information already stated in the text

Chicago 18 clarifies that required citation elements already mentioned in the text can often be omitted from a nearby footnote, though the same omission is usually less appropriate in an endnote.

Chapter page ranges changed

A chapter’s complete page range is no longer required in a standard bibliography entry, though the note should still identify the specific cited page when applicable.

Read Chicago 18th Edition: What Changed for the broader update.

What are the most common Chicago footnote mistakes?

Reusing the same note number

Every new note occurrence gets its own number. Do not reuse note 4 just because you are citing the same book again.

Repeating a full citation every time

After the source has been established, use a shortened citation when appropriate.

Using ibid. to refer to a nonadjacent note

Ibid. refers to the immediately preceding note, not any earlier note you choose. A shortened citation is usually clearer.

Putting the note number before ordinary punctuation

The note number normally follows punctuation, except in relation to a dash.

Confusing a footnote with a bibliography entry

The name order, punctuation, and locator treatment differ.

Putting the quoted page into permanent source metadata

A page number may identify this citation occurrence, not the book or article as a whole.

Using outdated Chicago 17 author thresholds

Chicago 18 uses first author + et al. in notes for three or more authors.

Adding a publication city to every modern book

Chicago 18 no longer normally requires it.

Assuming every source needs a page number

Use a locator when it helps the reader find the cited material.

Inventing locators for sources without them

Do not create fake paragraph numbers, section numbers, or timestamps.

Trusting imported metadata without review

Citation software formats the metadata it receives. Check author names, title, date, edition, journal information, DOI, URL, and other important fields before using the citation.

Chicago footnotes vs Author-Date in-text citations

Chicago offers both approaches, but they belong to different systems.

Feature	Footnotes / Notes & Bibliography	Author-Date
Signal in main text	Superscript number	Parenthetical author-year
Citation location	Bottom of page or endnotes	In main text
First detailed citation	Full note or required short form	Reference-list entry supplies full details
Later citation	Shortened note	Repeat author-year citation
End list	Usually bibliography	Reference list
Typical example	`¹` → note	`(Yu 2020, 45)`

Do not switch between these systems simply because one citation looks shorter.

Use the system required for the paper.

For a broader comparison, see the Chicago Style Guide.

How to generate a Chicago footnote

The Chicago Citation Generator creates the citation content, while your word processor handles the actual note numbering.

1. Find the source

Search using a supported input such as:

DOI;
URL;
ISBN;
title or keywords;
PMID or PubMed URL;
BibTeX;
RIS;
supported PDF DOI detection;
manual entry.

2. Review the source details

Check:

author names;
title;
publication year;
publisher;
journal;
volume and issue;
DOI;
URL;
ISBN;
other relevant fields.

3. Choose Notes & Bibliography

The generator can produce:

Full Note
Shortened Note
Bibliography Entry

4. Add the citation locator

Enter the page, chapter, section, paragraph, line, timestamp, or other location needed for this citation.

Changing the locator does not overwrite the source metadata.

5. Copy the note

Paste the generated note into the footnote created by Word, Google Docs, or your other writing software.

The word processor should assign and update the note number.

For the generator’s metadata, CSL, source-management, and duplicate-handling workflow, see How the Chicago Citation Generator Works.

Chicago footnote examples by source type

For source-specific full notes, shortened notes, bibliography entries, and variations, continue with:

For side-by-side examples across both Chicago systems, browse Chicago Citation Examples.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Chicago footnote?

A Chicago footnote is a numbered note at the bottom of a page that corresponds to a superscript number in the text. In Notes & Bibliography style, it can contain a full or shortened source citation.

Does the footnote number go before or after the period?

The superscript note number normally follows the punctuation at the end of the relevant sentence or clause. A dash is the main exception: the note number precedes the dash.

Do Chicago footnotes start at 1?

Ordinary note numbering generally begins with 1 and proceeds consecutively. Let your word processor manage the numbers automatically.

Can I reuse a footnote number for the same source?

No. A later citation gets a new note number even when it cites the same source. Use a shortened note where appropriate.

What is the format for a shortened Chicago footnote?

The regular short form is usually:

Author, Shortened Title, locator.

For example:

Yu, Interior Chinatown, 48.

Does Chicago still allow ibid.?

Yes, but Chicago prefers shortened citations. If you use ibid., it refers to the source in the immediately preceding note.

Do I need a page number in every footnote?

No. Include a page or another locator when it helps the reader find the specific material being cited.

What if an ebook has no page numbers?

Use a useful locator such as a chapter or section when available, or omit the locator if the source provides no stable equivalent and one is not necessary.

How many authors do I list in a Chicago 18 footnote?

List up to two authors. For three or more authors, use the first author followed by et al.

Are footnotes and endnotes formatted differently?

They use the same basic Notes & Bibliography citation forms. The main difference is location: footnotes appear at the bottom of the page, while endnotes appear in a separate notes section.

Do footnotes need to appear in the bibliography too?

Many conventional research sources will also appear in the bibliography when one is required, but some materials are appropriately cited only in the text or notes. Follow your assignment or publication requirements.

Does the citation generator insert footnote numbers into Word?

No. The generator creates the full and shortened citation text. Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or another word processor normally creates and manages the actual footnote numbers.

Official and supporting sources

This guide was researched against current Chicago 18th-edition material and current university guidance:

ChicagoReferenceGenerator.com is an independent citation resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by The University of Chicago or The University of Chicago Press.