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Chicago Style Bibliography Examples

Examples6 min·Updated May 2024

Chicago Style Bibliography Overview

A Chicago style bibliography provides a complete list of sources used in your research, organized alphabetically by the author's last name. This collection includes 8 annotated examples covering the most common source types (including books, journal articles, and digital media) to help you format your citations accurately according to the 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style.

1. Single Author Book

Example
Pollan, Michael. *The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals*. New York: Penguin Press, 2006. ✓

Why it works

This entry follows the standard Author-Last, First format. It correctly uses periods to separate the main elements and includes the city, publisher, and year of publication. The title is italicized in headline-style capitalization.

2. Book with Two or Three Authors

Example
Ward, Geoffrey C., and Ken Burns. *The War: An Intimate History, 1941-1945*. New York: Knopf, 2007. ✓

Why it works

Only the first author's name is inverted (Last, First), while subsequent authors are listed in First Last order. This maintains alphabetical integrity while keeping the second name natural. A comma separates the first author from the 'and'.

3. Journal Article from a Database

Example
Gueorguiev, Dimitar D. "The Power of Protests." *Journal of Democracy* 32, no. 2 (April 2021): 25-39. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2021.0021. ✓

Why it works

The article title is in quotation marks, and the journal title is italicized. It includes the volume number, issue number (preceded by 'no.'), the specific date or month in parentheses, and the page range. The DOI is preferred over a URL for stability.

4. Website Content

Example
Google. "Privacy Policy." Privacy & Terms. Last modified April 17, 2017. http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/. ✓

Why it works

When no author is listed, the organization acts as the author. It includes the specific page title in quotes and the site name in plain text. It uses a 'last modified' date; if none is available, an access date is used instead.

5. Chapter in an Edited Book

Example
Gould, Glenn. "Prospects of Recording." In *The Glenn Gould Reader*, edited by Tim Page, 331-53. New York: Knopf, 1984. ✓

Why it works

This format attributes the specific chapter to the author while acknowledging the editor of the larger collection. The page range for the specific chapter is required immediately following the editor's name.

6. Translated Book

Example
Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. *Love in the Time of Cholera*. Translated by Edith Grossman. London: Cape, 1988. ✓

Why it works

The translator is credited after the title using the phrase 'Translated by'. This follows the same logic as edited books, ensuring the original author remains the primary entry point for alphabetization.

7. YouTube Video

Example
Chicago Manual of Style. "How to Format a Bibliography." YouTube video, 2:30. June 15, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example. ✓

Why it works

Social media and video content should include the medium description (e.g., 'YouTube video') and the length of the video. The date of posting and the direct URL are required for verification.

8. News Article (Online)

Example
Manjoo, Farhad. "Snapchat Is the New Everything." *New York Times*, August 13, 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/14/technology/snapchat-is-the-new-everything.html. ✓

Why it works

Newspaper citations include the author, article title, and publication name. Unlike journals, volume and issue numbers are omitted, focusing instead on the specific publication date and the direct URL.

Tips for a Perfect Bibliography

To ensure your bibliography meets Chicago standards, always apply a 0.5-inch hanging indent to every entry. Alphabetize the list by the author's last name or by the first word of the title if no author exists. Double-space the entire page, but do not add extra spaces between individual entries. Finally, ensure all titles use headline-style capitalization, where all major words are capitalized regardless of how they appear in the original source.

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