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Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) Citation Help

View examples, get interactive practice, and format your paper with Chicago Style citation

About Citing Book and Ebooks

Full Note, General Format for Books:

1. Author First Name/Initial Surname, "Title of Chapter or Article," in Book Title, translator and editor, (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year), volume #:page #.

Remember: If your source doesn't need an element, skip it. Each color highlight in the sample above corresponds to one element and any punctuation it needs.

Specific examples are listed on this page.

Ebooks

Ebooks are generally referenced in the same way as other books.  The general format provided below refers to a basic one author ebook. 
 
If you are using an ebook that has multiple authors, includes an edition number, etc., please refer to the appropriate section in this guide. Include information on the format of the resource near the end of the citation (including a URL or DOI for the online version of an ebook).
 
Full Note:

1. Author First Name/Initial Surname, Book Title (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year), Format, page #.

Concise Note:

2. Author Surname, Book Title, page #.

Bibliography:

Author Surname, First Name or Initial. Book Title. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Format.

Example 1: Ebook from Database

Full Note:

1. Hal Hellman, Great Feuds in Science: Ten of the Liveliest Disputes Ever (New York: John Wiley, 1998), Net Library e-book, 52.

Concise Note:

2. Hellman, Great Feuds in Science, 52.

Bibliography:

Hellman, Hal. Great Feuds in Science: Ten of the Liveliest Disputes Ever. New York: John Wiley, 1998. Net Library e-book.

Example 2: Ebook With DOI

Full Note:

1. Elliot Antokoletz, Musical Symbolism in the Operas of Debussy and Bartok (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195365825.001.0001.

Concise Note:

2.  Antokoletz, Musical Symbolism.

Bibliography:

Elliot Antokoletz. Musical Symbolism in the Operas of Debussy and Bartok. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195365825.001.0001.

Full Note:

1. Kevin R. Johnson, How Did You Get To Be Mexican? A White/Brown Man's Search for Identity (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000), Kindle, chap. 5.

Concise Note:

2. Johnson, White/Brown Man, chap. 7.

Bibliography:

Johnson, Kevin R. How Did You Get To Be Mexican? A White/Brown Man’s Search for Identity. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000. Kindle edition.

Full Note:

1. Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1817; Project Gutenberg, 1993), letter 2, http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/84.

Concise Note:

2. Shelley, Frankenstein, chapter 4.

Bibliography:

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. 1817; Project Gutenberg, 1993. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/84.

Print Book

Full Note:

1. Author First Name/Initial Surname, Book Title (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year), page #.

Concise Note:

2. Author Surname, Book Title, page #.

Bibliography:

Author Surname, First Name or Initial. Book Title. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year.

If you are dealing with an editor instead of an author, insert the editor's name in the place where the author's name is now, followed by a comma and the word "ed." without the quotation marks (e.g. John Smith, ed.). If you have more than one editor, use "eds." The rest of the format remains the same.

Full Note:

1. Salman Rushdie, The Ground Beneath Her Feet (New York: Henry Holt, 1999), 25. 

Concise Note:

2. Rushdie, The Ground Beneath, 25. 

Bibliography:

Rushdie, Salman. The Ground Beneath Her Feet. New York: Henry Holt, 1999.

Full Note:

1. Liam P. Unwin and Joseph Galloway, Peace In Ireland (Boston: Stronghope Press, 1990), 139. 

Concise Note:

2. Unwin and Galloway, Peace in Ireland, 220.

Bibliography:

Unwin, Liam P., and Joseph Galloway. Peace in Ireland. Boston: Stronghope Press, 1990.

Full Note: 

1. Jeri A. Sechzer et al., eds., Women and Mental Health (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), 243.

Concise Note:

2. Sechzer et al., Women and Mental Health, 245.

Bibliography:

Sechzer, Jeri A., S. M. Pfaffilin, F. L. Denmark, A. Griffin, and S. J. Blumenthal, eds. Women and Mental Health. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.

Full Note:

1. New York Public Library American History Desk Reference (New York: Macmillan, 1997), 87.

Concise Note:

2. New York Public Library, 87.

Bibliography:

New York Public Library American History Desk Reference. New York: Macmillan, 1997.

Print Book, Later Edition

Full Note: 

1. Author First Name/Initial Surname, Book Title, edition (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year), page #.

Concise Note:

2. Author Surname, Book Title, page #.

Bibliography:

Author Surname, First Name or Initial. Book Title. Edition. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year.
 

Second edition = 2nd ed.

Third edition = 3rd ed.

Fourth edition = 4th ed.

Revised edition = rev. ed. (Note) or Rev. ed. (Bibliography)

Full Note:

1. Daniel Rhodes, Clay and Glazes for the Potter, rev. ed. (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2000), 85.

Concise Note:

2. Rhodes, Clay and Glazes, 120.

Bibliography:

Rhodes, Daniel. Clay and Glazes for the Potter. Rev. ed. Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2000.

Full Note:

1. Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, trans. and ed. Rodger Crisp, Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 102.  

Concise Note:

2. Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, 102.

Bibliography:

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Translated and edited by Roger Crisp. Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Article Reprinted in a Book/Anthology

Full Note:

1. Author First Name Surname, "Title of Chapter or Article," in Book Title, ed. Editor First Name/Initial Surname (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year), page #.

Concise Note:

2. Author Surname, "Title of Chapter or Article," page #.

Bibliography:

Author Surname, First Name. "Title of Chapter or Article." In Book Title, edited by Editor First Name Surname, page range of article/chapter. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year.


General Format for Multi-Volume Work:

Full Note:

1. Author First Name/Initial Surname, "Title of Chapter or Article," in Book Title (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year), Volume #:page #.

Concise Note:

2. Author Surname, "Title of Chapter or Article," Volume #:page #.

Bibliography:

Author Surname, First Name. "Title of Chapter or Article." In Vol. #, Book Title. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year.

Full Note:

1. H. F. Arnold, "The Night Wire," in Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural, ed. Marvin Kaye, (New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Books, 1993), 334.

Concise Note:

2. Arnold, "The Night Wire," 347.

Bibliography:

Arnold, H. F. "The Night Wire." In Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural, edited by Marvin Kaye, 328-334. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Books, 1993.

Example of Multi-Volume Work:

Full Note:

1. Mario Creet, "Fleming, Sir Sandford," in Dictionary of Canadian Biography: 1911-1920 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998), 14:359.

Concise Note:

2. Creet, "Fleming, Sir Sandford," 14:359.

Bibliography:

Creet, Mario. "Fleming, Sir Sandford." In Vol. 14, Dictionary of Canadian Biography: 1911-1920. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998.

Published Letter within a Book

Full Note:

   1. Consul General Linnell to the Chargé d'Affaires at Berlin, 3 April 1939, in From Prague after Munich, Diplomatic Papers 1938-1940, by George F. Kennan (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968), 107.  

Bibliography:

[Linnell, Irving N.].  Consul General Linnell to the Chargé d'Affaires at Berlin. 3 April 1939. In From Prague after Munich, Diplomatic Papers 1938-1940, 106-110.  By George F. Kennan.  Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968.

(Linnell's name is in brackets because it was not explicitly given.)

For letters in published collections, see Chicago Manual  14.111 (example below). 

Full Note:

1. Adams to Charles Milnes Gaskell, Baden, September 22, 1867, in Letters of Henry Adams, 1858-1891, ed. Worthington Chauncey Ford (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1930), 133-34. 

Concise Note:

2. Adams to Gaskell, London, March 30, 1868, 141.

Bibliography:

Adams, Henry. Letters of Henry Adams, 1858-1891. Edited by Worthington Chauncey Ford. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1930.

Reprints or Modern Editions of Classics

Full Note:

1. Author, Book Title, translator and editor,  (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year), page #.

Concise Note:

2. Author, Book Title, page #.

Bibliography:

Author. Book Title. Translator and editor. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year.

Full Note:

1. Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, trans. and ed. Rodger Crisp, Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 102.  

Concise Note:

2. Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, 102.

Bibliography:

Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Translated and edited by Roger Crisp. Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Full Note:

1. Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1817; Project Gutenberg, 1993), letter 2, http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/84.

Concise Note:

2. Shelley, Frankenstein, chapter 4.

Bibliography:

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. 1817; Project Gutenberg, 1993. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/84.

Reference Entries (Encyclopedias, Dictionaries)

Well-known reference books are generally only cited in notes, not the bibliography.  Full publication information is usually not included, but the edition must be specified.

References to an alphabetically arranged work cite the item preceded by "s.v." (abbreviation of sub verbo, "under the word") instead of a volume or page number.

Full Note:

1. Book Title, Edition, s.v. "Title of Entry."

Concise Note:

2. Book Title, Edition, s.v. "Title of Entry."

Bibliography:

Often omitted.

Full Note:

1. Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th ed., s.v. "Salvation."

Concise Note:

2. Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th ed., s.v. "Salvation."

Bibliography:

Often omitted.