This guidance applies to all source types.

1 author

First and subsequent footnotes:
1. David Shields, The Very Last Interview (New York Review Books, 2022), 49.

2. Shields, Very Last Interview, 100–101.

2 or more authors/editors

Two authors (or editors) of the same work are listed in the order in which they appear with the source. In a bibliography, only the first author’s name is inverted, and a comma must appear both before and after the first author’s given name or initials. Use the conjunction and (not an ampersand).

First and subsequent footnotes:
1. Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga, The Courage to Be Disliked: The Japanese Phenomenon That Shows You How to Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness (Atria Books, 2018), 257.

2. Kishimi and Koga, Courage to Be Disliked, 259.

3-6 authors/editors

For works by or edited by three to six persons (in previous editions it was two to ten), all names are usually given in the bibliography. Word order and punctuation are the same as for two authors. In a note, only the name of the first author is included, followed by et al. with no intervening comma.

First and subsequent footnotes:
1. Beatriz Williams et al., All the Ways We Said Goodbye: A Novel of the Ritz Paris (William Morrow, 2021), 301–2.
2. Williams et al., All the Ways, 392.

‘Ibid.’, short for Ibidem, meaning ‘in the same place’ is used in the Chicago Style in certain circumstances where a source is cited on more than one occasion, in place of a shortened version of a source’s details. ‘Ibid.’ should only be used to refer again to the source directly preceding the footnote.

The word is used in place of all material on the source that is exactly identical. For example:

Ibid. should not be overused and so attention should be paid to how source material is included in the text and footnotes to ensure it remains clear to the reader what material is being cited.

Quotations of word-for-word copies of another person’s work included in your writing must be clearly distinguished from your own words and ideas. You must also include the page number(s) in the footnote.

Short quotations: less than three lines of text or two lines of poetry

For short quotations, include it as part of your sentence. Give a brief phrase to introduce it and enclose it within double quotation marks “ “. Include the page number within the footnote, but not in the reference list/ bibliography entry.
In-text:

Footnote:

Long quotations: more than three lines of text or two lines of poetry

For long quotations, format these as an indented block quotation.

Short quotation (poetry/play scripts)

Give the line number(s) for lines of poetry or a play script, for example:

Footnote

It is important to give a page number in an intext citation in the following circumstances:

• when quoting directly 
• when referring to a specific detail in a text (for example, a specific theory or idea, an illustration, a table, a set of statistics)
• when giving a paraphrase or summary from a text.

This might mean giving an individual page number or a small range of pages from which you have taken the information. Giving page numbers enables the reader to locate the specific item to which you refer.

Where no page or paragraph number can be given for a source, such as an online publication, ‘n.p.’ can be used to denote ‘no pagination’.

If you're synthesising a number of sources to support your argument, you can cite them in one footnote. For example:

Bedford and Holbeche, Kingsley, and Riley-Smith trace the origins of the Hospitallers to Jerusalem and 1099 if not earlier, though hospitals had been founded in the city before then.¹³

Footnote 

Sources should appear in the footnote in the order mentioned in the text or the order in which details from them were presented, with care not to cause confusion. Sources should then be listed alphabetically in the reference list/ bibliography.

Authors of multiple works should have their names given in full for each reference. Chicago no longer recommend using the 3-em dash approach when referring to a number of works by the same author.

For example:

Order the sources alphabetically by title when the author’s name is the same. 

No author name

It is important to use quality sources to support your arguments and so you should consider carefully the value of using any source when you cannot identify its author. For online sources, look carefully for named contributors, such as in the ‘about us’ sections. For printed material, try to locate authors in the publication/ copyright information which is often on the inside cover of a book or back page of a report.

If you can't find the author information, don't use ‘Anon.’ or ‘Anonymous’. Instead you could use:

• The name of the organisation in place of the author – eg, BBC
• The title of the work/ webpage in full or in short form, in such a way as to easily locate the source in the reference list/ bibliography – The Georgian Assembly Hall.

In the reference list/ bibliography, the work would then be listed alphabetically by the first major word of its title, that is, the above would be listed under G. For example:

No publication date

Knowing when a source was created, published, or last updated is important as this helps you to determine the relevance and reliability of the source. Sacred and classical works where dates are not given (precisely) are, however, also commonly used. For online sources, look carefully for created and/ or last updated dates on the page(s).

If the source doesn't give the date, but you can reasonably estimate it, put the date in [ ] to indicate this, adding a ? to emphasise any uncertainty, for example:

Alternatively, use ‘n.d., ca. 1919’ for no date, circa 1919.

If you can't find or estimate a publication date, use ‘n.d.’ for no date in place of the year.

A secondary reference is given when you are referring to a source which you have not read yourself, but have read about in another source. For example, referring to Jones’ work that you have read about in Smith. Avoid using secondary references wherever possible and locate the original source and reference that. Only give a secondary reference where this is not possible and you deem it essential to use the material. It is important to think carefully about using secondary references as the explanation or interpretation of that source by the author you have read may not be accurate.
If you must use them, use the following format: In author-date format, mention the original author and date in the text but cite the secondary source in the reference list.

Footnote:

Reference list/ bibliography:

NB: The Department of English ask that both the secondary source and the source in which you read about it are included in the footnote and reference list.

The Department of History ask that the footnote includes details of both sources, but that only the source read is included in the reference list.

How footnotes are included in your word count varies depending on departmental practice.

• English: all footnotes are included in the word count
• History: footnotes that only contain a reference to source material are not included, but discursive footnotes (footnotes with explanations/extra information) are included in the word count
• History of Art: for UG and PGT work, footnotes are not included in the word count. Research students must include all footnotes in their word count.

If footnotes are included, this doesn't mean you should leave out citations where they are appropriate, as references to source material are an integral part of academic writing.

Include the full details of the source, concluding the footnote with the URL. Include a publication date or the date of the most recent update or revision if no such date can be determined, include an access date

You should capitalise the first word, the last word and any major word of a book, journal article, etc. Also, capitalise the first word following a colon in the title. For example:

Pride and Prejudice

Troy and Homer: Towards a Solution of an Old Mystery

Footnotes

• First footnote: First name Surname, Title of book (Publisher, year), page number if needed.
• Subsequent footnotes: Surname, Title of book OR shortened title, page number if needed.

Reference list

Surname, First name. Title of book. Publisher, year.

For a translated book or a book published in another language, see the examples below.

Chapter in an edited book

Footnotes

• First footnote: Author First name Surname, "Chapter title," in Book title, ed. Editor First name Surname (Publisher, year), page number if needed.
• Subsequent footnotes: Author Surname, "Chapter title," page number if needed.

Reference list

Author Surname, First name. "Chapter title." In Book title, edited by Editor First name Surname, chapter page numbers. Publisher, year.

Edited book as a whole

Footnotes

• First footnote: Editor First name Surname, ed., Book title (Publisher, year), page number if needed.
• Subsequent footnotes: Editor Surname, Book title OR shortened title, page if needed.

Reference list

Editor Surname, First name, ed. Book title OR shortened title. Publisher, year.

Journal article / paper (print copy)

Footnotes

• First footnote: First name Surname, "Title of article / paper," Name of Journal volume, issue number (year): page number.
• Subsequent footnotes: Surname, "Title of article / paper OR shortened title," page number.

Reference list
Surname, First name, "Title of article / paper." Name of Journal volume, issue number (year): page numbers.

Journal article / paper (electronic)

Authors should generally record a URL for sources consulted online. A URL based on a DOI (appended to https://doi-org.libproxy.york.ac.uk/), if it is available, is preferable to the URL that appears in a browser’s address bar when viewing the article (or the abstract). In the absence of a DOI, choose the form of the URL offered along with the article, if any. (If an article was consulted in print, there is no need to include a URL.)

Footnotes

• First footnote: First name Surname, "Title of article / paper," Name of Journal volume, issue number (year): page number OR paragraph number, accessed month day, year, URL OR DOI
• Subsequent footnotes: Surname, "Title of article / paper OR shortened title," page number OR paragraph number.

Reference list

Surname, First name, "Title of article / paper." Name of Journal volume, issue number (year): page numbers OR paragraph numbers. URL OR DOI

Articles such as ‘the’ are removed from the footnote and reference for newspaper titles. Where a newspaper’s location might be important to include, this can be given in ( ) after the name, for example Morning Herald (London).

Newspaper or magazine article (with author)

Footnote:

• First footnote: First name Surname, "Title of article." Name of newspaper/magazine, Month day, year, page number.
• Subsequent footnotes: Surname, "Title of article OR shortened title," page number.

Reference list:

Surname, First name. "Title of article." Name of newspaper/magazine. Month day, year, page number.

Newspaper or magazine article (without named author)

Footnote:

For a source without an author it is acceptable to use the title, or a shortened version of it, in the in-text citation.

• First footnote: "Title of article," editorial, Name of newspaper/magazine, Month day, year, page number.
• Subsequent footnotes: "Title of article OR shortened title," page number.

Reference list:

 Name of newspaper/magazine. "Title of article." Editorial. Month day, year, page number.

Website (with named author)

Footnote:

• First footnote: First name Surname, "Title of specific webpage," Name of website, Month day, year, updated/accessed Month day, year, URL
• Subsequent footnotes: Surname, "Title of specific webpage."

Reference list/ bibliography:

Surname, First name. "Title of specific webpage." Name of website. Month day, year. Updated/accessed Month day, year. URL

Website (without named author)

Footnote:

• First footnote: "Title of specific webpage," Name of website, Month day, year, updated/accessed Month day, year, URL
• Subsequent footnotes: "Title of specific webpage."

Reference list/ bibliography:

Name of organisation. "Title of specific webpage." Accessed/updated Month day, year, URL

Footnote
Enacted pre-1963 – include the regnal-year (year of the monarch’s reign)

Enacted post-1963

Reference list/ bibliography:
When included in full in a footnote the first time the legislation is cited, no additional reference entry is required.

The ‘c. 2’/ ‘c. 14’ refers to the chapter, the number of the Act according to those passed during the year of the monarch’s reign/ parliamentary session. If it might be unclear as to which jurisdiction the legislation applies, this can be given in ( ).

Archival material can include a broad range of different types of sources, such as photographs, letters, manuscripts, maps. The following advice is intended as a guide and should be adapted where necessary to include key information about your source. Consult examples given elsewhere in this guide for other format types which constitute archival materials to help you construct your reference.

Footnote:

Reference list/ bibliography:

The style of the first three examples below is appropriate if more than one item from a collection is cited in the text or notes. Entries are usually listed under the name of the collection or under the author(s) of the items contained therein.

If only one item from a collection has been mentioned in text or in a note and is considered important enough to include in a bibliography, the entry will begin with the item.

Note: Date is the year or date range of the creation of the material. If the archival material is undated use n.d. in your reference to indicate no date.

If an older manuscript is numbered by signatures or by folios (fol. or fols.), these should be used in place of page numbers, after the item title. If you use page numbers, the abbreviations p. and pp. should be used to avoid ambiguity. If a manuscript collection has identifying series or file numbers, these may be included in a citation.