What is it?
The Chicago Manual of Style, or CMOS, is used in the humanities and social sciences. It offers two systems: Notes and Bibliography, which uses footnotes and a bibliography, and Author-Date, which uses in-text citations and a reference list.
General formatting
- 1-inch margins on all sides
- Double-spaced and 12 pt. font
- Page numbers in top-right corner
Title page with:
- Paper title (centered, bold, title case)
- Author name
- Institutional affiliation
- Course name
- Instructor name
- Due date
Reference list
- Start on new page titled "Bibliography" (centered)
- Double-spaced, alphabetical order
- Hanging indent (first line flush left, subsequent lines indented 0.5")
In-text citations
- One author: (Smith 2023)
- Two authors: (Smith and Jones 2023)
- Three or more authors: (Smith et al. 2023)
- Direct quote: Include page number (Smith, 2023, 45)
Bibliography examples
Journal article
Author, First Name, and Second Name. "Title of Article." Journal Name Volume, no. Issue (Year): page range. DOI or URL.
McConkey, Kim R., and Drake, Donald R. "Flying Foxes Cease to Function as Seed Dispersers Long Before They Become Rare." Ecology 87, no. 2 (2006): 271–76. https://doi.org/10.1890/05-0386.
Book
Author, First Name, Last Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.
Condon, Frankie, and Faison, William, eds. CounterStories from the Writing Center. Utah State University Press, 2022.
Book chapter
Author, First Name, Last Name. "Chapter Title." In Book Title, edited by Editor's First Name and Last Name, page range. Publisher, Year.
Baldwin, Derek, and Smith, Tania G. "Stories of Activist Allies in the Writing Center." In CounterStories from the Writing Center, edited by Frankie Condon and William Faison, 133–44. Utah State University Press, 2022.
Website
Author, First Name, Last Name. "Title of Page." Site Name. Last modified date. URL.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "About Heart Disease." CDC. Last modified May 15, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/about.html.
Lecture and class notes
Instructor, First Name, Last Name. "Title of Lecture." Lecture notes. Department, Institution, Date.
Crull, Chloe. "Rhetorical Moves." Lecture notes, Writing Center, University of California, Davis, October 31, 2024.
Multiple sources
- Alphabetical order, semicolon separated: (Jones 2022; Smith 2023)
- Same author, different years: (Smith, 2022, 2023)
- Same author, same year: (Smith, 2023a, 2023b)