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Lloyd Sealy Library
John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Citing Sources: APA, MLA & Chicago Styles

An Overview of Common Citation Styles

Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide

The Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide provides explanation and examples of the correct citation format. The online examples are free to look at, but the site will ask you to pay for more detailed info. To see the full guide for free, consult the print copy in the Reference section at call number Z253 .U69 2010.

There are two varieties of Chicago Style:

  • Notes and bibliography
    • Common in the humanities (including literature)
    • Sources are cited with a superscript number (like this)20 that corresponds to a full citation in the numbered bibliography at the end of the book or article
  • Author-date
    • Common in the social sciences
    • Sources are cited parenthetically (Smith 2011, 195) and the corresponding citation is found in the bibliography

More online guides

Chicago Style Manual in Print

You will find a more detailed discussion of the style and additional examples in the print copy of the manual in the Reference section, call number Z253 .U69 2010, on the upper floor of the library.

You can use this manual for as long as you want inside the library, but it cannot be checked out or taken home. You can scan a chapter for free using the library's scanners, and email the resulting PDF to yourself.