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Citations - CMS: Notes-Bibliography System (NB)

Notes-Bibliography (NB)

  • Preferred in humanities: literature, history, and the arts
  • In-text citations are represented by a superscript number that is placed at the end of the sentence or clause in which the source is reference.
    • This superscript number corresponds to a note with the bibliographic information. 
  • The note is either a Footnote or Endnote and begins with the appropriate number followed by a period and then a space.
    • Footnotes are placed at the bottom of each page
    • Endnotes are placed at the end of the paper
  • It comes down to three types for NB:
    • Note (first note)
    • Shortened note
    • Bibliographic citation
  • Bibliography containing full bibliographic citations 

On This Page

  • How Do I Cite?
  • Note (First Note), Shortened Note, and Bibliographic Citation
  • Same Source Cited Again
  • No Publication Date
  • No Author
  • Tables & Figures
  • Footnotes & Endnotes
  • Blocked Quotations (aka Extracts), Prose Quotations, & Poetry

Same Source Cited Again

If a source is cited again, only include the surname of the author, a shortened form of the title (if more than four words), and page number(s). 

No Publication Date

If you cannot ascertain the publication date of a printed work, use the abbreviation “n.d.”

No access date is required to be reported for electronic sources.

No Author

  • On the references page: cite by the title
  • For the in-text (parenthetical) citations, cite in shorted form (up to four keywords from the title)
  • Use italic or roman type as needed

Tables & Figures

  • Position tables and figures as soon as possible after they are first referenced. If necessary, present them after the paragraph in which they are described.
  • Every table should have a number and a (short and descriptive) title, flush left on the line above it.
  • Table 1. Title without a terminal period
  • Every figure should have a number and a caption, flush left on the line below the figure.
    •   Figure 2. Caption with or without a terminal period.
  • Any figure or table that uses symbols or patterns should be accompanied with a key to identify them, either within the figure or table itself or in its caption.

  • In the text, identify tables and figures separately, by number and in the order mentioned. Example: "in figure 3" rather than by location ("below").

  • Cite the source of the table and figure information with a “credit line” at the bottom of the table or figure and, if applicable, after the caption. The credit line should be distinguished from the caption by being enclosed in parenthesis or written in different type.

    • Cite a source as you would for parenthetical (in-text) citation, and include full information in an entry on your Bibliography page.
    • Acknowledge reproduced or adapted sources appropriately (i.e., photo by; data adapted from; map by...).
    • If a table includes data not acquired by the author of the text, include an unnumbered footnote. Introduce the note by the word Source(s) followed by a colon, then include the full source information, and end the note with a period.

How Do I Cite? (NB)

Chicago (17th edition)

An FAQ entry on the Chicago style website describes how AI models can be cited. Chicago recommends only citing AI in a note (for the notes-bibliography system) or a parenthetical citation (for the author-date system) and not in a bibliography or reference list, unless you provide a publicly available URL (e.g., through a browser extension like ShareGPT or A.I. Archives). This style treats the AI model as an author.

Footnote or Endnote (Notes-Bibliography System)

Template

Note number. Author, description of prompt, publisher, date the text was generated.

(Omit the prompt if it has been described in your text.)

Example

1. ChatGPT, response to “Explain how to make pizza dough from common household ingredients,” OpenAI, February 26, 2024.

2. Stable Diffusion, image generated in response to "Pepperoni pizza" in a surrealist style, Black Technology LTD, February 28, 2024.

 

Books in Print

One Author

Note (first note)

Zadie Smith, Swing Time (New York: Penguin Press, 2016), 315–16.
  Shortened Note Smith, Swing Time, 320.
  Bibliography Citation Smith, Zadie. Swing Time. New York: Penguin Press, 2016.
Two Authors

Note (first note)

Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman, A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2015), 12.
  Shortened Note Grazer and Fishman, Curious Mind, 37.
  Bibliography Citation Grazer, Brian, and Charles Fishman. A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2015.

 

Book Reviews

Review from a Newspaper in Print Note (first note) Michiko Kakutani, “Friendship Takes a Path That Diverges,” review of Swing Time, by Zadie Smith, New York Times, November 7, 2016.
  Shortened Note Kakutani, “Friendship.”
  Bibliographic Citation Kakutani, Michiko. “Friendship Takes a Path That Diverges.” Review of Swing Time, by Zadie Smith. New York Times, November 7, 2016.

 

Blogs, Magazines, & Newspapers

Articles from newspapers or news sites, magazines, blogs, and the like are cited similarly. Page numbers, if any, can be cited in a note but are omitted from a bibliography entry. If you consulted the article online, include a URL or the name of the database.

 

Magazine Article in Print- One Author Note (first note) Rebecca Mead, “The Prophet of Dystopia,” New Yorker, April 17, 2017, 43.
  Shortened Note Mead, “Dystopia,” 47.
  Bibliographic Citation Mead, Rebecca. “The Prophet of Dystopia.” New Yorker, April 17, 2017.
Newspaper Article from a Website- One Author Note (first note) Farhad Manjoo, “Snap Makes a Bet on the Cultural Supremacy of the Camera,” New York Times, March 8, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/technology/snap-makes-a-bet-on-the-cultural-supremacy-of-the-camera.html.
  Shortened Note Manjoo, “Snap.”
  Bibliographic Citation Manjoo, Farhad. “Snap Makes a Bet on the Cultural Supremacy of the Camera.” New York Times, March 8, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/technology/snap-makes-a-bet-on-the-cultural-supremacy-of-the-camera.html.
Newspaper Article form a Library Database - One Author Note (first note) Rob Pegoraro, “Apple’s iPhone Is Sleek, Smart and Simple,” Washington Post, July 5, 2007, LexisNexis Academic.
  Shortened Note Pegoraro, “Apple’s iPhone.”
  Bibliographic Citation Pegoraro, Rob. “Apple’s iPhone Is Sleek, Smart and Simple.” Washington Post, July 5, 2007. LexisNexis Academic.
Article from a Website (a webpage) Note (first note) Tanya Pai, “The Squishy, Sugary History of Peeps,” Vox, April 11, 2017, http://www.vox.com/culture/2017/4/11/15209084/peeps-easter.
  Shortened Note Pai, “History of Peeps.”
  Bibliographic Citation Pai, Tanya. “The Squishy, Sugary History of Peeps.” Vox, April 11, 2017. http://www.vox.com/culture/2017/4/11/15209084/peeps-easter.
Readers’ comments are cited in the text or in a note but omitted from a bibliography. Note (first note) Eduardo B (Los Angeles), March 9, 2017, comment on Manjoo, “Snap.”

 

Chapter or Other Part of an Edited Book

Note (first note)

  • cite specific pages.
 Henry David Thoreau, “Walking,” in The Making of the American Essay, ed. John D’Agata (Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2016), 177–78.
Shortened Note Thoreau, “Walking,” 182.

Bibliographic Citation

  • include the page range for the chapter or part.
 Thoreau, Henry David. “Walking.” In The Making of the American Essay, edited by John D’Agata, 167–95. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2016.

 

Citing the collection as a whole instead

Note (first note)

  • cite specific pages.
 John D’Agata, ed., The Making of the American Essay (Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2016), 177–78.
Shortened Note D’Agata, American Essay, 182.

Bibliographic Citation

  • include the page range for the chapter or part.
 D’Agata, John, ed. The Making of the American Essay. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2016.

 

eBooks

Online source: include a URL

One Author Note (first note) Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851), 627, http://mel.hofstra.edu/moby-dick-the-whale-proofs.html.
  Shortened Note Melville, Moby-Dick, 722–23.
  Bibliographic Citation Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851. http://mel.hofstra.edu/moby-dick-the-whale-proofs.html.
Two Authors Note (first note) Philip B. Kurland and Ralph Lerner, eds., The Founders’ Constitution (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987), chap. 10, doc.19, http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/.
  Shortened Note Kurland and Lerner, Founders’ Constitution, chap. 4, doc. 29.
  Bibliographic Citation Kurland, Philip B., and Ralph Lerner, eds. The Founders’ Constitution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987. http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/.

Library Database

Note (first note) Brooke Borel, The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016), 92, ProQuest Ebrary.
Shortened Note Borel, Fact-Checking, 104–5.
Bibliographic Citation Borel, Brooke. The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016. ProQuest Ebrary.

No fixed page numbers:

  • Cite a section title or a chapter or other number in the notes, if any (or simply omit).
Note (first note) Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (New York: Penguin Classics, 2007), chap. 3, Kindle.
Shortened Note Austen, Pride and Prejudice, chap. 14.
Bibliographic Citation Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. New York: Penguin Classics, 2007. Kindle.

 

Interviews

Note (first note) Kory Stamper, “From ‘F-Bomb’ to ‘Photobomb,’ How the Dictionary Keeps Up with English,” interview by Terry Gross, Fresh Air, NPR, April 19, 2017, audio, 35:25, http://www.npr.org/2017/04/19/524618639/from-f-bomb-to-photobomb-how-the-dictionary-keeps-up-with-english.
Shortened Note Stamper, interview.
Bibliographic Citation Stamper, Kory. “From ‘F-Bomb’ to ‘Photobomb,’ How the Dictionary Keeps Up with English.” Interview by Terry Gross. Fresh Air, NPR, April 19, 2017. Audio, 35:25. http://www.npr.org/2017/04/19/524618639/from-f-bomb-to-photobomb-how-the-dictionary-keeps-up-with-english.

 

Journals

Page number:

  • In a note, cite specific page numbers.
  • In the bibliography, include the page range for the whole article.

Articles consulted online

  • Include a URL or the name of the database.

Many journal articles list a DOI (Digital Object Identifier). A DOI forms a permanent URL that begins https://doi.org/. This URL is preferable to the URL that appears in your browser’s address bar.

One Author - Article in Print

Note (first note) 

 Susan Satterfield, “Livy and the Pax Deum,” Classical Philology 111, no. 2 (April 2016): 170.
  Shortened Note Satterfield, “Livy,” 172–73.
  Bibliographic Citation Satterfield, Susan. “Livy and the Pax Deum.” Classical Philology 111, no. 2 (April 2016): 165–76.
Three Authors - Library Database with a DOI Note (first note) Shao-Hsun Keng, Chun-Hung Lin, and Peter F. Orazem, “Expanding College Access in Taiwan, 1978–2014: Effects on Graduate Quality and Income Inequality,” Journal of Human Capital 11, no. 1 (Spring 2017): 9–10, https://doi.org/10.1086/690235.
  Shortened Note Keng, Lin, and Orazem, “Expanding College Access,” 23.
  Bibliographic Citation Keng, Shao-Hsun, Chun-Hung Lin, and Peter F. Orazem. “Expanding College Access in Taiwan, 1978–2014: Effects on Graduate Quality and Income Inequality.” Journal of Human Capital 11, no. 1 (Spring 2017): 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1086/690235.

One Author - Library Database Name (no URL or DOI). 

  • DOI is preferred
 Note (first note) Peter LaSalle, “Conundrum: A Story about Reading,” New England Review 38, no. 1 (2017): 95, Project MUSE.
  Shortened Note  LaSalle, “Conundrum,” 101.
  Bibliographic Citation LaSalle, Peter. “Conundrum: A Story about Reading.” New England Review 38, no. 1 (2017): 95–109. Project MUSE.

 

Journal articles often list many authors, especially in the sciences. If there are four or more authors, list up to ten in the bibliography; in a note (first note), list only the first, followed by et al. (“and others”). For more than ten authors (not shown in the chart below), list the first seven in the bibliography, followed by et al.

Four or more authors Note (First Note) Rachel A. Bay et al., “Predicting Responses to Contemporary Environmental Change Using Evolutionary Response Architectures,” American Naturalist 189, no. 5 (May 2017): 465, https://doi.org/10.1086/691233.
  Shortened Note Bay et al., “Predicting Responses,” 466.
  Bibliographic Citation Bay, Rachael A., Noah Rose, Rowan Barrett, Louis Bernatchez, Cameron K. Ghalambor, Jesse R. Lasky, Rachel B. Brem, Stephen R. Palumbi, and Peter Ralph. “Predicting Responses to Contemporary Environmental Change Using Evolutionary Response Architectures.” American Naturalist 189, no. 5 (May 2017): 463–73. https://doi.org/10.1086/691233.

 

Personal Communication

Personal communications, including email and text messages and direct messages sent through social media, are usually cited in the text or in a note only; they are rarely included in a bibliography.

Facebook private/direct message Note (first note) Sam Gomez, Facebook message to author, August 1, 2017

 

Social Media

  • A note may be added if a more formal citation is needed.
  • In rare cases, a bibliography entry may also be appropriate.
  • In place of a title, quote up to the first 160 characters of the post.
  • Comments are cited in reference to the original post.
Description Placement Example  
Twitter - Citations of content shared through social media can usually be limited to the text. In the paragraph/sentence Conan O’Brien’s tweet was characteristically deadpan: “In honor of Earth Day, I’m recycling my tweets” (@ConanOBrien, April 22, 2015).  
Instagram - Formal situation. Note (first note) Chicago Manual of Style, “Is the world ready for singular they? We thought so back in 1993,” Facebook, April 17, 2015, https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoManual/posts/10152906193679151.  
  Shortened Note Michele Truty, April 17, 2015, 1:09 p.m., comment on Chicago Manual of Style, “singular they.”  
  Bibliographic Citation Chicago Manual of Style. “Is the world ready for singular they? We thought so back in 1993.” Facebook, April 17, 2015. https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoManual/posts/10152906193679151.  

 

Thesis or Dissertation

Note (first note) Cynthia Lillian Rutz, “King Lear and Its Folktale Analogues” (PhD diss., University of Chicago, 2013), 99–100.
Shortened Note Rutz, “King Lear,” 158.
Bibliographic Citation Rutz, Cynthia Lillian. “King Lear and Its Folktale Analogues.” PhD diss., University of Chicago, 2013.

 

Translated Books

Note (first note) Jhumpa Lahiri, In Other Words, trans. Ann Goldstein (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2016), 146.
Shortened Note Lahiri, In Other Words, 184.
Bibliographic Citation Lahiri, Jhumpa. In Other Words. Translated by Ann Goldstein. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2016.

 

Websites

It is often sufficient simply to describe web pages and other website content in the text (“As of May 1, 2017, Yale’s home page listed . . .”). If a more formal citation is needed, it may be styled like the examples below. For a source that does not list a date of publication or revision, include an access date (as in example note 2). The last item in the Note example is referring to page 3. 

 

Webpage from a Website Note (first note) “Privacy Policy,” Privacy & Terms, Google, last modified April 17, 2017, 3.
  Shortened Note  Google, “Privacy Policy.”
  Bibliographic Citation Google. “Privacy Policy.” Privacy & Terms. Last modified April 17, 2017. https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.
Webpage with a Known Author Note (first note) Katie Bouman, “How to Take a Picture of a Black Hole,” filmed November 2016 at TEDxBeaconStreet, Brookline, MA, video, 12:51, https://www.ted.com/talks/katie_bouman_what_does_a_black_hole_look_like.
  Shortened Note  Bouman, “Black Hole.”
  Bibliographic Citation Bouman, Katie. “How to Take a Picture of a Black Hole.” Filmed November 2016 at TEDxBeaconStreet, Brookline, MA. Video, 12:51. https://www.ted.com/talks/katie_bouman_what_does_a_black_hole_look_like.

Note (First Note), Shortened Note, and Bibliographic Citation

Type

Placement 

(ask your instructor if they prefer footnotes or endnotes)

 Description Example: Print Book with One Author
Note (First Note)
  • Footnotes are placed at the bottom of each page.
  • Endnotes are placed at the end of the paper.​

Contains all relevant information about the source:

  • author’s full name
  • source title
  • facts of publication
  • page number(s)

Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (New York: Penguin, 2006), 99–100.
Shortened Note
  • Footnotes are placed at the bottom of each page.
  • Endnotes are placed at the end of the paper.​

 

If you cite the same source again: 

  • surname of the author
  • a shortened form of the title (if more than four words)
  • page number(s)
 Pollan, Omnivore’s Dilemma, 3.
Bibliographic Citation Bibliographic Page

The full citation

Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. New York: Penguin, 2006.

Footnotes & Endnotes

Footnotes

In the text, note numbers are super-scripted

  • In the notes themselves, note numbers are full sized, not raised, and followed by a period
  • Super-scripting numbers in both places is also acceptable

 

Note numbers should be placed at the end of the clause or sentence they refer and be placed after any and all punctuation except the dash

  • Note numbers should also begin with “1” and follow consecutively throughout a given paper, article, or chapter

 

 

List footnotes at the bottom of the page where the super-scripted number appears

  • The first line is indented .5” from the left margin
  • Subsequent lines within a note should be formatted flush left
  • Leave an extra line space between notes
  • Citations within such notes are treated the same as they would be in the text itself

 

 

Endnotes

  • The identical citation format as footnotes but are collected in a numbered-order “Notes” page at the end of the paper
  • The page title Notes is placed before the References page
  • Endnotes are single-spaced with double-spaced between

Blocked Quotations (aka Extracts), Prose Quotations, & Poetry

  • A prose quotation of five or more lines, or more than 100 words, should be blocked
  • Block two or more lines of poetry
  • Singled spaced
  • No quotation marks
  • A blocked quotation must always begin a new line.
  • Leave an extra line space immediately before and after
  • Indent.5” (the same as you would the start of a new paragraph)
  • The citations for block quotations begin after the final punctuation of the quotation
  • No period is required either before or after the opening or closing parentheses of block quotation documentation