The Chicago Manual of Style presents two basic documentation systems, the humanities style (notes and bibliography) and the author-date system (textual citation and reference list). For numerous specific examples, see chapters 14 and 15 of The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition. The examples that follow in this guides' pages - books, book chapters, articles and other examples in the tabbed pages on the left - include some of the most common types of print and electronic sources. On all the following pages, The Humanities examples (N and B) will be on the left, and the Author-Date examples (T and R) will be on the right.
Humanities Style |
Author-Date Style |
| The humanities style is preferred by many in literature, history, and the arts. This style presents bibliographic information in notes (N) and, often, a bibliography (B). It accommodates a variety of sources, including esoteric ones less appropriate to the author-date system. | The more concise author-date system has long been used by those in the physical, natural, and social sciences. In this system, sources are briefly cited in the text (T), usually in parentheses, by author's last name and date of publication. The short citations are amplified in a list of references (R), where full bibliographic information is provided. |