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Buena Vista University

Chicago Citations (17th ed.)

This guide will help you format your paper and cite your sources in Chicago style.

Citing Other Types of Sources

Use these links to navigate to the correct section on the page.

Interviews and Personal Communications Scriptural References
Lectures Secondary References
Pamphlets, Brochures, and Reports Government Publications

Interviews and Personal Communications

Unpublished interviews and personal communications (conversations, emails, letters, etc.) are generally cited in a footnote only; they are rarely included in the bibliography.

General Format
Full Note:

  1. Interviewee/Email Sender First Name and/or Initial Surname, Interview by Name of Interviewer, Place and Date of Interview.

Concise Note:

  1. Surname, format.

Example 1
Full Note:

  1. Andrew Macmillan (principal adviser, Investment Center Division, FAO), in discussion with the author, September 1998.

Concise Note:

  1. Macmillan, discussion.

Example 2
Full Note:

  1. Interview with health care worker, July 31, 2017.

Concise Note:

  1. Health care worker, interview.

Example 3
Full Note:

  1. Constance Conlon, email message to author, April 17, 2000.

Concise Note:

  1. Conlon, email message.

Example 4
Full Note:

  1. Zachary Hutchison, Facebook direct message to author, November 13, 2018.

Concise Note:

  1. Hutchison, Facebook direct message.

Example 5
Full Note:

  1. John Powell to Grapevine mailing list, April 23, 1998, no. 83, http://www.electriceditors.net/grapevine/archives.php.

Concise Note:

  1. Powell, Grapevine mailing list post.

Lectures

This format is typically used if you would like to make reference to lecture notes from one of your classes.

General Format
Full Note:

  1. Lecturer First Name and/or Initial Surname, "Lecture Title" (lecture, Location of Lecture, Month Day, Year of Lecture).

Concise Note:

  1. Lecturer Surname, "Lecture Title."

Bibliography:

Lecturer Surname, First Name and/or Initial. "Lecture Title." Lecture, Location of Lecture, Month Day, Year of Lecture.

Example
Full Note:

  1. Bill Feis, "Dishonor in Early America: The Political Death of Loyalists," (lecture, Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, IA, November 7, 2023).

Concise Note:

  1. Feis, "Dishonor in Early America."

Bibliography:

Feis, Bill. "Dishonor in Early America: The Political Death of Loyalists." Lecture, Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, IA, November 7, 2023.

Pamphlets, Brochures, and Reports

These types of sources are basically treated like books. Include as much of the publication material as possible.

General Format
Full Note:

  1. Author First Name and/or Initial Surname, Title: Subtitle (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year), page #(if there is one).

Concise Note:

  1. Author Surname, Title, page # (if there is one).

Bibliography:

Author Surname, First Name or Initial. Title: Subtitle. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year.

Example
Full Note:

  1. Hazel V. Clark, Mesopotamia: Between Two Rivers (Mesopotamia, OH: Trumbull County Historical Society, 1957)

Concise Note:

  1. Clark, Mesopotamia.

Bibliography:

Clark, Hazel V. Mesopotamia: Between Two Rivers. Mesopotamia, OH: Trumbull County Historical Society, 1957.

Scriptural References

Scriptural references appear in the notes section only, not the bibliography. The Chicago Manual of Style itself includes a helpful list of abbreviations for the Old Testament, Apocrypha, New Testament, and various versions and sections of the Bible on pp. 596-600.

General Format
Full Note:

  1. Name of the Book (in roman and often abbreviated) Chapter:Verse (Version being Cited).

Concise Note:
Same as above, though the version can often be abbreviated after the first citation you use it in.

Example
Full Note:

  1. 2 Kings 11:8 (New Revised Standard Version).

Concise Note:
Same as above, but if you used the New Revised Standard Version prior in your paper, your citation of another passage may look like the following:

  1. 1 Cor. 6:1-10 (NRSV).

Secondary References

Citing things second-hand in this manner is discouraged. You should strive to find and consult the original item the author is quoting from. In the rare cases where this is not possible, the following format is used.

You may need to adjust this format slightly to conform with the expectations of a book or article. The following example assumes you are quoting from a book.

General Format
Full Note:

  1. Author First Name and/or Initial Surname [original author], "Title of quote," Source of Original Quote (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year), page number, quoted in Author First Name and/or Initial Surname [the author of the book that refers to the thoughts/ideas of the other author], Title (Place of Publication: Publisher, Year), page #.

Concise Note:

  1. Author Surname [original author], "Title," page #. 

Bibliography:

Author Surname, First Name and/or Initial [original author]. "Title of  quote ." Source of Original Quote. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year. Quoted in Author First Name/Initial Surname [the author of the book that refers to the thoughts/ideas of the other author]. Title. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year, page #.

Example
Full Note:

  1. Astrik L. Gabriel, "The Educational Ideas of Christine de Pisan," Journal of the History of Ideas 16, no. 1 (1995): 3-21, quoted in Sarah Gwyneth Ross, The Birth of Feminism: Women as Intellect in Renaissance Italy and England (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009), 23.

Concise Note:

  1. Gabriel, "The Educational Ideas," 3-21.

Bibliography:

Gabriel, Astrik L.. "The Educational Ideas of Christine de Pisan." Culture and Imperialism. Journal of the History of Ideas 16, no. 1 (1995). Quoted in Sarah Gwyneth Ross. The Birth of Feminism: Women as Intellect in Renaissance Italy and England. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009, 23.

Government Publications

For legal and government documents, The Chicago Manual of Style largely recommends following the legal styling recommended in either The Bluebook or the ALWD Guide to Legal Citation. The citations below provide some examples in this style, but if you find that you will be citing a great many government documents or court cases in your scholarship, we strongly recommend consulting The Bluebook.

Most legal journals prefer notes-only and strongly prefer printed documents to websites, but if a source has been duly released and authenticated by a governmental body online, the source is acceptable.

Citations related to legal works or government documents are often omitted from the bibliography.

Freestanding publications, such as books and records printed by the Government Printing Office, should be cited following our recommendations on books.

Finally, if the document you are citing was found online, simply include the URL as the final item in the citation.

General Format for Legal Documents
Full Note:

  1. Court Case, Vol. Case Reporter Series Number, Page decision begins on, (Court Date).

Concise Note: 

  1.  Defendant (unless government body, then Plaintiff), Vol. Case Reporter Series Number, at Page #.

Example 
Full Note:

  1. United States v. Christmas, 222 F.3d 141, 145 (4th Cir. 2000).

Concise Note:

  1.  Christmas, 222 F.3d at 146.

General Format for Laws
Note:

  1. Act, Location Information for Act (Year)

Example:

  1.  Homeland Security Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135 (2012).

General Format for Congressional Hearings
Note:

  1. Title, Congress (year) page # (speaker's name, title, and affiliation)

Example:

  1.  Homeland Security Act of 2002: Hearings on H.R. 5005, Day 3, Before the Select Comm. on Homeland Security, 107th Cong. 203 (2002) (statement of David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States).

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