Two Chicago systems
Chicago commonly appears as notes and bibliography or author-date. Humanities courses often use notes and bibliography, while some sciences and social sciences use author-date. The instructor or publisher should specify which system is required.
Notes and bibliography
This system uses numbered footnotes or endnotes and can also include a bibliography. A note and a bibliography entry for the same source are not formatted identically, so one generated line cannot automatically serve every Chicago purpose.
Author-date
Author-date uses brief parenthetical citations in the text with a reference list. It may look similar to other author-date styles, but punctuation, name order and date placement follow Chicago’s rules.
Webpage sources
A webpage entry often includes author, page title, website name, publication or revision date and URL. An access date can be useful for undated or frequently changing web content.
Identify the required output first
Before using a generator, determine whether the assignment wants a footnote, endnote, bibliography entry, parenthetical citation or reference-list entry. Choosing the wrong Chicago system can produce a polished but unsuitable citation.
Notes and bibliography are not interchangeable
Students sometimes copy a bibliography entry into a footnote unchanged. Chicago usually formats those two differently: notes commonly use normal name order and different punctuation, while bibliography entries often invert the first author’s name. Confirm which output the assignment requests.
Related resources
Reviewed: October 2026. CurioLift explanations are educational; when a school, instructor or required style guide uses different rules, those rules take priority.