Chicago Footnote Generator
Create a Chicago 18 footnote in seconds. Paste a URL, DOI or ISBN, or type the details yourself, and get the full note to drop into your text plus the matching bibliography entry in Chicago notes and bibliography style. Need another style? The main generator offers 10,834. Free, no sign-up.
How to Use the Chicago Footnote Generator
- 1. Add your source. Paste a URL, DOI or ISBN on the first tab, or switch to Enter manually and type the author, title, year and publisher.
- 2. Generate. You get two lines: the footnote, with the author's name in normal order and the publication details in parentheses, and the bibliography entry, with the first author inverted.
- 3. Put the note in your text. Add a superscript number after the sentence and its punctuation, and paste the note at the foot of the page, or in the endnotes. Footnotes and endnotes are formatted the same way.
- 4. Adjust the page. The note shows the whole page range of an article. In your paper, replace it with the page you actually cite.
Footnote vs Bibliography Entry
Chicago notes and bibliography style cites every source twice: once in a note where you use it, and once in the bibliography at the end. They hold the same facts in a different order.
| Footnote or endnote | Bibliography entry | |
|---|---|---|
| Author | First name first: Robin Wall Kimmerer | Surname first for the first author: Kimmerer, Robin Wall |
| Separators | Commas | Periods |
| Publication details | In parentheses: (Milkweed Editions, 2013) | After the title, no parentheses: Milkweed Editions, 2013. |
| Pages | Only the page you cite | The full range of an article or chapter |
| Many authors | Three or more: first author and et al. | Up to six listed; seven or more: first three and et al. |
| Where | Bottom of the page or end of the work | A list at the end, alphabetized by surname |
Chicago Footnote Examples
A book and a journal article. The numbers 17 and 1244 stand for the page you cite.
Book
Footnote:
1. Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants (Milkweed Editions, 2013), 17.
Shortened note:
4. Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 21.
Bibliography:
Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions, 2013.
Journal article with a DOI
Footnote:
2. Garrett Hardin, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” Science 162, no. 3859 (1968): 1244, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.162.3859.1243.
Shortened note:
5. Hardin, “Tragedy of the Commons,” 1246.
Bibliography:
Hardin, Garrett. “The Tragedy of the Commons.” Science 162, no. 3859 (1968): 1243–48. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.162.3859.1243.
Shortened Notes and Ibid.
The generator writes the full note, which is what Chicago wants the first time a source appears. After that, use a shortened note: the author's surname, a short title of up to four words, and the page. Chicago 18 recommends a shortened note over Ibid., even when you cite the same source twice in a row. Because the shortened form depends on the order of your citations, write it yourself from the full note.
Which Tool Do You Need?
| Your style | Use |
|---|---|
| Chicago notes and bibliography: footnotes or endnotes | This page |
| Chicago author-date, APA, MLA or Harvard: parenthetical citations | In-Text Citation Generator |
| Another style, or the reference list for any style | The citation generator and its style list |
| A source with only a DOI | DOI Citation Generator |
Common Mistakes
- Using the bibliography form in a note. In a note the author is first name first and the details sit in parentheses. The inverted name belongs to the bibliography.
- Copying the page range into every note. A note points to one page. The range belongs in the bibliography.
- Numbering by hand. Let your word processor number the notes so they renumber when you add one.
- Leaving out the bibliography. Chicago lets you skip it only when every source is cited in full in a note. Most instructors still ask for one.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I generate a Chicago footnote?
- Paste a URL, DOI or ISBN, or enter the details by hand, then generate. The tool looks up the source and produces a full Chicago notes-and-bibliography footnote, with the author's name first, commas between the elements and the publication details in parentheses, together with the matching bibliography entry.
- What is the difference between a footnote and a bibliography entry?
- A footnote gives the author's name first-name-first, uses commas, puts the publication facts in parentheses and cites the page used. The bibliography entry inverts the lead author, uses periods and lists the full page range.
- Does this use Chicago 17th or 18th edition?
- The 18th edition (2024). The generator runs the Chicago notes-and-bibliography style, which follows CMOS 18: a note names one or two authors and switches to the first author plus et al. at three, the bibliography lists up to six authors (seven or more become the first three plus et al.), and a modern book's place of publication is left out. If your instructor still requires the 17th edition, add the city before the publisher and spell out up to three authors in the note.
- Does it create shortened (Ibid.) notes?
- No. It generates the full first note for a source. Shortened notes depend on the order of your citations, so write them yourself: surname, short title, page. Chicago 18 prefers a shortened note to Ibid.
- What is the difference between a footnote and an endnote?
- Only where they sit. A footnote is at the bottom of the page and an endnote is in a list at the end of the chapter or work. Both use the same format, and both are numbered with a superscript in the text.
- Is the Chicago footnote generator free?
- Yes, free with no sign-up. You can also switch to any of the 10,834 citation styles on the main generator and export your sources to BibTeX, RIS, CSV or Word.