Chicago Citation Checker
Paste your Chicago (notes-bibliography) bibliography below to review likely formatting issues — author inversion, the “and” connector, Title Case, DOI format, access dates, alphabetical order, and duplicates. It catches likely formatting issues — it is not a substitute for the manual. Free, unlimited, no account, and it runs entirely in your browser.
Using MLA or APA instead? Try the MLA Citation Checker or the APA 7 Citation Checker.
What this checker looks for
- The first author inverted to Last name, First name — while later authors stay in natural First Last order.
- The word “and” (not &) before the final author.
- Titles in headline-style Title Case rather than sentence case.
- DOIs as a clean https://doi.org/10.xxxx link.
- A terminal period (unless the entry ends in a DOI or URL).
- An access date on an entry that already has a publication year — Chicago reserves access dates for undated online sources.
- Alphabetical order of the list and duplicate entries.
Every finding is advisory and links to the relevant Chicago guideline. The checker is deterministic — it never uploads your text, never uses AI, and never auto-rewrites your references. It targets notes-bibliography bibliography entries only (footnotes, author-date reference lists, and other styles are not checked yet).
Frequently Asked Questions
- What does the Chicago citation checker check?
- It scans each entry in your bibliography for high-confidence Chicago formatting issues: the first author inverted to “Last name, First name” while later authors stay in natural order, the word “and” instead of & before the final author, titles in headline-style Title Case, a clean https://doi.org/… link, a terminal period, access dates that appear alongside a publication year, alphabetical ordering of the list, and duplicate entries.
- Does this cover Chicago notes-bibliography or author-date style?
- It targets bibliography entries in the notes-bibliography system, the Chicago style most common in history and the humanities. Author-date reference lists put the year right after the author and follow different rules, so a clean result here does not validate an author-date list.
- Is the Chicago citation checker free, and do I need an account?
- Yes, it is completely free with no sign-up, no source limit, and no paywall. The checker runs entirely in your browser — your bibliography is never uploaded to a server.
- Does a clean result mean my bibliography is perfect?
- No. The checker catches likely formatting issues it can detect with high confidence — it is not a substitute for The Chicago Manual of Style. It does not verify that a source exists, that a DOI resolves, or that every nuance of Chicago style is correct. Treat the findings as a helpful first pass and always double-check against the manual or your assignment guidelines.
- How should I paste my references?
- Paste your bibliography with one reference per line, or separate multi-line references with a blank line. The checker analyzes each entry separately and also checks the list as a whole for alphabetical order and duplicates.