Chicago Citation
Generator.

Paste a source — a title, an existing reference, or a citation from another style — and get it correctly formatted for Chicago style in seconds. No signup required to try it.

Unlike other generators, we confirm your source is real before formatting it — cross-checked against 6 academic databases instead of taking whatever you paste at face value.

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What Is Chicago Citation Style?

Chicago style, defined by The Chicago Manual of Style, actually covers two distinct citation systems. Notes-Bibliography is the one most common in history, literature, and the arts: sources are cited with a numbered footnote or endnote at the point they're used, and a full bibliography lists every source at the end. Author-Date is the one common in the sciences and social sciences: sources are cited in-text as (Author Year), with a reference list matching those in-text mentions. The two systems format the same source differently and shouldn't be mixed within one paper — the first thing to get right with Chicago style is knowing which of the two your instructor, journal, or publisher expects.

Common Chicago Citation Mistakes

Why We Verify Before We Format

Most citation generators will format whatever you paste in, whether or not the source is real. We check your reference against OpenAlex, Crossref, Semantic Scholar, PubMed, DBLP, and arXiv first, looking for independent agreement between sources, before handing back the formatted Chicago citation. If we can't confirm it, we tell you rather than silently formatting a source that may not exist.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Chicago style citation format?

Chicago style has two citation systems. Notes-Bibliography, common in history and the humanities, uses numbered footnotes or endnotes plus a bibliography. Author-Date, common in the sciences and social sciences, uses in-text parenthetical citations like (Author Year) plus a reference list. Both are defined by The Chicago Manual of Style.

What's the difference between Chicago Notes-Bibliography and Author-Date?

Notes-Bibliography cites sources with a numbered footnote or endnote at the point of use, plus a full bibliography at the end; it's the norm in history, literature, and the arts. Author-Date instead cites sources in-text as (Author Year), with full details in a reference list; it's the norm in the sciences and social sciences. The two aren't interchangeable within one paper.

Can I generate a Chicago citation from just a DOI or URL?

Paste in what you already have — the fuller the reference (title, authors, publisher or journal), the more reliably we can verify it against academic databases before formatting. A DOI included alongside the rest of the reference helps confirm the match; a bare DOI or URL with nothing else attached is the least reliable input on its own.

Is AccuraCite's Chicago citation generator free?

Yes. A free account includes monthly credits for citation verification and citation search, no credit card required.

Other Citation Styles

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