Free Chicago Citation Generator — 17th Edition, No Ads, No Signup

The easiest free Chicago citation generator for the 17th edition is this one — no account, no ads, no premium tier. Enter source details, click Generate, copy the Chicago-formatted bibliography entry. It follows The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, notes-bibliography style (the most common flavor for history and humanities).

Below is how the tool handles the four source types, Chicago-specific formatting rules it applies, and when to switch to author-date style (hint: usually when your instructor says so).

Chicago has two citation styles — which one is this?

Chicago uses two systems:

• Notes-bibliography (NB): Footnotes or endnotes in the text + a bibliography at the end. Standard in history, arts, humanities.
• Author-date: (Author Year) in-text + a reference list. Used in sciences and social sciences when Chicago is required (rare; APA is more common there).

This generator outputs bibliography entries in notes-bibliography format. Format differences between NB and author-date bibliographies are minor (date position changes), so the output can be adapted for author-date by moving the year.

If your assignment says "Chicago" without specifying, notes-bibliography is the safer default for humanities coursework. If it says "Turabian," that's the student-friendly adaptation of Chicago — essentially the same output.

How to cite a website in Chicago

1. Open the citation generator.
2. "Website" is selected by default.
3. Enter author last and first name if bylined.
4. Enter the page or article title.
5. Enter the website name.
6. Enter the date (year, month, day if available).
7. Paste the URL.
8. Click Generate Citations.
9. Copy the Chicago version for your bibliography.

Example output: Smith, John. "How to Write a Research Paper." MasterClass. March 15, 2024. https://example.com/article.

For footnotes (the in-text version): John Smith, "How to Write a Research Paper," MasterClass, March 15, 2024, https://example.com/article. (First mention in footnote uses full form; subsequent mentions use shortened form: Smith, "Research Paper.")

The tool generates the bibliography version. Footnote format is easy to derive from it — reverse the author name, lowercase the article, add commas instead of periods.

Sell Custom Apparel — We Handle Printing & Free Shipping

Chicago 17 rules the tool follows

• Author format in bibliography: "Last, First" — inverted for alphabetical sorting.
• Date format: "March 15, 2024" (full month name, Chicago standard).
• Italics: Book titles, journal names, and website names are italicized.
• Article titles: In quotation marks, title case.
• Publisher + city (books): "New York: Oxford University Press, 2023" — city only in Chicago (not in APA or MLA).
• Page ranges: Full numbers (12–28), not abbreviated (12–8).
• DOI format: https://doi.org/[DOI].
• No "accessed" dates by default: Only include access date if the source is likely to change.

The "city of publication" field is the Chicago-specific one — APA and MLA don't use it. The tool prompts for this when you select the Book source type.

Citing a journal article in Chicago 17

1. Select "Journal Article" in the source row.
2. Enter author (last name + first initial(s)).
3. Year, article title, journal name.
4. Volume, issue (optional), page range.
5. DOI if available (strongly recommended for academic articles).
6. Generate and copy the Chicago version.

Example: Lee, Sarah J. "Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Academic Performance." Journal of Educational Psychology 45, no. 3 (2022): 12–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000123.

Chicago-specific formatting you'll notice: volume number right after journal name (no "vol."), issue as "no. 3," year in parentheses before the colon, page range after colon. Very different from APA or MLA styling.

Citing a book with edition or city

1. Select "Book."
2. Enter author (last + first initial(s)).
3. Enter year.
4. Enter title (italicized in output).
5. Enter publisher and — this is Chicago-specific — the city of publication.
6. Edition: "3rd" if second-edition-or-later. Leave blank for first editions.
7. Generate. Chicago output includes all these details.

Example: Smith, John A. The Complete Guide to Research Writing. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2023.

For edited volumes, translated works, or chapters within edited books, Chicago has more complex patterns than a simple generator covers. Generate a similar source type and hand-adjust using The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, chapter 14 (notes-bibliography).

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this Chicago 17 or Chicago 18?

Chicago 17th edition (published 2017). Chicago 18th edition was released September 2024. For the source types this tool handles, the differences between 17 and 18 are minor; output is usable for either unless your instructor requires strict 18th edition compliance.

What's the difference between Chicago and Turabian?

Turabian is a simplified version of Chicago, written for student papers. The citation formatting is nearly identical to Chicago 17 for most source types. Output from this tool works for Turabian requirements too.

Do I need to include access dates for websites?

Chicago 17 recommends access dates only for sources likely to change (wikis, user-generated content, news that gets updated). Stable sources (published articles, books, DOI-indexed journal articles) don't need access dates. The tool doesn't auto-add them — include manually if your style guide requires.

How do I convert this output to footnote format?

The tool generates bibliography entries. For footnotes: reverse the author name (John Smith, not Smith, John), change the terminal period to a comma before page numbers, use "Ibid." for consecutive same-source citations, and shortened form for subsequent non-consecutive references.