The Chicago Manual of Style provides guidance on how to reference newspaper articles within academic essays and other written work. This is commonly referred to as Chicago style newspaper citation and there are strict rules to follow.
In this article, we will cover all of the important information surrounding Chicago style newspaper citation.
Definition: Chicago style newspaper citation
A Chicago style newspaper citation refers to a reference to a newspaper article, news article, magazine article, or similar source within a piece of writing. For a reference to be considered a Chicago style newspaper citation, it must be written and formatted according to the rules outlined in the Chicago Manual of Style.
The notes and bibliography style is the most common approach and students may cite newspaper articles in footnotes alone, although a citation can also be added to the bibliography if the source is crucial, or cited frequently.
The format for Chicago style newspaper citations using this approach is as follows:
Format | Example | |
Chicago Bibliography: | Last name of author, first name of author. “Article Title.” Newspaper Name, Month Day, Year. URL (if applicable). | McWhorter, John. “English Is a Living Language — Period.” New York Times, February 8, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/opinion/oxford-comma.html |
Full note: | First and last name of author, “Article Title,” Newspaper Name, Month Day, Year, URL (if applicable). | John McWhorter, “English Is a Living Language — Period,” New York Times, February 8, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/opinion/oxford-comma.html |
Short note: | Last name of author, “Shortened article title.” | McWhorter, “English Is a Living Language.” |
Chicago style newspaper citation: Names and editions
With a Chicago style newspaper citation, the name of the newspaper should be written in italics and the word “The” should be removed from the start of the name, if applicable.
Chicago style newspaper citation: Magazine article
Chicago style newspaper citation rules are broadly applicable to magazine articles too. However, there are some notable differences to the way in which magazine articles should be referenced.
- Magazines should always be listed in the bibliography.
- Citations follow the same basic format as other Chicago style newspaper citations.
- Footnote citations can include page numbers.
- Page numbers should not be listed in the bibliography, however.
Examples of correct magazine article citations can be found below:
Format | Example | |
Chicago Bibliography: | Last name of author, first name of author. “Article Title.” Magazine Name, Month Day, Year. URL (if applicable). | Donovan, Hedley. “Life's Last Issue: A message to our readers.” Life, December 29, 1972. |
Full Note: | First and last name of author, “Article Title,” Magazine Name, Month Day, Year, URL or page number (if applicable). | Hedley Donovan. “Life's Last Issue: A message to our readers,” Life, December 29, 1972, 1. |
Short Note: | Last name of author, “Shortened article title,” page number. | Donovan, “Life's Last Issue,” 1. |
Chicago author-date style refers to the alternative Chicago style newspaper citation method, which is favored within areas of academia like Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Psychology. This approach to Chicago style newspaper citation makes use of shorter in-text citations and a reference list containing the full citations.4
For newspaper articles, the in-text citation will consist only of the author’s last name and the year of publication, in parentheses. However, a magazine citation may also include a page number.
Chicago author-date style: Print article (specific edition)
Chicago Author-date Format: | Last name of author, first name of author. Year. “Article Title.” Newspaper Name, Month Day, Year, Edition. |
Chicago Reference Entry: | Doe, John. 2023. “Chicago Style Newspaper Citation is Easy.” Times (UK), January 1, 2023, Scottish edition. |
Chicago Author-date Citation: | (Doe 2023) |
Chicago author-date style: Magazine article
Chicago Author-date Format: | Last name of author, first name of author. Year. “Article Title.” Magazine Name, Month Day, Year. URL (if applicable) |
Chicago Reference Entry: | Donovan, Hedley. 1972. “Life's Last Issue: A message to our readers.” Life, December 29, 1972. |
Chicago Author-date Citation: | (Donovan 1972, 1) |
Chicago author-date style: Online newspaper article
Chicago Author-date Format: | Last name of author, first name of author. Year. “Article Title.” Newspaper Name, Month Day, Year. URL (if applicable) |
Chicago Reference Entry: | McWhorter, John. 2022. “English Is a Living Language — Period.” New York Times, February 8, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/opinion/oxford-comma.html |
Chicago Author-date Citation: | (McWhorter 2022) |
FAQs
With Chicago style newspaper citation, if the author is unknown, a full note should begin with the title of the article, while short notes should use the name of the publication or website instead of the author.
With Chicago style newspaper citation, if a date of publication is not available, the date can be replaced with “Accessed” followed by the date the source was accessed.
The reference list should be sorted into alphabetical order, based on the authors’ last names.
Sources
1 The Chicago Manual of Style Online. “Notes and Bibliography: Sample Citations.” Accessed January 13, 2023. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html.
2 LIU Post. “The Chicago Manual of Style Guide: Author-Date vs. Notes and Bibliography.” February 10, 2021. https://liu.cwp.libguides.com/c.php?g=45846&p=291624.
3 The Chicago Manual of Style Online. “Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide.” Accessed January 13, 2023. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html.
4 Chicago Manual. “What is author-date style?” CMOS Shop Talk. May 17, 2017. https://cmosshoptalk.com/2017/05/17/what-is-author-date-style/.