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Chicago (17th ed.) Style Guide

An introductory guide to creating notes and bibliography entries in accordance with the 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style (2017).

Arranging Bibliography Entries

Entries in a bibliography are arranged alphabetically based on the first word(s) of each entry. Usually this means you're alphabetizing by author/editor last name, although entries for anonymous sources do not have author names. Two anonymous sources appear in the "Sample Bibliography" (below at right). See the entries that begin with "Colonial Williamsburg Foundation" and "Osceola (KY) Times."

Multiple entries that begin with the same author/editor last name should be alphabetized based on the remaining word(s) in the author/editor names (see the two entries for Page in the "Sample Bibliography"). For example:

Smith, A. A.
Smith, Abby.
Smith, Abigail.
Smith, John.
Smith, John A.
Smith, John Abraham.
Smith, R. Samuel.
Smith, Rex.
Smith, Rex, Jr.

When you have multiple entries for works by the same author/editor, the author's full name is replaced with a set of three hyphens beginning with the second entry for that author/editor (see the two entries for Thurber in the "Sample Bibliography"). The multiple entries are alphabetized by the word(s) following the author's/editor's name. For example:

Jones, Jane. Acting Like Myself.
---. "America, My America."
---. Freeing the Inner Me.
---. Methodists and Martians.

 

Formatting a Bibliography

As with the text of your paper, a bibliography should be double spaced.

Entries in a bibliography are formatted differently than entries in notes. See the other pages of this guide for help with understanding the differences. You can also consult a copy of the The Chicago Manual of Style or make an appointment with the Writing Center.

Entries in a bibliography should be arranged alphabetically by the initial component of the entry, which is commonly an author's last name.

Entries in a bibliography should use a hanging indent. In other words, for entries that are longer than one line, all lines beyond the first need to be indented, as shown here: