Chicago Works Cited: Bibliography Format

Chicago style does not have a “Works Cited” page. The equivalent of a works cited list in the Chicago Manual of Style (18th edition) is the Bibliography, used with the notes-bibliography system, or the reference list, used with the author-date system. If your instructor or publisher says “Chicago works cited”, they almost always mean the Bibliography at the end of a notes-bibliography paper. This guide shows how to lay that page out and where published university style guides differ, so you know which points to confirm with your own instructor or publisher.

Purpose of the section

The Bibliography is the list at the end of a paper that gives full details of the sources behind your footnotes or endnotes. Massey University describes it as appearing “at the end of the assignment” and giving detailed information about each source cited; Purdue OWL’s Chicago 18 handout says it includes each source cited within the text as an entry. Mendocino College adds that a bibliography can also include works consulted in your research, not only those cited directly. Which of those two scopes applies is a house rule, so follow your instructor’s wording.

Works cited, bibliography or reference list?

Works Cited is the MLA name for the end list. Chicago does not use it; the Purdue, Massey and Red Deer Polytechnic Chicago 18 guides all call the notes-bibliography end list “Bibliography”.
Bibliography is the end list in the notes-bibliography system, paired with Chicago footnotes.
Reference list is the end list in the author-date system. This guide covers the Bibliography only.

Structure of a Chicago bibliography page

Place it at the end of the paper (Massey: it “appears at the end of the assignment”).
Title it “Bibliography”. Purdue OWL says to center the title at the top of the page and not to bold it, italicize it or put it in quotation marks.
Alphabetize in one sequence by the first author’s last name (Red Deer Polytechnic: “one alphabetical sequence by the surname of the author”). Do not split the list by source type unless your instructor asks you to.
Invert only the first author’s name (last name, then first name). Red Deer Polytechnic shows additional authors in normal order, for example “Elms, Jack, and Lauren D. Curtis.”
Use a hanging indent: the first line of each entry sits flush left and every later line is indented. Massey specifies 1.27 centimetres (0.5 inch).
Follow the spacing your instructor wants. Purdue says to single-space inside each entry and double-space between entries; Mendocino says to double-space all citations. See the comparison table below.
Separate elements with full stops and use one space after any punctuation mark (Massey).

Authors and the 18th edition limits

Up to six authors are listed in a bibliography entry. With more than six, list the first three followed by “et al.” (Massey, which matches the list of 18th edition changes on the Chicago Manual of Style site, CMOS 13.23 and 13.107). The in-text and note limit is shorter, with two authors named before “et al.”. See et al. citation rules for how the styles compare.

How to alphabetize edge cases

No author: start the entry with the title and alphabetize by it (Massey; Red Deer Polytechnic). If the author is a group or organisation, use the group in the author position.
Leading articles: when an entry starts with its title, ignore a leading “A”, “An” or “The” (Red Deer Polytechnic).
Same surname: alphabetize by first name (Massey).
Same author, several works: order them chronologically, earliest first, and repeat the author’s name on each entry (Massey).

A short annotated example

The entries below are illustrative placeholders that show the pattern; they are not real sources.

Bibliography

Adler, Pat. Lab Notebooks in Practice. Example University Press, 2021.

Adler, Pat, and Sam Rivera. Records Management for Researchers. Sample Publishing, 2019.

Brandt, Lee. “Writing Up Methods.” Journal of Example Studies 12, no. 3 (2020): 45–62.

The title “Bibliography” is centered and plain (Purdue).
Adler appears first because entries are alphabetical by the first author’s surname. The two Adler entries share a first author, so check your guide for how it wants them ordered.
Only the first author is inverted. The second author in the Adler and Rivera entry is in normal order.
Book titles are italicised; the article title is in quotation marks and the journal title is italicised (Purdue: italicize longer works, quotation marks for articles).
Each entry would carry a hanging indent in your word processor. The example above is only a visual approximation.
No publisher city appears. Chicago’s 18th edition list of changes says place of publication is no longer required for books (CMOS 14.30), and the existing how to cite from a book guide covers book entries in more detail.

From a note to a bibliography entry

The same source reads differently in a note and in a bibliography. Massey University’s worked example is a secondary-source note: the footnote reads “Tilda Steele, New Frontiers in Statistics (Oxford University Press, 1978), 67, quoted in Mike Chang, Fundamentals of Quantitative Analysis (Harvard University Press, 2017), 34.” Only Chang appears in the bibliography, because Chang is the source that was actually consulted: “Chang, Mike. Fundamentals of Quantitative Analysis. Harvard University Press, 2017.” In the bibliography entry the author’s name is inverted and the publication details are not in parentheses. The note-side rules are in Chicago footnote format.

Where the style guides disagree

All the points below are from guides applying the 18th edition. Where they differ, confirm the point with the person who will mark or publish your paper.

Point	What each guide says
Line spacing	Purdue OWL: single-space within an entry, double-space between entries. Mendocino College: double-space all citations.
Hanging indent size	Massey University: every line after the first moves 1.27 cm. Red Deer Polytechnic and Mendocino require a hanging indent without giving a measurement.
Repeated author	Massey: repeat the author’s name rather than using three em dashes. The Chicago Manual of Style’s list of 18th edition changes also says to repeat names (CMOS 13.72, 13.113).
What the list contains	Purdue OWL: every source cited in the text. Mendocino College: may include all works consulted, not only those cited.
Ampersand	Purdue OWL: use “and”, not “&”.

Common mistakes

Titling the page “Works Cited”. In notes-bibliography Chicago the title is “Bibliography”.
Bolding or quoting the title. Purdue says not to bold, italicize or enclose it in quotation marks.
Inverting every author. Only the first author’s name is inverted.
Using “&”. Write “and” (Purdue).
Alphabetizing by “The” or “A”. For an entry that starts with its title, skip the leading article.
Using three em dashes for a repeated author. The 18th edition guidance cited above repeats the name; an older habit from earlier editions may still be requested by some instructors, so ask.
Omitting page ranges for journal articles. The 18th edition list of changes no longer requires the page range for a chapter in an edited book (CMOS 14.8) but still requires it for most journal articles.

Checklist

Title is “Bibliography”, centered, plain text.
One alphabetical list by first author’s surname, or by title when there is no author.
Only the first author inverted; “and” before the last author.
Up to six authors listed; more than six shows the first three plus “et al.”.
Hanging indent applied to every entry.
Spacing follows your instructor or publisher.
Every source cited in your notes has an entry.
Titles in title case, with italics or quotation marks according to source type.
If a DOI is available, use it in place of a URL (Purdue; Red Deer Polytechnic). Purdue adds that no access date is required for electronic sources. For web sources, see how to cite a website in Chicago style.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a works cited page in Chicago style?

No. Chicago uses a Bibliography with the notes-bibliography system and a reference list with the author-date system. “Works Cited” is MLA terminology.

How do you alphabetize a Chicago bibliography?

Order entries by the first author’s surname, and use the title when there is no author (skipping a leading A, An or The). Authors with the same surname are ordered by first name, and several works by one author go in chronological order, as described in the alphabetizing list above.

What is the difference between a bibliography and a reference list in Chicago style?

Both are the end list of sources, but they belong to different systems. The Bibliography accompanies footnotes or endnotes; the reference list accompanies author-date citations in the text. Entry elements are arranged differently, so use the one your instructor names.

How do you format a hanging indent for a Chicago bibliography?

Use your word processor’s hanging indent setting. Massey specifies 1.27 cm; if your guide gives no measurement, 0.5 inch is the same distance. Our hanging indent guide for APA shows the general method.

What do you do if a source has no author?

Begin the entry with the title, ignoring a leading A, An or The, and alphabetize by it. For a group author, put the group’s name in the author position.