How to Cite a Research Paper in Chicago
Updated October 2026
Citing a research paper in Chicago comes down to one template and a handful of rules. Below: the exact 18th edition format, a real example produced by our citation engine, and the in-text form — or paste your source into the generator on this page and copy the finished citation.
The Chicago format
Author Last, First. “Title of Article.” Journal Name Volume, no. Issue (Year): pages. DOI or URL.
Chicago (18th edition) formats a research paper reference as shown above. A real example, generated by our citation engine:
Rasch, Björn, and Jan Born. "About Sleep's Role in Memory." Physiological Reviews 93, no. 2 (2013): 681–766. https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00032.2012.
In-text(Rasch and Born 2013)
Cite a research paper in Chicago — free
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A DOI finds the article's details.
Citation style
The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition (2024), notes and bibliography. The 18th dropped the place of publication that the 17th required.
Finding the pieces
Or skip the hunt: Find the DOI on the paper's first page and paste it into the generator. It works out what the source is, fills every field from the source's own record, and is already set to Chicago.
- Which kind it is — journal article (journal + volume), conference paper (proceedings), preprint (arXiv/bioRxiv), or thesis
- The DOI — first page or landing page; preprints have them too
- The version — preprint, accepted manuscript, or published version of record
- Page range or article number — from the journal listing
Chicago's formatting rules at work
- First author inverted, additional authors in natural order
- Titles use Title Case; articles in quotes, containers in italics
- Reads like prose: the year sits in parentheses before the page range for articles
- Pairs with footnotes — the same data in sentence form with commas
Research Paper-specific pitfalls
- Cite the version you read — pagination and content differ between preprint and published versions
- Conference papers cite the proceedings as the container with the page range
- Theses name the institution: [Doctoral dissertation, University Name] in APA
In-text citations in Chicago
Chicago's notes-bibliography system cites with footnotes: a superscript number in the text pointing to a note with the source details and page. The bibliography entry shown here contains everything the footnote needs — un-invert the author's name and swap most periods for commas to form the note.
No author? The note and bibliography entry begin with the title; alphabetize by it (ignoring A/An/The).
Building the Bibliography
Every in-text citation pairs with a full entry on the Bibliography page, alphabetized by author. Add each citation to your bibliography as you generate it, and the Bibliography Builder assembles and exports the finished page to Word with the title, ordering, and indentation Chicago requires.
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Go Premium — $5/monthFrequently asked questions
- What's the basic Chicago format for a research paper?
- Author Last, First. “Title of Article.” Journal Name Volume, no. Issue (Year): pages. DOI or URL. — see the worked example above, generated by the same engine that powers the free citation tool.
- Can I cite the preprint if the journal version exists?
- Best practice is to read and cite the published version of record. If you genuinely used the preprint, cite the preprint — accuracy about what you read beats prestige.
- How do I cite a research paper in Chicago in-text?
- With a footnote: a superscript number pointing to a note with the source details and the specific page.
- Can I get this citation in other styles too?
- Yes — every result in the generator renders APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and IEEE simultaneously. Generate once, switch styles with one click.