Chicago style provides guidelines for citing sources, including news articles. Here’s a basic template:
Author Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Newspaper Title, Month Day, Year. URL.
Example:
Arias, Jeremy. “Emmitsburg Man Charged with Manslaughter.” Frederick News Post, May 29, 2020. https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/crime_and_justice/.
Key elements:
- Author’s full name (Last Name, First Name)
- Article Title in quotation marks
- Newspaper Title in italics
- Date (Month Day, Year)
- URL (if accessed online)
Table of contents
Footnote/Endnote Citation
The footnote or endnote citation is slightly different:
Author First Name Last Name, “Article Title,” Newspaper Title, Month Day, Year, URL (if applicable).
Example:
Jeremy Arias, “Emmitsburg Man Charged with Manslaughter,” Frederick News Post, May 29, 2020, https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/crime_and_justice/.
Important Considerations:
- No Author: If no author is listed, begin the citation with the article title.
- Online vs. Print: If you accessed the article online, include the URL. If you accessed it in print, omit the URL. If it was accessed through a database (e.g., LexisNexis), you can include the database name instead of a URL.
- Page Numbers: If the article is from a print edition and you know the page numbers, include them after the date. For example: Frederick News Post, May 29, 2020, A1, A4.
- “The” in Newspaper Title: Omit “The” at the beginning of the newspaper title. For example, cite “New York Times” instead of “The New York Times.”
- Date Format: Use the format Month Day, Year (e.g., May 29, 2020).
- Online Articles with no Date: If you can’t find a publication date, use “n.d.” (no date). However, try your best to find the date.
- Multiple Authors: For two or three authors, list all names. For more than three, list the first author followed by “et al.”
Example with No Author:
Bibliography:
“New Tax Law Passes.” Washington Post, December 15, 2025. https://www.example.com/taxlaw.
Footnote:
“New Tax Law Passes,” Washington Post, December 15, 2025, https://www.example.com/taxlaw.
In-Text Citations (Notes and Bibliography System):
Chicago style uses footnotes or endnotes for in-text citations, along with a bibliography at the end of your document. Superscript numbers are placed in the text to refer to the notes.
Example:
As Arias argues, the crash was avoidable.1
Jeremy Arias, “Emmitsburg Man Charged with Manslaughter,” Frederick News Post, May 29, 2020, https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/crime_and_justice/.
Remember to consult the Chicago Manual of Style for the most complete and up-to-date guidelines.
