Music Citation Guide (Chicago Style)

As you scroll, you'll find footnote and bibliography entry templates and examples of citations for real sources for the following types of articles:

• Journal articles originally published in print (and print journal articles that are ALSO available digitally): This will be most journal articles!
• Advance online publications: Journal articles that are published online first and then appear in print later
• Born-digital journal articles (articles that were never available in print and are only available online)
• Newspaper articles (print and digital)
• Magazine articles (print and digital)

Some tips:

Using JSTOR?

Using RILM?

A few worlds about the URL to include in your citation:

• If you can find a "stable" URL for the journal article, include that in your citation; some database interfaces list these.

• Don’t use the long URL in your browser’s address bar! This may include something like "ezproxy" and will be VERY long. A URL like this has information about the University login embedded into it so that only authorized users can access the content. If you include the long version of the URL in your citation, your reader may not be able to access it. 

• If you can’t find a stable URL, but you have the volume, issue, page numbers, and date for article, leave out the URL.

Notes:

• When adding a URL, look for an option labeled "stable URL" - don’t use the long one from your browser. This will likely be a very short URL, and it won't include information about your specific university or library. If you can't find a stable URL, you can leave this piece of information out of your citation.

• When listing a volume number for a journal, include only the number. Do NOT include the abbreviation "vol." in your citation. DO include "no." before the issue number. If you have questions about this, ask a librarian or your instructor!

• In your footnote, include the page number of the quote or idea that you're citing. In your bibliography entry, include the starting and ending page numbers for the entire article.
   

Footnote template:

1. Author First Name Last Name, “Article Title,” Journal Title #, no. # (Month Year): Page Number, URL.

Example of a real footnote:

1. Allan Moore, “Patterns of Harmony,” Popular Music 11, no. 1 (January 1992): 74, http://www.jstor.org/stable/853228.

Bibliography entry template:

Example of a real bibliography entry:

Sometimes, journal articles are published online first and appear in print slightly later. The original online version is referred to as advance online publication. The original version published online and the version published within the context of the journal (either in print or digitally) could be exactly the same, or they could have differences - so it's important to let your reader know which version you're citing so they can find the exact information/quote to which you're referring.  

Advance online publications come up in the sciences more often than the humanities, and the APA Style Blog provides some guidance on how to handle it. When you need to cite something that has received advance online publication in Chicago Style, there are several sections of the Chicago Manual of Style Online that address pre-prints and other advance publications. See the following sections (you can access the Chicago Manual of Style Online through the University Libraries and search for these section numbers in the search box): 

• 14.218 Working papers and the like
• 1.113 Preprints and "in press" articles published ahead of print
• 14.173 Journal article preprints
• 1.112 Journal article version of record

Notes:

• Born-digital journals may not include page numbers for individual articles. If there are page numbers printed within the PDF, you can use those for your footnote citations. If there are no page number printed in the PDF, you can leave this out. NOTE: Don’t use the page numbers of the PDF file itself - these may vary between PDF versions and could confuse your reader.

• Born-digital journals may not include volume and issue numbers - if you don’t see these on the PDF or the page from which you downloaded the article, they may not exist!
   

Footnote template:

1. Author First Name Last Name, “Article Title,” Journal Title # if Applicable, no. # if Applicable (Month Year), accessed Access Date, Page Number if Applicable, DOI or Stable URL.
 

Example of a real footnote:

1. Thomas Schäfer, “The Goals and Effects of Music Listening and Their Relationship to the Strength of Music Preference,” PLOS ONE (March 2016), 2, accessed October 17, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0151634.
 

Bibliography entry template:

Example of a real bibliography entry:

Notes:

• No page number needed in newspaper article citations.

• If you accessed the article through a Libraries database that requires logging in with University credentials, provide the database name rather than the URL.

• If the article is openly accessible to anyone on the internet (i.e. no login needed), provide the URL.

Footnote template:

18. Author First Name Last Name, “Article Title,” Newspaper Title, Month Day, Year of Publication, URL or Database Name.
 

Example of a real footnote:

18. Laura M. Holson, “How ‘Mozart’ Conducts Itself: Real-World Classical Players Are Divided about the Series,” New York Times, January 17, 2016, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times.

4. Neal Justin, “Lizzo and Letterman Swap Minnesota Memories on Netflix Show: New Episodes of David Letterman's Netflix Series Include a Conversation with the Onetime Minnesotan,” Star Tribune, October 17, 2020, https://www.startribune.com/lizzo-and-letterman-swap-minnesota-memories-on-netflix-show/ 572766931/.
 

Bibliography entry template:

Example of a real bibliography entry:

Notes:

• Include page number(s) for print magazine article footnotes.

• No page number needed in citations for digital magazine articles.

Footnote template:

Print article

18. Author First Name Last Name, “Article Title,” Magazine Title, Month Day, Year of Publication, Page Number.

Digital article

3. Author First Name Last Name, “Article Title,” Magazine Title, Month Day, Year of Publication, URL or Database Name.
 

Example of a real footnote:

Print article

18. Mark Guiducci, “People Are Talking About: Music: Glam Rock: With a Vintage Flair Worthy of Wes Anderson, the Brothers Behind The Lemon Twigs Are Going for It,” Vogue, April 1, 2017, 184.

Digital article

3. Alex Ross, “Musicians and Composers Respond to a Chaotic Moment: The Pandemic and the Protests Inspire Works of Lamentation and Rage,” The New Yorker, June 29, 2020, https://www.newyorker.com/ magazine/2020/07/06/musicians-and-composers-respond-to-a-chaotic-moment.

6. Tyler Aquilina, “Will Vinyl Survive the Pandemic? Radio, Tapes, CDs, iTunes, and (for the Moment) Streaming Couldn’t Kill It. But Now the LP Biz - and Record Stores - Faces its Greatest Challenge Yet,” Entertainment Weekly, July 1, 2020, Academic Search Premier.
 

Bibliography entry template:

Print article

Example of a real bibliography entry:

Print article