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Referencing style - Chicago: Personal Communication

A guide to using the Chicago 18th referencing style for footnotes and reference lists.

Personal Communication

 

Material type Note (footnote) example

Subsequent note entry

(See CMOS18 13.33)

 Bibliography example

Personal communication 

Email

 

    1. Joe Smith, email message to author, January 6, 2025.

     5. Smith, email message, January 6, 2025.

No bibliography citation needed. 

*Emails and direct messages are generally not available to the public so they are not listed in the bibliography.

See The Chicago Manual of Style Online, Chapter 14, Section 111.
Interview (unpublished)     1.  Janet Andrews (principal adviser, Invest Architects), in discussion with the author, July 2023.    5. Andrews, in discussion, July 2023.

No bibliography citation needed. 

*Unpublished interviews are best cited in text or in notes, though occasionally appear in bibliographies.

See The Chicago Manual of Style Online, Chapter 14, Section 108.
Interview (published)

    1.  Donald E. Felsinger, “Turning Energy Uncertainty into Opportunity,” interviewed by Clifford Krauss.  New York Times, May 3, 2008, late edition, sec. C.

"An interview that has been published or broadcast or made available online can usually be treated like an article or other item in a periodical. Interviews consulted online should include a URL or similar identifier."

For more see Chicago Manual of Style Online, chapter 14  section 110.

    5. Felsinger, "Turning Energy", May 3, 2008. Felsinger, Donald E.  “Turning Energy Uncertainty into Opportunity.”  Interview by Clifford Krauss.  New York Times, May 3, 2008, late edition, sec. C.

 

Creating Notes (Footnotes) using Microsoft Word

By default, Microsoft Word will format footnotes at the end of the page with a superscript number and no indent.  

For the Chicago Notes and Bibliography style, you will need to manually change the font size of footnote number and indent it.

See our instructions on how to create a Note (footnote) in Word and manually edit the format according to the Chicago Notes and Bibliography style.

Please check with your Unit Coordinator to see if their preference is to use the formal Chicago style footnote formatting or the default Word format.

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