The Chicago Manual of Style

The Chicago Manual of Style The Chicago Manual of Style is the venerable, time-tested guide to style, usage, and grammar. Other improvements are independent of technological change.

Indispensable for writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers, informing the editorial canon with sound, definitive advice. Technologies may change, but the need for clear and accurate communication never goes out of style. That is why for more than one hundred years The Chicago Manual of Style has remained the definitive guide for anyone who works with words.

In the seven years since the previous edition debuted, we have seen an extraordinary evolution in the way we create and share knowledge. This seventeenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style has been prepared with an eye toward how we find, create, and cite information that readers are as likely to access from their pockets as from a bookshelf. It offers updated guidelines on electronic workflows and publication formats, tools for PDF annotation and citation management, web accessibility standards, and effective use of metadata, abstracts, and keywords. It recognizes the needs of those who are self-publishing or following open access or Creative Commons publishing models. The citation chapters reflect the ever-expanding universe of electronic sources—including social media posts and comments, private messages, and app content—and also offer updated guidelines on such issues as DOIs, time stamps, and e-book locators. The chapter on grammar and usage includes an expanded glossary of problematic words and phrases and a new section on syntax as well as updated guidance on gender-neutral pronouns and bias-free language. Key sections on punctuation and basic citation style have been reorganized and clarified. To facilitate navigation, headings and paragraph titles have been revised and clarified throughout. And the bibliography has been updated and expanded to include the latest and best resources available. This edition continues to reflect expert insights gathered from Chicago’s own staff and from an advisory board of publishing experts from across the profession. It also includes suggestions inspired by emails, calls, and even tweets from readers. No matter how much the means of communication change, The Chicago Manual of Style remains the ultimate resource for those who care about getting the details right.

Interruptions can be annoying, especially when you’re not sure where to put the commas. Interrupted conjunctions are the...
10/21/2025

Interruptions can be annoying, especially when you’re not sure where to put the commas. Interrupted conjunctions are the subject of this newly updated post, only at CMOS Shop Talk.

Coordinating conjunctions join pairs of words, phrases, or clauses, but when such a conjunction is interrupted by an intervening phrase or clause, it can be difficult to know where to put the commas. This is especially true when the conjunction joins the parts of a compound sentence.

Q. Should “little blue heron” be capitalized?Q. Should it be “sample A” or “Sample A”?Q. How would you style the title o...
10/07/2025

Q. Should “little blue heron” be capitalized?
Q. Should it be “sample A” or “Sample A”?
Q. How would you style the title of a playlist?

We answer these and other questions about Chicago style in the October Q&A at CMOS Online. https://cmos.style/QandA

Find it. Write it. Cite it. The Chicago Manual of Style Online is the venerable, time-tested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format. ¶ It is the indispensable reference for writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers, informing the edi...

Family members may deserve our love and respect, but when do they merit an initial capital? Get the latest advice for ca...
09/30/2025

Family members may deserve our love and respect, but when do they merit an initial capital? Get the latest advice for capitalizing kinship names and similar words for people, this week at CMOS Shop Talk.

A kinship name is a name for a family member, whether close or distant. Such names include mom, dad, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, cousin, and so on.

Q. Why is MS Word asking me to change “all of” to “all”?Q. Do I have to put boat names in italics?Q. How do I cite a Sub...
09/09/2025

Q. Why is MS Word asking me to change “all of” to “all”?
Q. Do I have to put boat names in italics?
Q. How do I cite a Substack post?

We answer these and other questions about Chicago style in the September Q&A at CMOS Online.

Find it. Write it. Cite it. The Chicago Manual of Style Online is the venerable, time-tested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format. ¶ It is the indispensable reference for writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers, informing the edi...

One of the best ways to understand a rule is to consider its exceptions. Find out more in this newly updated post at CMO...
08/12/2025

One of the best ways to understand a rule is to consider its exceptions. Find out more in this newly updated post at CMOS Shop Talk (and be sure to read to the end for links to two more “exceptional” posts).

Even the most straightforward rule will be subject to an exception sooner or later. That’s why CMOS qualifies so many of its rules with usually or generally. But some exceptions are so common that they deserve to be called rules themselves.

Q. Can the first defined use of an abbreviation be plural?Q. Does “painters tape” need an apostrophe?Q. How do you cite ...
08/05/2025

Q. Can the first defined use of an abbreviation be plural?
Q. Does “painters tape” need an apostrophe?
Q. How do you cite a book that has a typo on the title page?

We answer these and other questions about Chicago style in the August Q&A at CMOS Online. https://cmos.style/QandA

Find it. Write it. Cite it. The Chicago Manual of Style Online is the venerable, time-tested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format. ¶ It is the indispensable reference for writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers, informing the edi...

Our online Q&A has been answering your questions about Chicago style since 1997. This month we dig into the archives for...
07/23/2025

Our online Q&A has been answering your questions about Chicago style since 1997. This month we dig into the archives for some tips and tricks, only at CMOS Shop Talk.

The Chicago Manual of Style Q&A first went online in 1997. According to a page from June of that year at the Wayback Machine, one early question was about submitting manuscripts on disk, which back then usually meant the 3.5-inch “floppy” variety. Another question concerned the spelling of onlin...

Q. Should “Fortune” be in italics in “Fortune 500”?Q. Is a comma needed after a word like “yesterday”?Q. Does a term fol...
07/01/2025

Q. Should “Fortune” be in italics in “Fortune 500”?
Q. Is a comma needed after a word like “yesterday”?
Q. Does a term following “called” need to be in italics?

We answer these and other questions about Chicago style in the July Q&A at CMOS Online. https://cmos.style/QandA

Commas, like people and ducks, are often found in pairs. Read all about it in our latest post—which includes links to fi...
06/10/2025

Commas, like people and ducks, are often found in pairs. Read all about it in our latest post—which includes links to five related posts, all newly updated. Only at CMOS Shop Talk.

Commas, like the two in this sentence, often come in pairs. When they do, they’re usually acting like miniature parentheses. In fact, whenever you’re tempted to omit the second of two commas, convert them both to parentheses; if your text still works as intended, keep that second comma.

Q. Should a unit with a fraction like “1/4” be singular or plural?Q. How would Chicago style the AI company name “io”?Q....
06/03/2025

Q. Should a unit with a fraction like “1/4” be singular or plural?
Q. How would Chicago style the AI company name “io”?
Q. Why is “due process clause” lowercase in Chicago style?

We answer these and other questions about Chicago style in the June Q&A at CMOS Online. https://cmos.style/QandA

What can a book review teach us about automated source citations (and AI)? This updated post explores some of the limits...
05/20/2025

What can a book review teach us about automated source citations (and AI)? This updated post explores some of the limits of automation—and the benefits of editorial intervention—only at CMOS Shop Talk.

Chicago-style source citations are designed to be both concise and informative. Ideally, readers should be able to tell what a citation refers to despite its abbreviated nature.

Q. Should Winston-Salem be spelled with an en dash?Q. Is it “dogs have a tail” or “dogs have tails”?Q. Why is Southern C...
05/06/2025

Q. Should Winston-Salem be spelled with an en dash?
Q. Is it “dogs have a tail” or “dogs have tails”?
Q. Why is Southern California capped but not western Arizona?

We answer these and other questions about Chicago style in the May Q&A at CMOS Online. https://cmos.style/QandA

Find it. Write it. Cite it. The Chicago Manual of Style Online is the venerable, time-tested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format. ¶ It is the indispensable reference for writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers, informing the edi...

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