
The Chicago Manual of Style is a widely used citation style, especially in the social sciences and humanities. When it comes to citing the US Constitution, the Chicago style has specific guidelines. In this style, legal publications are usually cited in the notes, and footnotes are commonly used for citations. The Chicago Manual of Style defers to The Bluebook for legal citations, and court decisions are published in reporters, which are abbreviated in the citation.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Style | Notes-Bibliography Style or Author-Date Style |
| First Footnote or Endnote | 32. US Constitution, art. 2, sec. 1, cl. 3 |
| Bibliography | Usually not cited in bibliography |
| First Parenthetical Note | (US Constitution, art. 1, sec. 9) |
| Reference List | Usually not cited in reference list |
| Indentation | First line indented by 0.5 inches; all subsequent lines are not indented |
| Font | Same font size and style as the rest of the paper |
| Author | Cite the author of the publication if the author is identified |
| No Author | Start with the name of the national government, followed by the agency |
| Access Dates | Do not include access dates unless no date of publication or last revision for the source may be located |
| Court Decisions | Published in Reporters, abbreviated in the citation (e.g., U.S. = United States Supreme Court Reports) |
| Case Name | Volume # reporter initials, ordinal series number (abbreviated court name if not the Supreme Court), year of decision |
| Name of Government & Issuing Agency | Title of Publication, Author(s) First-name Last-name if noted, Publication/Report Number if noted, Place of Publication: Publisher, Year, page number(s), URL |
| Legal Publications | Only need to be cited in the notes, not the bibliography (unless there is a secondary publication) |
| Laws | Initially collected in the United States Statutes at Large (Stat.), later incorporated into the United States Code (U.S.C.) |
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Footnote or endnote
When using Chicago style to cite the US Constitution, the recommended approach is to use footnotes or endnotes, rather than including it in a bibliography or reference list.
> 1. US Constitution, art. 2, sec. 1, cl. 3.
This format includes the name of the document ("US Constitution"), followed by relevant article, section, and clause numbers.
For subsequent references to the US Constitution within the same work, you can use an abbreviated form. For example:
> 2. US Const. art. 1, sec. 9
This abbreviated form uses the shortened document title ("US Const.") and provides the relevant article and section numbers.
In Chicago style, the general format for footnotes or endnotes includes specific elements, such as:
- Author or Editor: If the document has a personal author, cite their name. If no author is identified, start with the name of the national government, followed by any relevant agencies or subdivisions.
- Title: Provide the title of the document or a shortened form if it is very long.
- Publisher and Date: Include the publisher's name and the date of publication or last revision.
It is important to note that Chicago style has specific guidelines for citing legal and government documents, and these citations may differ slightly from typical footnotes or endnotes. For example, court decisions are published in "Reporters" and are abbreviated in the citation (e.g., "U.S." for United States Supreme Court Reports).
Additionally, when citing legal publications, Chicago style typically defers to "The Bluebook" for guidance, which is a widely accepted authority on legal citation.
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Bibliography
When using the Chicago style to cite the US Constitution, the Notes-Bibliography style is recommended. This style is characterised by the use of footnotes or endnotes, rather than in-text citations, to acknowledge sources.
First Footnote or Endnote:
US Constitution, art. 2, sec. 1, cl. 3.
Subsequent Footnotes or Endnotes:
US Constitution, art. 2, sec. 1, cl. 3.
It is important to note that the US Constitution is typically not included in the bibliography, as legal publications are usually only cited in the notes. However, if you are using the Author-Date style, the following format can be used for in-text citations:
US Constitution, art. 1, sec. 9)
For government documents, the Chicago style citation format differs slightly. The citation structure is as follows:
Footnote or Endnote:
Name of Government Body, "Document Title," Division, Year, URL.
US Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Northeast Region, "Schoodic: Draft General Management Plan Amendment and Environmental Impact Statement," 2004, http://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo67000.
If the document is in print, the URL can be omitted. Additionally, if the author is unknown, the citation should begin with the title of the document.
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Parenthetical note
The Chicago Manual of Style offers two options for in-text citations: author-date and notes and bibliography. For the former, sources are cited parenthetically in the text itself, usually in this format: (author's last name, year of publication, page number). For example, (Smith, 2022, p. 3). The publication date is sometimes omitted, resulting in a citation that looks like this: (Smith, p. 3).
The author-date system is preferred in the sciences and social sciences. It is also used across various other disciplines, including Harvard and CSE. This approach credits researchers directly in the text while emphasising the date of the source.
The notes and bibliography system is Chicago's oldest and most flexible, accommodating a wide variety of sources, including unusual ones. For this reason, it is preferred in the humanities, including literature, history, and the arts. In this system, citations appear in footnotes or endnotes. A superscript number is placed at the end of the clause or sentence that the citation applies to, corresponding to a numbered footnote or endnote containing the actual citation.
When using Chicago style, it is important to use one style consistently and not to confuse the two.
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Reference list
The Chicago Manual of Style is a style guide for American English that is widely used in the social sciences and humanities. When citing the US Constitution in a reference list, the Chicago Manual of Style recommends using the following format:
For the first footnote or endnote:
US Constitution, art. 2, sec. 1, cl. 3.
For the first parenthetical note:
US Constitution, art. 1, sec. 9)
It is worth noting that the US Constitution is usually not cited in a reference list or bibliography. This is because legal publications typically use notes for documentation, so citations for government or legal documents are often limited to footnotes or in-text citations.
However, if you are using the Chicago Author-Date style, the citation format differs slightly. This style is commonly used in the social sciences and history. Here is an example of how to cite the US Constitution in a parenthetical note using this style:
U.S. Constitution, amend. 15, sec. 1)
In general, when creating a reference list or bibliography in Chicago style, it is important to include the following elements, where relevant:
- Name of Government Body
- Division
- Year
- Publication Title
- Document Number
- Place of Publication
- Publisher
- URL
For example:
U.S. Department of the Interior. National Park Service. Northeast Region. 2004. Schoodic: Draft General Management Plan Amendment and Environmental Impact Statement. Maine. http://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo67000.
Additionally, Chicago style has specific guidelines for citing court decisions, which are published in Reporters and abbreviated in the citation (e.g. U.S. for United States Supreme Court Reports). Here is an example of how to cite a court decision:
Case Name, volume # reporter initials, ordinal series number (abbreviated court name if not the Supreme Court), year of decision.
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Author-date style
The Chicago Manual of Style includes two systems of citation: the notes and bibliography method (NB), and the author-date system. When citing the US Constitution using the author-date style, the following format is recommended:
> U.S. Constitution, amend. [number], sec. [number]
For example, the first citation of the US Constitution would be written as:
> U.S. Constitution, amend. 15, sec. 1
With a subsequent, parenthetical citation as:
> (U.S. Constitution, art. 1, sec. 9)
In general, the author-date system is used for scientific or social science papers, allowing readers to easily identify the sources without having to refer to footnotes or endnotes. This method involves providing the author's surname, the publication year, and, where relevant, a page number. For example:
> (Smith, 2023, p. 45)
However, when citing government documents, the author may be the name of the agency that created the document, or the national government, followed by any relevant subdivisions or agencies. For example:
> (U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Northeast Region, 2004)
It is important to note that, in the author-date system, citations are not usually included in the bibliography or reference list.
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Frequently asked questions
The Chicago Manual of Style defers to Columbia Law Review's The Bluebook for citing government publications. The US Constitution is cited in the notes-bibliography style.
The format for the first footnote or endnote is: US Constitution, art. #, sec. #, cl. #. For example, 32 US Constitution, art. 2, sec. 1, cl. 3.
The first parenthetical in-text citation would be (US Constitution, art. #, sec. #). For example, (US Constitution, art. 1, sec. 9).

























