Chicago 18 (Notes) Legislation Citation Generator

Citing a legislation (enacted statutory law or act) under the Chicago Manual of Style (Notes and Bibliography System) framework requires combining Chicago Manual of Style (shortened note)'s punctuation hierarchy with the specific metadata of the source. To construct a compliant entry, researchers must collect the popular name of the Act, the public law number or statutory code title number, the code abbreviation (e.g., U.S.C.), section symbol (§) and number, and year. In the body of your paper, Chicago Manual of Style (shortened note) utilizes superscript footnote or endnote numerals corresponding to full or shortened documentary notes at the bottom of the page, which links directly to an entry organized in alphabetical order by creator surname in the bibliography, paired with sequential numbering in the footnotes.

When formatting a legislation in Chicago Manual of Style (shortened note), pay close attention to contributor names and capitalization. Specifically, Chicago Manual of Style (shortened note) enforces normal order (First Last) separated by commas in footnotes, but inverted order (Last, First) for the primary author in the bibliography, and applies headline-style Title Case across all source titles, using quotation marks for shorter works and italics for complete volumes. Chicago Notes & Bibliography separates elements with commas and parentheses in footnotes, but converts those exact same boundaries into periods in the final bibliography. Furthermore, if your legislation does not display an individual creator, the rule is straightforward: omit personal authors and start directly with the official title of the statute or legislation.

For digital and online legislation references, Chicago Manual of Style (shortened note) stipulates concluding the note or bibliography entry with a permanent DOI or URL followed by a terminal period. Include the section symbol (§) followed by a space and the specific statutory section number so legal readers can locate the exact provision. Using the client-side Chicago Manual of Style (shortened note) Legislation generator below, you can automatically parse URLs, DOIs, or ISBNs and apply these exact Citation Style Language (CSL) rules locally in your browser with zero server tracking.