Chicago 17th edition (notes–bibliography)
How to cite a software or code repository in Chicago 17th edition (notes–bibliography)
Research software requires exact version numbers and deposit DOIs (e.g. Zenodo) to ensure algorithmic reproducibility.
THE FORMAT
A software or code repository in Chicago, at a glance
Developer Last, First. Title of Software. Version x.x. Repository Host, Year. DOI or URL.
Van Rossum, Guido, and Fred L. Drake. Python Programming Environment. Version 3.12. Python Software Foundation, 2023. https://www.python.org.
1. Guido van Rossum and Fred L. Drake, Python Programming Environment, version 3.12 (Python Software Foundation, 2023), https://www.python.org.
In prose: 3. Van Rossum and Drake, Python Environment.
Copyeditor formats APA, MLA, Chicago and IEEE automatically — cite a source once and the bibliography builds itself. See how citations work .
BEFORE YOU FORMAT
What Chicago needs from a software or code repository
Elements to collect
- Software developer or organization
- Release year
- Title of the software package
- Version tag or release number
- Archive or repository host (Zenodo, GitHub)
- DOI or repository URL
Rules specific to this entry
- Software version numbers follow the title, formatted similarly to an edition.
Building the entry, step by step
Collect the details
Before you format anything, gather every element Chicago needs for a software or code repository: Software developer or organization; Release year; Title of the software package; Version tag or release number.
Build the bibliography entry
Arrange those details in the Chicago order: Developer Last, First. Title of Software. Version x.x. Repository Host, Year. DOI or URL.
Add the in-text citation
In the body of your paper, cite it as 1. Guido van Rossum and Fred L. Drake, Python Programming Environment, version 3.12 (Python Software Foundation, 2023), https://www.python.org. — or work the same reference into your sentence as 3. Van Rossum and Drake, Python Environment..
Check it against the exceptions
Software version numbers follow the title, formatted similarly to an edition.
Chicago RULES
The conventions behind every Chicago entry
The Chicago Manual of Style (17th ed.) is the authority. Where a journal or department publishes its own house rules, those win — check your submission guidelines before the bibliography is final.
The rules that apply across every source — author order, capitalization, how the bibliography is sorted, and where Chicago entries most often go wrong — are collected on the Chicago 17th edition (notes–bibliography) guide.
The same software or code repository in another style
Switching styles late in a draft is normal. Here is the same source formatted five other ways.
Questions about Chicago and software repositories
What if the software or code repository has no author?
Move the title into the author position and alphabetize by the first significant word of that title — ignoring an initial “A”, “An” or “The”. In the text, use a shortened form of the title where the author name would go.
What do I need before I can cite a software or code repository?
Software developer or organization, Release year, Title of the software package, and the rest of the elements listed above. Research software requires exact version numbers and deposit DOIs (e.g. Zenodo) to ensure algorithmic reproducibility.
Is there anything unusual about a software or code repository in Chicago?
Software version numbers follow the title, formatted similarly to an edition.
Can I reformat this software or code repository in another style later?
By hand, you would retype the entry — the element order, punctuation and italics all differ between styles. In Copyeditor, sources are stored as structured data, so switching between APA, MLA, Chicago and IEEE reformats every citation and the whole reference list at once.
Cite it once
and never reformat it again
Copyeditor keeps sources as structured data, so switching between APA, MLA, Chicago and IEEE reformats every citation and the whole bibliography at once.
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