Chicago Format Guide
This guide will provide the basic concepts for students and researchers to properly format research papers with the Chicago style. Check out our other citation guides on APA referencing.
Core Components of Chicago Format:
– Use a standard font like 12 pt.
– Set Times New Roman for the font.
– Double-space the text.
– Use 1 inch margins or larger.
– Indent new paragraphs by ½ inch.
– Place page numbers in the top right or bottom center.
The Chicago Manual of Style has two options for in-text citations:
Author-date: you put your citations in parentheses within the text itself.
Notes and bibliography: you put your citations in numbered footnotes or endnotes.
Notes and Bibliography or Author-Date?
Notes and Bibliography System
Humanities disciplines, such as Literature, History, and the Arts, use the Notes & Bibliography format. In this style, footnotes and endnotes with numbers relate to the used sources. Each note correlates to a number in superscript in the text. Typically, sources are provided in a separate reading list.
Author-Date System
The Author-Date method is used in both the natural and social sciences. In this style, sources are represented briefly in the text by the author’s surname and the publication year. In the reading list, all the bibliographic information is provided.
Tips:
Search “Manual of Chicago style” in the discovery system for more guidelines.
Reference:
Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide (Read)
Chicago University Press. The Chicago Manual of Style. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.
In the notes and bibliography format, your citations may appear as footnotes or endnotes.
A superscript number is put at the end of the phrase or sentence the citation pertains to, after any punctuation (periods, quotation marks, parentheses). The first citation is indicated by a 1, the second by a 2, and so on.
Cite for Book
Footnote/Endnote format
Author first name last name, Title of Book (Place of publication: publisher, year), page number(s).
Full note
Swayze Patrick, Theater and Acting: Psychology of Visuals and Sound (Los Angeles: California, 1986), 44-45.
Short note
Patrick, Theater and Acting, 44-45.
Bibliography format
Author first name last name, Title of Book. Place of publication: publisher, year.
Example
Swayze Patrick, Theater and Acting: Psychology of Visuals and Sound. Los Angeles: California, 1986.
Cite for Journal Article
Footnote/Endnote format
Author first name last name, “Title of Article”, Name of Journal Volume, no. issue (month and year): page number(s). DOI if applicable.
Full note:
Keng, Shao-Hsun, Chun-Hung Lin, and Peter F. Orazem. 2017. “Expanding College Access in Taiwan, 1978–2014: Effects on Graduate Quality and Income Inequality.” Journal of Human Capital 11, no. 1 (Spring): 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1086/690235.
Short note
Keng, Lin, and Orazem, “Expanding College Access,” 23.
For more source type, please read the CMOS Quick Guide
An in-text citation in author-date format contains the following information:
– Author’s last name
– Publication year
– Page number (if applicable)
Cite for Book
Footnote/Endnote format
Author first name last name, Title of Book (Place of publication: publisher, year), page number(s).
Full note
Swayze Patrick, Theater and Acting: Psychology of Visuals and Sound (Los Angeles: California, 1986), 44-45.
Short note
Patrick, Theater and Acting, 44-45.
Bibliography format
Author first name last name, Title of Book. Place of publication: publisher, year.
Example
Swayze Patrick, Theater and Acting: Psychology of Visuals and Sound. Los Angeles: California, 1986.
Cite for Journal Article
Footnote/Endnote format:
Author first name last name, “Title of Article”, Name of Journal Volume, no. issue (month and year): page number(s). DOI if applicable.
Full note
Keng, Shao-Hsun, Chun-Hung Lin, and Peter F. Orazem. 2017. “Expanding College Access in Taiwan, 1978–2014: Effects on Graduate Quality and Income Inequality.” Journal of Human Capital 11, no. 1 (Spring): 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1086/690235.
Short note
Keng, Lin, and Orazem, “Expanding College Access,” 23.
For more source type, please read the CMOS Quick Guide.
Endnotes or footnotes?
Footnotes are at the bottom of the page they belong to, while endnotes are in their section after the text and before the bibliography.
Don’t combine footnotes and endnotes in the same text; use one or the other consistently.
In Chicago notes and bibliography style, you may use either footnotes or endnotes; in either instance, the citations adhere to the same pattern.
Footnotes and endnotes are not used for citations in APA and MLA formats, but they may be used to offer additional information.