Chicago  

Please note that the names of authors and their works used in the example are fictitious and any similarly to real persons and works is by coincidence. 

There are two types of Chicago referencing style; one is notes-bibliography and the other is author-date. This article gives an outline of the most important aspects of these styles, but for comprehensive details, the Chicago Manual of Style (now in its seventeenth edition) should be consulted.  

A: Notes-Bibliography

This system is popular in humanities, history, the arts and literature. In this style, the citations are given in the footnotes and listed according to the numbers placed (in superscript) in the text. 

1.Citation References

The reference number is usually placed at the end of a sentence and should be immediately after the full stop. If an author’s name is quoted in the text, the number is placed immediately after the name. The citations are given in the footnotes in numerical order. It is usual for all the references on a particular page to be given in the footnotes of that page. If the appropriate settings are selected, Microsoft Word will do this automatically.  

If an author and his/her work is referred to twice, a separate number must be used on each occasion.  

Examples:

In the text:

In order to obtain a balanced opinion, it is important that a wide range of sources is researched when studying a particular historical topic.¹ This enables the writer of the essay to consider the validity of the various arguments.² However, Williams³ warns writers against showing a bias in their essays. Nevertheless, the presentation of many similar or identical arguments should be avoided.⁴ 

Corresponding references in the footnotes:

¹ Martin Smith, A Broad Approach to World History (Anytown: Jones Publications, 2005), 180-181.

²  Helen E. Green, Is History Reliable? (Newtown: The University Press, 2008), 55.

³  Mark Williams, Reading one’s own Opinions into History (Old Town, The New Press, 1988), 81.

⁴  Smith, Broad History, 193. 

Please note that the numbers at the end of each entry refer to page numbers in the cited works. There are specific ways of citing e-books, translated books, partly edited books, journal articles and many other works. Full details are in the Chicago Manual. 

Bibliography

A bibliography (in alphabetical order) should be added at the end of the essay. The following example gives a bibliography as related to the above citations: 

Green, Helen, E. Is History Reliable? Newtown: The University Press, 2008. 

Smith, Martin. A Broad Approach to World History. Anytown: Jones Publications, 2005. 

Williams, Mark. Reading one’s own Opinions into History: Old Town, The New Press, 1988. 

In a bibliography, there should be a double space between each entry.  

B: Author-Date Style 

This is an alternative style of Chicago referencing, but please note that either notes-biography or author-date should be used throughout. The styles should not be mixed. The author-date style is used in sciences. 

Examples of author-date style: 

In-text citations.

In order to obtain a balanced opinion, it is important that a wide range of sources is researched when studying a particular historical topic (Smith, 2005, 180-181). This enables the writer of the essay to consider the validity of the various arguments (Green, 2008, 55). However, Williams (1988) warns writers against showing a bias in their essays. Nevertheless, the presentation of many similar or identical arguments should be avoided (Smith, 2005, 193). 

In reference list 

Green, Helen, E. Is History Reliable? Newtown: The University Press, 2008. 

Smith, Martin. A Broad Approach to World History. Anytown: Jones Publications, 2005. 

Williams, Mark. Reading one’s own Opinions into History: Old Town, The New Press, 1988. 

A reference list should be in alphabetical order, and there should be a double space between each entry. 

Matters common to notes-bibliography and author-date

Although only one style should be used, the following matters are common to both styles.

When a book (or other work) has more than four authors, et al. should be used; for example, if a book by Brown, Murphy, Smith and Green is cited, the citation should be Green et al. 

Although it is not strictly required ibid may be used when the same source is cited for a second time or subsequently. 

A short quotation (no more than four lines) is included in the text and is placed within quotation marks. A long quotation (over four lines) in indented in its own section and is not placed in quotation marks. The usual practice in British English is to use single quotation marks, and in American English, double quotation marks, but this can very according to the style guide. 

An important point

Different educational establishments may have different interpretations of the Chicago style. Therefore, in addition to consulting the Chicago Manual of Style, it is essential to consult your university’s style guide. The purpose of referencing styles and style guides is to ensure consistency, a fact that should be borne in mind by all writers of academic work.  

References 

https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html. [accessed 11.06.21].