Cathy A.
Cathy A.

Chicago Style Citation Guide to Help Out Beginners

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Published on: Jan 6, 2023

Last updated on: Jan 19, 2023

Chicago Style

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A Chicago manual of style 17th is different from APA and MLA. Different citation styles have different structures and styles, and learning about them helps you in many ways.

Kate L. Turabian wrote A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Thesis, and Dissertations, based on The Chicago Manual of Style, the citation and referencing style guide published by the University of Chicago Press.

This manual is named after Turabian. She wrote it to help people to format their academic work like research papers, dissertations, and thesis. It is for high school and above students.

The Chicago Manual is for people who work on papers or dissertations. It teaches them how to structure their essays. If you are here to understand the Chicago style of citation, then you are in luck!

What is Chicago Style Citation?

The Chicago Manual of Style online is the gold standard when it comes to a research paper and publications. It has complete instructions on how you should structure your work, as well as guidelines for citation. This will save time and make sure people know what sources were used in an academic context.

Common Chicago format paper guidelines are given below:

  • The standard font size of 12 pt.
  • Font style - Times New Roman
  • Text - Double spaced
  • 1-inch margins on all four sides of the paper
  • New paragraphs ½ inch indented
  • Page numbers either placed at the top right or bottom center

Types of Chicago Style Citation

Researchers have two different citation systems, Chicago style. If you are writing a paper, you can choose the most appropriate system for your discipline and type of source. We will discuss both of these in this paper.

  • Notes and Bibliography Style

    People who work in humanities, history, social sciences, literature, and arts mainly use this system. It is a flexible style that includes commentary on these cited sources. A superscript number is written at the end of the sentence or shortened citation to show where the source comes from.

    The information at the bottom of the page also has details. And it says how to put in both notes and bibliographies. The full information is in the bibliography at the end of your paper, and it's organized in alphabetical order.

  • Author-Date System

    This type of Chicago manual of style is used in natural, social, and physical sciences. It is also called the Harvard system. It uses citations and bibliographies to organize the information.

    This information is in parentheses. It has the author's name, publication date, page numbers, and full bibliographic information.

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Chicago Style Formatting

“How to format your paper in Chicago style?”

One of the more popular styles for formatting papers in Chicago. This requires you to follow some rules that are different from APA or MLA, including footnotes and endnotes. Students often find themselves frustrated when trying their best efforts at understanding how these work properly with a little diligence on behalf of teachers!

Following are the sections of any paper with Chicago Style formatting discussed in detail:

  • Chicago Style Title Page

    Chicago-style papers do not need a title page. You just need to put the main essay title on the first page. If your teacher asks you to then, you can follow one of the formats for Chicago or Turabian style papers.

    Write the title page in the same font as the whole paper. Align and center all of it. Put a space between each word and double space between sentences.

    If your paper has a subtitle, then put a colon at the end of the main title and write it after it, with no spaces or indenting. Make sure to use bold letters for both titles and keep the same size font.

    To make a title page, go about 1/3 of the way down the paper. Then start counting from 2. You can put things like your name, your class number, the course you are in, and when you submitted it on this page.

  • Chicago Style Heading

    The headings in this paper should be capitalized,, and all the different levels of headings should look the same. For example, all the main headings should use a capital letter and underline. And the sections and subheadings should have a small letter and no underline.

    To make it simpler, use a font that is one or two points larger for the chapter titles. The section titles should be in bold text, and the subsection titles should be in italics.

  • Chicago Style Quotes

    Blockquotes are used in Chicago-style papers. They do not use quotation marks, and both prose quotations have five lines or more than five lines. And poetry quotations of two lines or more than two lines are presented in block quotes form.

    Instead of the quotation marks, you add a blank line to make it different. Chicago style block quotes are indented and single-spaced.

  • Chicago Style Numbers and Acronyms

    Do not use numbers at the beginning of sentences. Instead, for numbers less than 100, write in words. So for 90 or 95, use ‘ninety’ and ‘ninety-five’.

    First, use the full form of an acronym when you first mention it in your paper. Then you can call it by its initials for the rest of the paper, like American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

  • Chicago Style Footnote Citation

    Chicago Style Footnotes are at the bottom of each page and are the same size as all other text. They usually have a word or phrase on them. Click on the superscript number to take you to the bottom of that page.

    To add a footnote at the bottom of the page, use Word's automatic footnotes function. All copies of The Chicago Manual of Style (either the 8th or 16th edition) require a bibliography at the end of your paper. Even though complete bibliographic information is mentioned in footnotes or endnotes.

  • Chicago Style References and Bibliography

    Chicago references and bibliography lists need to follow different formatting rules. You will need to leave a blank line between entries. If any of the entries are continued on the next line, then the next line should be indented by ½ inch.

    If you want to make an annotated bibliography, then you will follow the same formatting style. Put the annotation under each source on a new line and indent it.

    Below is a complete description of different references listed in Chicago style:

Citing a Book

First name, Last name, Title of Book (Publication Place: Publisher, Year), page range.

E.g., Dan Brown, The DaVinci Code (New York: Scholastic, 2004), 17-19.

Journal Article

First Name Last Name of Author, “Article Title,” Journal Name Volume Number, no. of the issue (Date published): Page-Range, DOI address

E.g., Smith, John. “Studies in Pop Rocks and Coke.” Weird Science 12, no. 3 (Spring 2009): 78-93. https://doi.org/10.1086/5422323

Website

First Name Last Name of Author, “Title of Page,” Title of Website, Month Day, date published or accessed, web address.

E.g., John Smith, “Obama Inaugurated as President,” CNN, accessed February 1, 2009, http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/01/21/obamainaugurated/index.html

Newspaper

First Name Last Name of Author, “Article Title,” Newspaper Name, Publication Date, web address, or name of the database.

E.g., John Smith, “Steelers Win Super Bowl XLIII,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 2, 2009, https://post-gazette.com/local/city/feb22009steelerswin.

Magzine

First Name Last Name of Author, “Article Title,” Magazine Title, Month Date, Year of Publication, web address.

E.g., Dan Chan, “The Art of Pandas,” Panda Magazine, November 10, 1985, www.pandamagazine.com

Film

Film Title, directed by First Name Last Name (Distributor City, St: Distributor, Year of Release), Medium.

E.g., BibMe: The Movie, directed by Jane Doe (Los Angeles: Columbia, 2001), DVD.

Interview

Last Name, First Name. Interview with First Name Last Name. Publication Title. Publication Information

  • Chicago Style In-text Citation

    In Chicago format style, there are two ways to cite the things you used. The first way is author-date style, and the second way is a bibliography. The first style includes the author’s name and year inside parentheses. You can also put it at the beginning or end of a quote.

    The notes and bibliography style citation is at the end of the page, but in different places for footnotes and endnotes. Footnotes are at the bottom of the page after punctuation. Endnotes are on a separate page that is linked to by superscripted numbers in content.

    For Example, Stephen (2016) put forward his theory to prove his point and claims. However, some fellow researchers have contradicted the idea (John, 2018).

Chicago Style Citation Example

Can I Use Chicago Style Citation Maker?

Yes, you can use an automatic citation maker, but you will need to be careful that it has added all the details in it. Usually, these citation format makers may not be as effective as students consider them to be. Therefore, when using it, make sure that you check them thoroughly before adding them to your paper.

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Chicago Style - Mistakes To Avoid

A writer should follow these points in their writing.

  • The format for the paper is last name, first name.
  • For bibliographies, it's a first name, last name.
  • Don't reuse numbers when citing sources in the paper.
  • Instead of putting the bibliography at the top of your paper, put it at the end in alphabetical order with hanging indentation.
  • Notes are numbered, and they come after each citation instead of being included on a separate page at the top of your paper.

To save yourself the trouble of writing a Chicago-style paper, you can get help from FreeEssayWriter.net. We offer papers written by native speakers, and we do not let anyone copy other people's work or give them someone else's paper for their own use.

To order, just fill out the form on our website.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do historians use the Chicago style?

Chicago style is a way of presenting information in research. It is used by historians because they want to focus on the evidence instead of telling people where it came from.

Is it a Chicago-style reference or bibliography?

Chicago style is a way of writing that requires you to list all of your sources. This is at the end of your paper and provides full details on every source you cited in notes or bibliography format, which is optional but recommended.

Cathy A.

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Cathy A. (Marketing, Literature)

Cathy has been been working as an author on our platform for over five years now. She has a Masters degree in mass communication and is well-versed in the art of writing. Cathy is a professional who takes her work seriously and is widely appreciated by clients for her excellent writing skills.

Cathy has been been working as an author on our platform for over five years now. She has a Masters degree in mass communication and is well-versed in the art of writing. Cathy is a professional who takes her work seriously and is widely appreciated by clients for her excellent writing skills.

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