Citing sources with the Chicago Manual of Style is more common in the humanities, as in literature and history. With the Chicago style method, you can have footnotes or parenthetical citations within the text of a work. While some teachers prefer parenthetical citations (which are similar to those used in other citation methods), the footnote style is used more frequently. Chicago-style footnotes are similar to the full citation in the bibliography, but in a more condensed format.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Format footnotes
Step 1. Use a word processing application to insert footnotes
When you paraphrase or cite a source in a work and want to add a footnote, put a superscript number after the final punctuation of the information you need to extract.
- Generally, you will select the option that allows you to insert a footnote. Look for this option under the "Insert" or "Format" menu.
- Clicking this option will generate a superscript number at the cursor location and then add the same number to the bottom or bottom of the page, although you will need to format it.
Step 2. Indent the first line of each 5-space footnote
The standard format for Chicago-style footnotes requires that the first line, beginning with the footnote number, be indented. You can configure this format to apply it throughout the document.
- Review the formatting options in the word processing application for its configuration and application in all footnotes.
- You can also adjust footnotes manually, by simply placing the cursor in front of the number and pressing the space bar 5 times.
Step 3. Apply double spacing between footnotes
Footnotes will have single spacing by default, but it is recommended that you apply double spacing to separate footnotes that appear on the same page. Any notes that do not fit into the space allotted for footnotes will automatically carry over to the next page.
Method 2 of 3: Create Full Footnotes
Step 1. Start with the author of the work
The first part of a full footnote in the Chicago style comprises the author of the work, written in the normal order with the author's first name followed by his middle and last name. Put a comma after the author's last name.
- For example: "John J. Smith,".
- If you have more than one author, include them in the order in which they appear in the same work. If there are two or three authors, indicate the full name of each author with the word "y" before the name of the last author. For example: "John J. Smith, Mary J. Flowers, and Tom P. Thumb,".
- If there are more than three authors, write the name of the first author followed by the Latin abbreviation et al., which means "and others". For example: "John J. Smith et al.,".
Step 2. Provide the title of the work
Immediately after the author's name, you will include the title of the work that you are going to cite in italics. If you are citing an article from a larger work, you will enclose the title of the article in quotation marks. Put a comma and then indicate that you are "in" the larger work. The title of the largest work must be in italics.
- Example from a book: "John J. Smith, His Name Is My Name".
- Example of an article: "John J. Smith," His Name Is My Name ", in Great People You Know".
Step 3. Provide post information in parentheses
The footnote includes a somewhat shorter version of the publication information provided in the bibliography. Write the city where the work was published, a colon, and then the name of the publisher. Add a comma after the publisher's name and provide the year the work was published.
For example: "John J. Smith, His Name Is My Name (New York: Nursery Publications, 1982)"
Step 4. Include the page number of the paraphrased or cited information
The last part of the footnote in a printed work is the page on which the material you are citing is located. The only time you will not include a page number is, as a general rule, when you go to cite the entire work.
- For example: "John J. Smith, His Name Is My Name (New York: Nursery Publications, 1982), 101."
- Punctuate the note with a comma after the publication information, then write the page number with a period at the end.
Step 5. Include a full URL for works with online access
If you access the work online, you will not have a page number. Instead, you should include the full URL of the web page where you accessed the work. Use a direct permalink if possible.
For example: "John J. Smith, His Name Is My Name (New York: Nursery Publications, 1982),
Method 3 of 3: Use abbreviated footnotes
Step 1. Use abbreviated footnotes after the first reference
As long as you write the full footnote once, you won't have to use it again. For the next time you paraphrase or quote the same work, you can use an abbreviated form that omits the information from the publication.
Step 2. Start with the author's last name
In an abbreviated footnote, you don't have to include the author's full name, just their last name. If there is more than one author, include only the last name of the first author followed by the abbreviation et al.
- For example: "Smith,".
- An example with more than one author: "Smith, et al.,".
Step 3. Provide an abbreviated title for the work
In the abbreviated footnote, you do not have to include the full title of the work if it is long. Choose two or three keywords in the title that allow the reader to easily recognize the work. Generally, you will choose the first two or three words of the title excluding articles such as "a", "an", "the" or "the".
- For example, if the title of the work is "His Name Is My Name", you can abbreviate the title to "His Name".
- Include the abbreviated title in italics after the author's last name. For example: "Smith, His Name".
Step 4. Add the relevant page number
If you paraphrase or quote a specific part of the work that you are going to cite in your text, the abbreviated footnote ends with the page number where the paraphrased or cited information appears.
- For example: "Smith, His Name, 101".
- You do not need to repeat the URL if you accessed the work online. End the abbreviated footnote with a period after the author's name and abbreviated title.
Step 5. Use the abbreviation Ibid. for multiple notes from the same source
At work, you can paraphrase or quote the same source multiple times in a row. But you have to put a footnote after each example where you refer to that work.
- If you have multiple footnotes that refer to the same source, you can use the abbreviation Ibid. instead of repeating the abbreviated citation.
- If the material you are paraphrasing or citing is on the same page as the previous footnote, you will not need a page number. Now, if it appears on a different page, you must put a comma after the abbreviation Ibid. and add the page number.