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How to Write and Format a Chicago Style Paper [With Examples]

How to Write and Format a Chicago Style Paper [With Examples]

  • 3-minute read
  • 18th August 2023

Are you working on a Chicago style project but struggling with the question, “just what is it?!”

Fear not, this post will walk you through Chicago style basics.

What Is Chicago Style?

The Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS) is a comprehensive style guide primarily used by professional writers, publishers, and researchers. It covers various forms of writing, including books, journals, magazines, and other publications. It’s often the go-to style for publishers and editors. CMoS is also known for its emphasis on scholarly writing and is suitable for a wide range of disciplines, including history, literature, the arts, and social sciences.

However, there’s an important distinction between Chicago style and Turabian style , which is essentially a simplified version of CMoS used in scholarly writing. Turabian omits some of the complexities and focuses on the needs of academic writers, especially those in the humanities and social sciences.

With either style, it’s essential to consult the relevant edition of the style guide specified by your institution or publication: either The Chicago Manual of Style or A Manual for Writers by Kate L. Turabian (currently in its ninth edition).

How Are Chicago Style Citations Formatted?

CMoS emphasizes two primary documentation systems : the notes and bibliography system (often used in the humanities) and the author–date system (preferred in the sciences and social sciences). When formatting a CMoS/Turabian paper, you’ll need to adhere to the guidelines associated with your chosen documentation system.

Notes and Bibliography System:

●  In this system, you’ll use footnotes or endnotes to cite sources within the text.

●  A corresponding bibliography is included at the end of the paper, listing all sources in alphabetical order.

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●  Citations typically include author names, titles, publication details, and page numbers.

Author–Date System:

●  In the author–date system, you’ll incorporate in-text citations within parentheses.

●  A reference list is included at the end of the document, providing full details for each cited source.

●  Citations include author’s last names, publication year, and page numbers (if applicable).

What Does Turabian Style Formatting Look Like?

A well-structured Turabian Style paper should adhere to the following formatting guidelines :

  •   Title page : Include the title of your paper, your name, the course name/number, instructor’s name, and the date on a separate page, starting a third of the page down. Alternatively, write the title on the first page.
  •   Margins : Apply one-inch margins on all sides.
  • Indentation and spacing : Indent paragraphs and double-space the main text.
  • Font : Use a legible 12-point font (e.g., Times New Roman).
  • Page numbers : Number all pages consecutively in the top right corner, starting with the first page. Alternatively, page numbers may be placed at the bottom center of the page.
  • Headings and subheadings : Use headline-style capitalization for headings and subheadings, with different levels distinguished.
  • Footnotes or in-text citations: Implement your chosen citation system consistently throughout the paper.
  • Bibliography or reference list : Include a comprehensive list of all sources used, following Chicago style citation guidelines for your chosen system.

How Should I Choose Which Chicago Style Documentation to Use?

It’s crucial to find out which specific CMoS system is preferred by your institution, publisher, or field of study. Always consult your assignment guidelines or style manual to determine whether you should use the notes and bibliography system or the author–date system. This choice will significantly impact how you format your citations and references.

Remember that mastering CMoS takes practice. By following these guidelines, you’ll be well on your way to crafting polished, professionally formatted papers that meet the expectations of your academic or professional audience.

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The Complete Guide to Chicago Style

Allison Bressmer

By Allison Bressmer

Chicago Style cover

The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) is a widely used style guide that covers topics like preparing manuscripts for publication, grammar rules, and word usage. It also offers two style options for source citation .

While Chicago Style is more often used for published works than high school or undergraduate class papers, Kate Turabian developed a simplified version of the CMOS’s citation styles, with modifications that address the needs of student writers.

What is the Chicago manual of style

What Does the Chicago Manual of Style Do?

Chicago manual of style general formatting guidelines, how to format an in-text chicago-style citation, guidelines for formatting reference and bibliography pages, why are citations and references necessary.

The purpose of CMOS, or any style guide, is to create a system of standardization across a publication, company, publishing house, or project, etc.

Language and conventions of language, grammar, and word usage are fluid and influenced by social location or other factors, so style manuals provide rules or guidelines to establish consistency.

Additionally, style guides provide easy navigation for readers by creating a clear framework for how sources are cited, documented, and located, should the reader want to investigate that source further.

Why do we need style guides

The CMOS offers these general guidelines for formatting papers:

  • Margins should be no less than 1 inch and no more than 1.5 inches around the paper; margins should be consistent throughout.
  • The body of the main text should be double spaced .
  • Block quotations, notes, bibliography entries, table titles, and figure captions are single spaced .
  • Text should be left-justified .
  • New paragraphs should be indented by one half inch.
  • Font size and style should be legible . While CMOS does not offer a specific font preference, the Turabian guide recommends Times New Roman (12 point) or Calibri (11 point) for student papers.
  • Each page of the document should have a header in the top-right corner that includes the page number .

What About a Title Page?

How to do title pages in chicago style

CMOS does not require a title page. However, if the publication you’re writing for requires one, you’ll need to follow their format.

The Turabian guide states that class papers may require either a title on the first page of text or a title page. If you need to include a title page, the recommendations are as follows:

  • Center the title one-third of the way down the page.
  • The subtitle , if you have one, goes under the title . Put a colon after the title if you have a subtitle.
  • Your name , class information , and the date should be included a few lines (3-4 return hits) later, each a separate line.
  • All information should be double-spaced .

What About Headings?

In CMOS, consistency is key. There is no set rule for headings and subheadings, other than that they should be consistent throughout the work. Think of them as visual cues.

A reader should be able to recognize that “this font at that size” is a chapter beginning. Or “that font in this size” signals a main subsection of a chapter, and so on.

How to do headings in chicago style

Other CMOS Style Elements to Know

Because there is variety even within the CMOS, it’s important to remember to check with your instructor or publisher about the specific style methods they follow and to ensure you understand any preferences not specifically stated in the CMOS guidelines.

Here are some common sticking points you may have questions about.

Introduce acronyms the first time you refer to the entity or concept, etc., that they stand for. The first line of this article demonstrates that practice.

The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) is a widely used style guide . . . .

ProWritingAid's Acronym Report checks this for you, highlighting any un-introduced acronyms in your text, as well as any inconsistent acronyms:

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Use words rather than numerals for numbers under 100. For example, write out twenty-eight instead of 28. There are exceptions to this rule: Use numerals when referring to a specific measurement; for example, 1 inch, and when using decimals. Also, for more technical writing, CMOS advocates spelling out numbers one through nine, but using numerals for any figure with two or more digits.

“Block” a prose quotation of five or more lines. This means the entire quote should be indented, or set off, from the surrounding text. Do not use quotation marks around blocked quotations. Use the same font style and size for the blocked quote as you used for the surrounding text.

Use “headline-style” capitalization for titles mentioned in the text, notes, or bibliography. Headline style means the first words of titles and subtitles, as well as any principal words that follow, are capitalized. Principal words include the first and last words of the title, as well as any words that are not conjunctions, articles, or prepositions. Use italics or quotation marks for titles depending on the works they represent.

Figures and Tables

If you include a figure or table in your work, follow these elements of CMOS:

  • Position the figure under the information that discusses that figure.
  • Put the caption directly under the image or figure and flush with the left edge of the figure. Use single spacing for the caption.
  • Leave at least one blank line between the caption and the continuing text in your document.
  • Label the image and ensure that labels are consecutive. For example, Figure 1; Figure 2; Figure 2.1.

CMOS offers two options for in-text citations and their respective reference or bibliography pages: author-date and notes and bibliography .

In-text citations in chicago style

The Author-Date System

The author-date style is used more commonly in physical and social sciences. With this method, sources are cited in the text, usually with a parenthetical citation that includes the author’s last name and the year the cited work was published.

To find full bibliographic information on the source, the reader can consult the reference list and find the corresponding entry.

This method offers the writer some flexibility in how to integrate citations into their texts.

Examples of Author-Date Style

Let's pretend I ran an experiment on the most popular color of M&Ms among five-year-olds. I conducted the study in 2020 (because what else was there to do during a pandemic?), and you want to include my findings in your paper.

How to format author-date style

With the author-date format, you could use either of these possibilities:

The study revealed that five-year-olds prefer blue and green M&Ms to brown and yellow ones (Bressmer 2020).

Bressmer (2020) determined that five-year-olds prefer blue and green M&Ms to brown and yellow ones.

If I had worked with one or two others—say, Johnson and Smith—on my study, you would simply add their names to the citation, like this:

  • The study revealed that five-year-olds prefer blue and green M&Ms to brown and yellow ones (Bressmer, Johnson, and Smith 2020).

If any additional researchers were involved in the study (making the total four or more names), you would use (Bressmer et al. 2020).

If you need to cite more than one reference in a single in-text citation, use semicolons to separate those references.

  • One study revealed that five-year-olds prefer blue and green M&Ms to brown and yellow ones, but a subsequent study indicates that blue is preferred even over green (Bressmer 2020; Phillips 2021).

If I had conducted both of those studies (not Phillips), only a comma would be required between the dates: (Bressmer 2020, 2021).

Author-Date Reference List

If you use the author-date style, you must include a list of references as the last page of your work. Each of your in-text citations must have a corresponding entry on the reference list that includes the full bibliographic information for the source.

The reference list should only include sources you’ve cited in the document.

The Notes and Bibliography System

This system is often preferred by those working in the humanities. It has flexibility and provides an opportunity for commenting on sources, if the writer feels a comment is necessary.

In the notes and bibliography style, writers acknowledge they have used a source by putting a superscript number at the end of the sentence in which that source is referenced. If the reference is a direct quote, then the superscript should immediately follow the quotation. The note number should also follow punctuation, rather than precede it.

Notes and bibliography citation

Footnotes and Endnotes

Using either footnotes or endnotes , the writer includes a numbered note that corresponds to the in-text superscript number either at the bottom of the page on which the reference is used, in which case the note is called a footnote , or in a compiled list of notes at the end of a chapter, or the entire document, called endnotes .

Footnotes and endnotes include bibliographic information for the cited source. These notes then correspond to entries on the last page of the paper, the bibliography.

Usually, the first time a source is listed as a footnote or endnote , it is appropriate to use a full note, which includes full publication details of the source.

If a source is included in subsequent footnotes or endnotes , it’s common practice to use short notes , which include the author’s last name, title of the work, and page number, if relevant. However, always check with your instructor or publisher and follow their recommendations.

Example of Notes and Bibliography Style

Imagine the sentence below appears in the text of a document in which the writer referenced my M&M study. Note the superscript after the referenced material and the corresponding footnote (full-note form) at the “bottom” of my page. A thin line separates footnotes from the main text, and the footnotes appear in a font of the same or smaller size than the main text.

The study revealed that five-year-olds prefer blue and green M&Ms to brown and yellow ones.1

  • Allison Bressmer, “The M&M Attraction Study,” The Journal of Imagined Studies 100, no. 1, (August 2020): 5.

A short-note version would simply include

  • Bressmer, “The M&M Attraction Study,” 5.

The Notes-Bibliography Style Bibliography Page

While a reference list is required for papers written with the author-date system, a bibliography is not required for works written with the notes-and-bibliography system, though they are generally preferred. Once again, check with your instructor or publisher.

The bibliography includes sources cited in your paper and may list other sources you referenced in preparing the work but did not specifically cite.

Formatting reference and bibliography pages

For the most part, format the reference and bibliography pages the same way.

Either list starts on a new, blank page that comes at the end of your document.

  • Title the document as References or Bibliography , depending on the CMOS citation system used in the document. Center that title word, but do not underline or put it in quotation marks.
  • Leave two blank lines between the title and your first entry.
  • Single space the lines of each entry; if the entry has more than one line, use a hanging indent for all subsequent lines (this just means the lines are indented, or “tabbed”).
  • Leave one blank line between entries.
  • Alphabetize entries by author’s name; if no author, then by the first word of the entry (probably the title of the article/work).

What to Include in Chicago-Style Reference and Bibliography Entries

Other than their titles, the only other difference between the reference and bibliography pages is regarding the placement of the publication date. On a reference list, place the year of publication immediately after the author’s name.

elements of bibliography and reference pages

Major Elements

Include the following major elements in reference and bibliography entries and separate the elements with periods:

  • Author’s name: last name first, with a comma separating the names. For example, Johnson, Joan.

Reminder: on a reference list , the publication date appears directly after the author’s name.

Title: Italicize titles of books and journals. Use quotation marks for titles of articles, chapters, short stories, or poems.

Publication information: Name of journal (or larger work in which the cited article, chapter, etc., appears), publisher, year of publication.

If additional information about the source is available:

  • After the title, include others involved in producing the work (editors, translators, compilers); edition number if the work is not the first edition; volume or series numbers.
  • After publication information, include page numbers; URLs, or DOIs (digital object identifiers) of sources accessed through electronic databases.

By acknowledging the author of a source cited in your paper, you do the following:

  • Uphold standards of intellectual and academic honesty by acknowledging the authors of the information you’ve borrowed for your paper. It’s never okay to try to pass off someone else’s work or ideas as your own—that is called plagiarism.

For more help ensuring your work is presented honestly, sign up for ProWritingAid’s Plagiarism Checks —and rest assured your work will not be stored or sold.

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Establish credibility by including the voices and works of others as support for your ideas, arguments, or proposals. When you do this, you validate the credibility of your ideas.

Help your readers by leading them to the source of each of your citations. Should they want to investigate further, your citations will lead to your reference page, which provides the location of your source.

The Chicago Manual of Style offers versatility for writers, allowing them to adapt their citations to the style that suits their work (or their instructor’s or publisher’s request), while ensuring readers can easily identify and locate those cited sources for further investigation.

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Allison Bressmer

Allison Bressmer is a professor of freshman composition and critical reading at a community college and a freelance writer. If she isn’t writing or teaching, you’ll likely find her reading a book or listening to a podcast while happily sipping a semi-sweet iced tea or happy-houring with friends. She lives in New York with her family. Connect at linkedin.com/in/allisonbressmer.

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Chicago Research Paper Formatting

Chicago manual of style (cmos - 17th edition).

  • Finding Sources for Your Paper
  • Additional Resources
  • Sample Papers

You are going to love this! Save this template somewhere safe or e-mail it to yourself. Then resave it immediately with the name of your new document. This will keep your template safe and ready to reuse again for future assignments.

The templates provided will be sufficient for most student Chicago Style papers. For more information on formatting, please check out The Chicago Manual of Style Online Resources for Students page at  https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/help-tools/Resources-for-Students.html . 

chicago style essay format in word

  • Purdue Owl Author Date Sample Paper Sample paper is downloadable.
  • Purdue Owl Notes Bibliography Sample Paper Sample paper is downloadable.
  • Turabian: Student Paper-Writing Tip Sheets Official Chicago style, in easy-to-use, printable PDF paper-writing tip sheets for students, teachers, and librarians. Guidelines are per Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (9th ed.) and are fully compatible with The Chicago Manual of Style (17th ed.).
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  • Last Updated: Sep 3, 2024 1:18 PM
  • URL: https://libguides.polk.edu/chicago

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Chicago Style (17th ed.): Citation Guide

  • Getting Started with Chicago

Formatting a Paper in Chicago Style

Chicago paper visual guide.

  • Citing Sources in Chicago Style
  • Chicago Style Citation Examples
  • Additional Chicago Style Resources
  • Citation Guides Homepage

Sample Student Paper

  • Sample Chicago Paper

Ask A Librarian

Email: OL-Online@lonestar.edu

  • Paper Formatting
  • Bibliography

Chicago Basic Formatting Rules

The following guidelines are the basic formatting rules outlined in the  Chicago Manual of Style  17th edition. If your instructor sets different requirements, always use your instructor's guidelines first.

  • readable serif font, regular-sized
  • example: 12pt Times New Roman
  • double space the body of the paper
  • 1-inch margins on all sides
  • indent the first line of each paragraph by 1/2-inch (tab)
  • left-justified for the body of the paper

Page Numbers:

  • count the title page as page one, but don't include a page number
  • include the page number in the top right corner of all pages except the title page

Formatting Notes:

  • Format note numbers as superscripts in the text of your paper
  • single space each note (footnote or endnote) but double space between notes

Chicago Title Page

The following guidelines are the basic formatting rules outlined in the Chicago Manual of Style  17th edition. If your instructor sets different requirements, always use your instructor's guidelines first.

Page Number:

  • do not include the page number on the title page (but it counts as page 1)

Title Page Heading:

  • Paper Title
  • Date (Month Day, Year)

Bibliography Formatting

The following guidelines are the basic formatting rules outlined in the Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition. If your instructor sets different requirements, always use your instructor's guidelines first.

  • needs to start on a new page following the end of your paper
  • include the title Bibliography  centered on the first line of the page
  • everything after the title is left-justified
  • listed in alphabetical order by the first part of the citation (usually the author)
  • each entry is single spaced with a double space between each entry
  • Each entry should have a hanging indent- or it should start at the left margin and then have all lines after it indented by 1/2-inch

Click on the information circles for tips on how to use Microsoft Word to format your paper in Chicago Style.

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  • Next: Citing Sources in Chicago Style >>
  • Last Updated: Jun 10, 2024 3:32 PM
  • URL: https://lonestar-online.libguides.com/chicago

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CMOS NB Sample Paper

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This resource contains the Notes and Bibliography (NB) sample paper for the Chicago Manual of Style 17 th edition. To download the sample paper, click this link .

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Chicago Style Guide: Formatting Chicago in Word

  • Citations Builders
  • Formatting Chicago Papers (YouTube Playlist) This link opens in a new window

Formatting in Word

This page will show you how to format Chicago style papers in Microsoft Word (specifically the Office 365 version we use at St. Andrews).

To double-space your paper. click on the Line and Paragraph Spacing button and then select 2.0.  

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page numbers

Adding page numbers.

Click on the Insert menu and then click on the Page Number tab. Hover over 'Top of Page' and select 'Plain Number 3' (to insert page numbers in the top right margin of your pages).

a-z sort indent

Sorting sources alphabetically.

To alphabetize your sources,

  • Highlight all your sources
  • Click the 'A-Z Sort' button.
  • In the 'Sort Text' pop-up box, click Sort by: Paragraphs , select Text for type, and click the Descending radio button.

Hanging Indent

Create a hanging indent.

To create a hanging indent,

  • Highlight all sources
  • Under the 'Indentation' area, select Hanging under the 'Special' drop-down menu.

(See Screenshot Above)

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  • URL: https://libguides.sa.edu/chicago

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Information Guides

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Chicago Style Guide

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Chicago Manual of Style Online

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How to Format a Chicago-style Paper

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Attribution

This guide was adapted from the Chicago Style Guide by Cathy Rettberg at Menlo School Library.

  • Chicago Manual of Style This link opens in a new window The time-tested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format.

Your professors expect to receive papers that are properly formatted and laid out. Use the following guidelines when setting up your paper. It is easiest if you use the correct settings from the beginning; otherwise you will have to go back and reformat your paper.

Overall page layout

  • One inch margins on sides, top and bottom.
  • Use Times or Times New Roman 12 pt font.
  • Double-space the text of the paper.
  • Use left-justified text, which will have a ragged right edge. Do not use fully (newspaper-style) justified text.
  • Use a 1/2" indent for paragraph beginnings, block quotes and hanging (bibliography) indents.
  • Number the pages in the top right corner of the paper, beginning with the first page of text. It's a good idea to include your last name as well, in case pages become separated. Number straight through from the first text page to the final bibliography page but do not count any pages after the end of the text as part of your page count. (A five-page paper may also have a cover page, two pages of notes and one page of bibliography which is nine pieces of paper.)
  • Center the title of your paper in the middle of the page, halfway down.
  • Center your name directly under the title.
  • Your professor's name, course title, and date should be written in three lines and centered at the bottom of the page.
  • Use Times or Times New Roman 12 pt font for the title page. Do not try to make your cover page decorative by using bold , underline , or creative fonts.
  • Do not put a page number on the cover page, and do not count it as part of the total page count.

Assemble your paper in the following order

  • Cover/title page
  • Body of the paper
  • Appendix (if needed)

Bibliography

Names and numbers.

  • Use full names of people and agencies/legislation the first time you use them. For agencies, include the acronym in parentheses after the full name when first used, e.g. Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA).
  • After the first time you can refer to people by their last name or agencies/bills by their acronyms for the rest of the paper.
  • Write out numbers lower than 100. (“All nine members of the Supreme Court...”)

Footnotes and endnotes

  • Footnotes go at the bottom of the page where the reference occurs; endnotes go on a separate page after the body of the paper. Both use the same formatting guidelines.
  • Within the essay text: put the note number at the end of the sentence where the reference occurs, even if the cited material is mentioned at the beginning of the sentence.
  • The note number goes after all other punctuation.
  • Be sure to use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) nor Roman (i, ii, iii).
  • Put the word Notes (not Endnotes) at the top of the page with your endnotes. Use Times/Times New Roman 10 pt font.
  • Single space each entry; double space between entries.
  • Indent the first line of each note.
  • Never reuse a number - use a new number for each reference, even if you have used that reference previously.
  • Be sure to look at shortened form examples for sources you refer to more than once.
  • To cite multiple sources in a single note, separate the two citations with a semicolon. Never use two note numbers at the end of a sentence.
  • Your bibliography should go on a separate page, with the word Bibliography centered at the top of the page in Times/Times New Roman 12 pt font. Do not use bold or large size font for the heading.
  • Be sure to use proper formatting - note and bibliography styles are different.
  • Use a "hanging indent" - the first line of the citation begins at the margin, subsequent lines are indented.
  • If your source has no author, alphabetize by title within the authors - don't make a separate list.
  • Don't separate primary and secondary sources unless your professor requests it.

Watch out for these common errors:

  • Note format uses first name last name, bibliography uses last name, first name.
  • In your notes, do not reuse numbers! Each citation gets a new number.
  • Pay attention to indents. Notes use a first line indent, a bibliography uses a hanging indent.
  • A bibliography goes in alphabetical order by author (or title if there is no author). Notes are numbered and are listed in the order the sources are used.
  • Don't put Works Cited at the top of your bibliography - that is MLA style.
  • Next: Sample Pages >>
  • Last Updated: Jul 25, 2024 9:14 AM
  • URL: https://guide.unwsp.edu/chicago_style

Chicago 17th Edition Citation Guide

  • General Chicago Style Guidelines

Word Template

  • Book Examples
  • Article Examples
  • Multimedia Examples
  • Personal Communication, Interview Examples, and Lectures
  • Legal, Public and Unpublished Materials
  • Bluebook Citation for Legal Materials
  • Reference Works, and Ancient, Sacred, Medieval, or Classic Texts
  • Chicago Style Word Template This template by Purdue Owl is formatted with proper spacing, indentations, and general information for your Chicago Style papers. Please follow your professor's instructions.
  • << Previous: General Chicago Style Guidelines
  • Next: Book Examples >>
  • Last Updated: Nov 27, 2023 4:02 PM
  • URL: https://cccs.libguides.com/c.php?g=1318336

chicago style essay format in word

APA, MLA, Chicago – automatically format bibliographies

Word automatically generates a bibliography from the sources you used to write your paper. Each time you add a new citation to your document, Word adds that source so that it appears in the bibliography in the proper format, such as MLA , APA , and Chicago-style .

Add a citation after a quote

On the References tab , in the Citations & Bibliography group, click the arrow next to Style .

The Style APA option is highlighted on the References tab

Click the style that you want to use for the citation and source. 

Click at the end of the sentence or phrase that you want to cite. 

Click Insert Citation and then select Add New Source . 

In the Create Source box, type in the citation details, and then click OK .

The option in the Creaet Source dialog box are shown

When you've completed these steps, the citation is added to the list of available citations. The next time you quote this reference, you don't have to type it all out again, just click Insert Citation and select the citation you want to use.

The list of citations is shown from the Insert Citation button

Important:  APA and MLA can change their formats, so you’ll want to ensure that these format versions meet your requirements. You can create your own updated version of a style or build custom styles. For more information see Bibliography & Citations 102 – Building Custom styles .

Create a bibliography from your sources

If you want to create a bibliography from your sources, do the following:

Click where you want to insert a bibliography. Typically, they are at the end of a document. 

On the References tab, in the Citations & Bibliography group , click Bibliography .

Similar to the Table of Contents builder in Word, you can select a predesigned bibliography format that includes a title, or you can just click Insert Bibliography to add the citation without a title.

If you want to learn more about using citation placeholders and editing sources, take a look at Create a bibliography . Or, if you want to export your bibliography sources to another computer, check out this post on the Microsoft Word blog .

APA 6th Edition citation style fix procedure.

APA style uses the author's name and publication date. If you have multiple citations from the same author, there is a known Word bug where the citation generator fills in the publication title when it's not supposed to. If this happens to you, here's how to fix the problem:

In the Word document, click the citation.

Click the down-arrow, and then click Edit Citation .

The available options under a citation are shown

Click the Title checkbox, and then click OK .

You can't automatically generate citations in Word Online. Word Online preserves the bibliography in your document, but it doesn’t provide a way to create one.

Instead, if you have the desktop version of Word, select Open in Word to open the document.

Image of the Open in Desktop App command

Then follow the steps for Word desktop .

When you’re done and you save the document in Word, you’ll see the table of contents when you reopen the doc in Word Online.

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Generate accurate Chicago citations for free

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  • Chicago Style Footnotes | Citation Format & Examples

Chicago Style Footnotes | Citation Format & Examples

Published on September 18, 2019 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on September 5, 2024.

The notes and bibliography style is one of two citation options provided by the Chicago Manual of Style . Each time a source is quoted or paraphrased , a superscript number is placed in the text, which corresponds to a footnote or endnote containing details of the source .

Footnotes appear at the bottom of the page, while endnotes appear on a separate page at the end of the text.

Chicago-style-footnote-citation

Pay attention to the punctuation (e.g., commas , quotation marks ) in your footnotes. Scribbr’s grammar checker can help you avoid mistakes.

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Table of contents

Full notes and short notes, placement of footnotes, content of chicago footnotes, footnote examples for different source types, footnotes vs endnotes, frequently asked questions about chicago style footnotes.

There are two types of footnote in Chicago style: full notes and short notes.

Full notes contain the full publication details of the source. The first citation of each source should be a full note.

Full note example

1. Virginia Woolf, “Modern Fiction,” in Selected Essays , ed. David Bradshaw (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 11.

Short notes contain only the author’s last name, the title (shortened if longer than four words), and the page number (if relevant). They are used for all subsequent citations of the same source. It’s also acceptable to use “ ibid. ” instead to refer to the immediately preceding source.

Short note example

2. Woolf, “Modern Fiction,” 11.

The guidelines for use of short and full notes can vary across different fields and institutions. Sometimes you might be required to use a full note for every citation, or to use a short note every time as long as all sources appear in the Chicago style bibliography . Check with your instructor if you’re unsure.

It’s important to include a citation for all referenced material. Scribbr’s plagiarism checker can help ensure your writing is free of accidental plagiarism.

Here's why students love Scribbr's proofreading services

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Footnotes should be used whenever a source is quoted or paraphrased in the text. They appear at the bottom of the relevant page, corresponding to reference numbers in the text. You can easily insert footnotes in Microsoft Word .

The reference number appears in superscript at the end of the clause or sentence it refers to. It is placed after any punctuation except a dash :

Johnson argues that “the data is unconvincing.” 1

Johnson argues that “the data is unconvincing” 1 —but Smith contends that …

Notes should be numbered consecutively, starting from 1, across the whole text. Your first citation is marked with a 1, your second with a 2, and so on. The numbering does not restart with a new page or section (although in a book-length text it may restart with each new chapter).

The footnote contains the number of the citation followed by a period and then the citation itself. The citation always includes the author’s name and the title of the text, and it always ends with a period. Full notes also include all the relevant publication information in parentheses (which varies by source type ).

If you quote a source or refer to a specific passage, include a page number or range. However, if the source doesn’t have page numbers, or if you’re referring to the text as a whole, you can omit the page number.

In short notes, titles of more than four words are shortened. Shorten them in a way that retains the keyword(s) so that the text is still easily recognizable for the reader:

1. Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus , ed. M.K. Joseph (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 91. 2. Shelley, Frankenstein , 91.

Combining multiple citations

Do not place multiple footnotes at the same point in your text (e.g. 1, 2, 3 ). If you need to cite multiple sources in one sentence, you can combine the citations into one footnote, separated by semicolons :

1. Hulme, “Romanticism and Classicism”; Eliot, The Waste Land ; Woolf, “Modern Fiction,” 11.

Sources with multiple authors

Footnotes for sources with two or three authors should include all the authors’ names. When there are four or more authors, add “ et al. ” (Latin for “and others”) after the first author’s name.

Full note Short note
1 author Virginia Woolf Woolf
2 authors Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari Deleuze and Guattari
3 authors Anne Armstrong, Marianne Krasny, and Jonathon Schuldt Armstrong, Krasny, and Schuldt
4+ authors Anna Tsing et al. Tsing et al.

Missing information

You sometimes won’t have all the information required for your citation. You might be missing page numbers, the author’s name, or the publication date.

If one of your sources (e.g., a website ) has no page numbers, but you still think it’s important to cite a specific part of the text, other locators like headings , chapters or paragraphs can be used. Abbreviate words like “paragraph” to “par.” and “chapter” to “chap.”, and put headings in quotation marks :

1. Johnson, “Literature Review,” chap. 2.1 . 2. Smith, “Thematic Analysis,” under “Methodology.”

If the source lacks a stated publication date, the abbreviation “n.d.” (no date) should replace the year in a full note:

1. Smith, Data Analysis (New York: Norton, n.d. ), 293.

If a text doesn’t list its author’s name, the organization that published it can be treated as the author in your citation:

1. Scribbr , “Chicago Style Citation.”

If you use a website name as an author, you may end up repeating the same information twice in one citation. Omit the website name from its usual place if you’ve already listed it in place of the author.

Short notes usually look similar regardless of source type—author, title, page number. However, the information included in full notes varies according to the source you’re citing. Below are examples for several common source types, showing how the footnote should look in Chicago format .

Chicago book citation

Italicize the book title. If the book states an edition (other than the first), include this and abbreviate it (e.g., 2nd ed., rev. ed.). Add the URL if you consulted the book online instead of in a physical copy.

Chicago book citation format

Chicago book chapter citation

Sometimes you’ll cite from one chapter in a book containing texts by multiple authors—for example, a compilation of essays. In this case, you’ll want to cite the relevant chapter rather than the whole book.

The chapter title should be enclosed in quotation marks , while the book title should be italicized. The short note only contains the chapter title.

The author is the one who wrote the specific chapter you’re citing. The editor of the whole book is listed toward the end of the footnote (with the abbreviation “ed.”), and left out of the short note.

Chicago book chapter citation format

Chicago journal article citation

The article title should be enclosed in quotation marks, while the journal name should be italicized. Volume and issue numbers identify which edition of the journal the source appears in.

A DOI is a digital object identifier. This is generally more reliable than the URL when linking to online journal content.

Chicago journal article citation format

Chicago website citation

The page title should be enclosed in quotation marks. Italicization is not used for website names.

If the publication date is unknown, you can instead list the date when you accessed the page at the end of the citation (e.g., accessed on September 10, 2019).

Chicago website citation format

All of the above information also applies to endnotes. Endnotes are less commonly used than footnotes, but they’re a perfectly valid option.

Footnotes appear at the bottom of the page they refer to.

  • Footnotes allow the reader to immediately check your citations as they read …
  • … but if you have a lot of footnotes, they can be distracting and take up space on the page.

Endnotes appear in their own section at the end of the text, before the bibliography.

  • Endnotes take up less space in the body of your text and reduce distraction …
  • … but they are less accessible, as the reader has to flip to the end to check each note.

Endnote citations look exactly the same as those in footnotes. Unless you’ve been told which one to use, choose whichever you prefer. Just use one or the other consistently.

Footnotes appear at the bottom of the relevant page.  Endnotes appear in a list at the end of the text, just before the reference list or bibliography. Don’t mix footnotes and endnotes in the same document: choose one or the other and use them consistently.

In Chicago notes and bibliography style , you can use either footnotes or endnotes, and citations follow the same format in either case.

In APA and MLA style , footnotes or endnotes are not used for citations, but they can be used to provide additional information.

In Chicago notes and bibliography style , the usual standard is to use a full note for the first citation of each source, and short notes for any subsequent citations of the same source.

However, your institution’s guidelines may differ from the standard rule. In some fields, you’re required to use a full note every time, whereas in some other fields you can use short notes every time, as long as all sources are listed in your bibliography . If you’re not sure, check with your instructor.

In Chicago author-date style , your text must include a reference list . It appears at the end of your paper and gives full details of every source you cited.

In notes and bibliography style, you use Chicago style footnotes to cite sources; a bibliography is optional but recommended. If you don’t include one, be sure to use a full note for the first citation of each source.

Page numbers should be included in your Chicago in-text citations when:

  • You’re quoting from the text.
  • You’re paraphrasing a particular passage.
  • You’re referring to information from a specific section.

When you’re referring to the overall argument or general content of a source, it’s unnecessary to include page numbers.

In a Chicago style footnote , list up to three authors. If there are more than three, name only the first author, followed by “ et al. “

In the bibliography , list up to 10 authors. If there are more than 10, list the first seven followed by “et al.”

Full note Short note Bibliography
2 authors Anna Burns and Robert Smith Burns and Smith Burns, Anna, and Robert Smith.
3 authors Anna Burns, Robert Smith, and Judith Green Burns, Smith, and Green Burns, Anna, Robert Smith, and Judith Green.
4+ authors Anna Burns et al. Burns et al. Burns, Anna, Robert Smith, Judith Green, and Maggie White.

The same rules apply in Chicago author-date style .

To automatically generate accurate Chicago references, you can use Scribbr’s free Chicago reference generator .

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2024, September 05). Chicago Style Footnotes | Citation Format & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved September 12, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/chicago-style/footnotes/

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