A Quick and Complete Guide to Chicago Referencing

What is Referencing?

It is necessary to acknowledge other people’s work or ideas when writing; hence, the sources used in your work must be referenced. This is usually done via an in-text citation within the body of a text that refers to the work or ideas by others.  Also, a  complete reference list is provided at the end of the written materials of works or ideas taken from others.

What is Chicago Referencing?

American English writers usually use the Chicago style of citation. Chicago style referencing comes in two versions. There is the version preferred by those in the humanities (arts, literature, history, etc.) which is the notes and bibliography version. There ia also the author-date version preferred by those in the social sciences and sciences. In the later, the writer uses in-text citation by giving the surname and year of publication in the parentheses.

The below paragraphs deal with the notes and bibliography version of the referencing style; it uses footnotes and endnotes to cite quoted sources.

What is a Footnote?

It is a note that is placed at the bottom of a page of academic writing, book, journal or manuscript, that comments on, or cites a reference for a designated part of the text.

What is an Endnote?

It refers to a description, reference, or comment placed at the end of the research, article, chapter or book. It is similar to footnotes, in that, it provides explanatory comments that would interrupt the main text’s flow, and it cites a source.

Inserting Footnote in Microsoft Word

Go to the References on the menu tab

Reference menu tab

 

Select insert footnote

Reference footnote

 

Inserting Endnote in Microsoft Word

Go to the References on the menu tab

Reference menu tab

 

Select insert endnote

Generally,

• Where there are many authors (four or more authors), list up to ten in the bibliography;
• In the above case, in the footnote, list only the first, followed by et al. (“and others”).
• Where there are more than ten authors list the first seven in the bibliography, followed by et al.
• Bibliography contains all the resources cited in between the written text sorted in alphabetical order with the surname.
• It usually starts with the name of the author (or title, if there is no author).
• If an author has multiple publication, the reference list should be arrange in accordance to the year of publication and title if the year of publication is the same.

 

In text-citation

• To write an in-text citation, always include the citation number (which is usually written in brackets or superscripts) of the footnote or endnote

 

• • One Author
    • Henning Armstrong found that "The bones were very fragile"¹ Or
    • Henning Armstrong found that "The bones were very fragile" (1)

 

The Style of Footnotes and Endnotes

Books

• Footnotes: First name | Surname, | Title | (Place: Publisher, Year), | pages
  • • Denning Sawyer, Data warehouse design (New York: Penguin Press, 2015), 3–9.
  • Two authors: First name | Surname and | First name | Surname, | Title | (Place: Publisher, Year), | pages
    • Zain Asher and Paul Car, Data warehouse design in the UK (New York: Regular, 2016), 10.

• Shortened notes: Surname, | Short Title | page
  • • Sawyer, Data warehouse design, 32.
  • Two authors: First name | Surname and | First name | Surname, | Title | (Place: Publisher, Year), | pages
    • Asher and Car, Curious Mind, 90.
• Bibliography:
  • Two authors: Surname, | First name and | Surname | First name. | Title | (Place: Publisher, Year)
    • Asher, Zain and Car Paul. Data warehouse design in the UK. New York: Regular, 2016.
  • Surname, | First name. | Title | (Place: Publisher, Year).
    • Sawyer, Denning. Data warehouse design. New York: Penguin Press, 2015

Chapter or other part of an edited book

• Footnote: Chapter Author’s First name. | Surname, |  “Chapter Title,” in | Book Title, | ed. | Editor | (Place: Publisher, Year), | pgs
  • • Dantata Ahmed, “Dancing,” in Living the Life of the Wealthy, ed. James Gulliver (Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2016), 177–78.
  • Cite the specific pages.
• Shortened note:
  • • Ahmed, “Walking,” 182.
• Bibliography:
  • • Ahmed, Dantata. “Dancing.” In Living the Life of the Wealthy, edited by James Gulliver, 167–95. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2016.
  • In the bibliography, include the page range for the chapter or part.

Full Edited book

• Footnote: Editor’s First name | Surname, ed.,  | Book Title | (Place: Publisher, Year), | pgs
  • • James Guliver, ed., Living the Life of the Wealthy (Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2016), 177–78.
• Shortened note
  • • Guliver, Living the Life of the Wealthy, 182.
• Bibliography
  • • D’Agata, John, ed. The Making of the American Essay. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2016.

E-book

For books consulted online, include a URL or the name of the database. For other types of e-books, name the format. If no fixed page numbers are available, cite a section title or a chapter or other number in the notes, if any (or simply omit).

• Footnotes: First name | Surname, | Title | (Place: Publisher, Year), | pages
  • • Aerman Belville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851), 627, http://mel.hofstra.edu/moby-dick-the-whale-proofs.html.
    • Ahilip B. Burland and Aalph Berner, eds., The Founders’ Constitution (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987), chap. 10, doc. 19, http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/.
    • Arooke Borel, The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016), 92, ProQuest Ebrary.
    • Aane Busten, Pride and Prejudice (New York: Penguin Classics, 2007), chap. 3, Kindle.
• Shortened notes
  • • Lelville, Moby-Dick, 722–23.
    • Burland and Berner, Founders’ Constitution, chap. 4, doc. 29.
    • Borel, Fact-Checking, 104–5.
    • Busten, Pride and Prejudice, chap. 14.
• Bibliography entries (in alphabetical order)
  • • Busten, Aane. Pride and Prejudice. New York: Penguin Classics, 2007. Kindle.
    • Borel, Arooke. The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016. ProQuest Ebrary.
    • Burland, Ahilip B., and Balph Aerner, eds. The Founders’ Constitution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987. http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/.
    • Belville, Aerman. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851. http://mel.hofstra.edu/moby-dick-the-whale-proofs.html.

Journal article

• Footnotes: First name | Surname, | “Title,” | Journal Title | volume | issue no (Month Year): | pages
  • • Susan Satterfield, “Livy and the Pax Deum,” Classical Philology 111, no. 2 (April 2016): 170.
    • Onlne: Shao-Hsun Keng, Chun-Hung Lin, and Peter F. Orazem, “Expanding College Access in Taiwan, 1978–2014: Effects on Graduate Quality and Income Inequality,” Journal of Human Capital 11, no. 1 (Spring 2017): 9–10, https://doi.org/10.1086/690235.
    • Peter LaSalle, “Conundrum: A Story about Reading,” New England Review 38, no. 1 (2017): 95, Project MUSE.
      • cite specific page numbers;
• Shortened notes
  • • Satterfield, “Livy,” 172–73.
    • Keng, Lin, and Orazem, “Expanding College Access,” 23.
    • LaSalle, “Conundrum,” 101.
• Bibliography entries
  • • Keng, Shao-Hsun, Chun-Hung Lin, and Peter F. Orazem. “Expanding College Access in Taiwan, 1978–2014: Effects on Graduate Quality and Income Inequality.” Journal of Human Capital 11, no. 1 (Spring 2017): 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1086/690235.
    • LaSalle, Peter. “Conundrum: A Story about Reading.” New England Review 38, no. 1 (2017): 95–109. Project MUSE.
    • Satterfield, Susan. “Livy and the Pax Deum.” Classical Philology 111, no. 2 (April 2016): 165–76.
      • include the page range for the whole article

Journals of More than 4 authors

• Footnote:
  • • Rachel A. Bay et al., “Predicting Responses to Contemporary Environmental Change Using Evolutionary Response Architectures,” American Naturalist 189, no. 5 (May 2017): 465, https://doi.org/10.1086/691233.
• Shortened note
  • • Bay et al., “Predicting Responses,” 466.
• Bibliography entry
  • • Bay, Rachael A., Noah Rose, Rowan Barrett, Louis Bernatchez, Cameron K. Ghalambor, Jesse R. Lasky, Rachel B. Brem, Stephen R. Palumbi, and Peter Ralph. “Predicting Responses to Contemporary Environmental Change Using Evolutionary Response Architectures.” American Naturalist 189, no. 5 (May 2017): 463–73. https://doi.org/10.1086/691233.

News or magazine article

Articles from newspapers or news sites, magazines, blogs, and the like are cited similarly. Page numbers, if any, can be cited in a note but are omitted from a bibliography entry. If you consulted the article online, include a URL or the name of the database.

• Footnotes: First name | Surname, | “Title,” | Publisher, | Month Day, Year, | pages
  • • Rebecca Mead, “The Prophet of Dystopia,” New Yorker, April 17, 2017, 43.
    • Farhad Manjoo, “Snap Makes a Bet on the Cultural Supremacy of the Camera,” New York Times, March 8, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/technology/snap-makes-a-bet-on-the-cultural-supremacy-of-the-camera.html.
    • Rob Pegoraro, “Apple’s iPhone Is Sleek, Smart and Simple,” Washington Post, July 5, 2007, LexisNexis Academic.
    • Tanya Pai, “The Squishy, Sugary History of Peeps,” Vox, April 11, 2017, http://www.vox.com/culture/2017/4/11/15209084/peeps-easter.
• Shortened notes
  • • Mead, “Dystopia,” 47.
    • Manjoo, “Snap.”
    • Pegoraro, “Apple’s iPhone.”
    • Pai, “History of Peeps.”
• Bibliography entries (in alphabetical order)
  • • Manjoo, Farhad. “Snap Makes a Bet on the Cultural Supremacy of the Camera.” New York Times, March 8, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/technology/snap-makes-a-bet-on-the-cultural-supremacy-of-the-camera.html.
    • Mead, Rebecca. “The Prophet of Dystopia.” New Yorker, April 17, 2017.
    • Pai, Tanya. “The Squishy, Sugary History of Peeps.” Vox, April 11, 2017. http://www.vox.com/culture/2017/4/11/15209084/peeps-easter.
    • Pegoraro, Rob. “Apple’s iPhone Is Sleek, Smart and Simple.” Washington Post, July 5, 2007. LexisNexis Academic.

Interview

• Footnote: Interviewee’s First name | Surname, | “Title,” | interview by Interviewer First name | Surname, | Program | Organisation | Month Day, Year, | format | length, | address
  • • Kory Stamper, “From ‘F-Bomb’ to ‘Photobomb,’ How the Dictionary Keeps Up with English,” interview by Terry Gross, Fresh Air, NPR, April 19, 2017, audio, 35:25, http://www.npr.org/2017/04/19/524618639/from-f-bomb-to-photobomb-how-the-dictionary-keeps-up-with-english.
• Shortened note
  • • Stamper, interview.
• Bibliography entry
  • • Stamper, Kory. “From ‘F-Bomb’ to ‘Photobomb,’ How the Dictionary Keeps Up with English.” Interview by Terry Gross. Fresh Air, NPR, April 19, 2017. Audio, 35:25. http://www.npr.org/2017/04/19/524618639/from-f-bomb-to-photobomb-how-the-dictionary-keeps-up-with-english.

Thesis or dissertation

• Footnote: First name | Surname, | “Title,” | (type., University, year), | pages
  • • Cynthia Lillian Rutz, “King Lear and Its Folktale Analogues” (PhD diss., University of Chicago, 2013), 99–100.
• Shortened note
  • • Rutz, “King Lear,” 158.
• Bibliography entry
  • • Rutz, Cynthia Lillian. “King Lear and Its Folktale Analogues.” PhD diss., University of Chicago, 2013.

Website content

• • You may simply describe web pages and other website content in the text (“As of May 1, 2017, Yale’s home page listed . . .”).
  • For a formal citation, style like the below.
• Footnotes:
  • •  “Privacy Policy,” Privacy & Terms, Google, last modified April 17, 2017, https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.
    •  “About Yale: Yale Facts,” Yale University, accessed May 1, 2017, https://www.yale.edu/about-yale/yale-facts.
    • Katie Bouman, “How to Take a Picture of a Black Hole,” filmed November 2016 at TEDxBeaconStreet, Brookline, MA, video, 12:51, https://www.ted.com/talks/katie_bouman_what_does_a_black_hole_look_like.
• Shortened notes
  • • Google, “Privacy Policy.”
    •  “Yale Facts.”
    • Bouman, “Black Hole.”
• Bibliography entries
  • • Bouman, Katie. “How to Take a Picture of a Black Hole.” Filmed November 2016 at TEDxBeaconStreet, Brookline, MA. Video, 12:51. https://www.ted.com/talks/katie_bouman_what_does_a_black_hole_look_like.
    • Google. “Privacy Policy.” Privacy & Terms. Last modified April 17, 2017. https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.
    • Yale University. “About Yale: Yale Facts.” Accessed May 1, 2017. https://www.yale.edu/about-yale/yale-facts.

Personal communication

• • cited in the text or in a footnote only; rarely in a bibliography.
• Footnote
  • • Sam Gomez, Facebook message to author, August 1, 2017.

Act of Parliament

• • • When written fully in a footnote the first time, no additional reference is required.
• Footnote
  • • Equality Act, 2010, s. 7

Conference Paper (unpublished)

• Footnote: First Name | Surname. | “Title,” | conference paper, Conference Name | Location | Dates
  • • Amy Burge. "A Very English Place: The Intimate Relationship Between Britain and Arabia in the Contemporary Sheikh Romance," (conference paper, EUPOP 2012: Inaugural Conference of the European Popular Culture Association, University of the Arts, London, July 11-13, 2012).
• Short note:
  • • Burge, "Very English Place".
• Bibliography:
  • • Burge, Amy. "A Very English Place: The Intimate Relationship Between Britain and Arabia in the Contemporary Sheikh Romance." Paper presented at EUPOP 2012: Inaugural Conference of the European Popular Culture Association. University of the Arts,  London. July 11-13, 2012.

Conference proceedings (full)

• Footnote:
  • • Sabrina J. Billings, John P. Boyle, and Aaron M. Griffith, ed., CLS 35 Part 1: Papers from the Main Session (Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society, 1999).
    • Billings, Boyle, and Griffith, CLS 35.
• Reference list/ bibliography:
  • • Billings, Sabrina J., John P. Boyle, and Aaron M. Griffith, ed. CLS 35 Part 1: Papers from the Main
    • Session. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society, 1999.

Film (movie)

• Footnote← Back --> ← Back