Tom Norton
Modern American History
Using Chicago Style (updated 9-2019)
Information literacy topics:
- Using technology tools
Objective: To apply Chicago Style (Notes and Bibliography) rules to a paper.
Learning Expectations: Academic-Writing: “Students will produce and distribute a variety of writing designed to entertain, inform, or argue, as well build and present knowledge derived from research.“
1. Sign into Google Drive, and access this Chicago NB Template. Make your own copy, rename it, move it to your course folder, and use it to set up your paper.
2. Apply the following guidelines, taken from the guidance at Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL). Other sources may indicate slight differences.
- First, make sure to insert a page break after the date on the cover page.
- In a Chicago paper, a readable font should be used, like Times New Roman or Palatino, with a comfortable size of at least 10-point; 12-point is very common.
- Margins should be at a minimum of 1 inch, and that seems to be the standard at Amity.
- All text should be double-spaced except certain items which are single-spaced, like block quotations, table titles, figure captions, and each individual footnote and bibliographic reference. There should be two spaces between one citation or note and the next.
- Immediately after the clause or sentence, and after any punctuation, insert your footnote from the “Insert” menu. Make sure to use the footnote form, not the bibliography form.
- Create a bibliography on a new page at the end of your document. Arrange bibliographic entries in alphabetical order. Use a hanging indent. Single-space within each individual bibliographic citation, and leave two spaces between one citation or note and the next.
- Make sure to look at the Chicago (Notes and Bibliography) sample paper and other guidelines at the OWL site. The link is available from the Amity Library web page under “Find Online Stuff”/”by Subject Guide”/Research and Writing”. It also appears in the box below
ChicagoStyle (updated 10-2018)
As of the 2016-17 Amity's History Department has decided to use Chicago Notes and Bibliography Style (footnotes) as its citation style.
Citing Chicago Style - Amity Librarians’ Quick Guide
Resource developed by Amity librarians with the most commonly used sources and how to accurately cite them. Includes bibliography format as well as how to cite in footnotes.
Citing Chicago Style - Purdue OWL
Very practical and reliable guide published by renowned Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL). Chicago includes two basic documentation systems: notes-bibliography style (or simply bibliography style) and author-date style (sometimes called reference list style). Here are the basic differences:
-Notes-bibliography style (required style for History at Amity):
The basics of the note-bibliography style are as follows: Whenever you need to cite a source, a superscript number is placed in the text at the end of the sentence or part of the sentence that contains the paraphrase or quote taken from your source.
The same number corresponding to that reference is placed, normal-sized, in the footnote area at the bottom of the page or the end of the section (your teacher’s choice).
The first time a source is used in a document the entire bibliography form is used in the footnote, but the footnote format is slightly different. The second time the citation is used in the footnote it is shortened even more (see rules). When the same source is used twice or more in a row, you write “ibid” (which means “the same”), and change page number if needed.
A full bibliography at the end of the paper includes all complete source citations sources with their complete citation forms, in alphabetic order.
-Author-date style: In the body of the text, author names, dates, and sometimes page numbers in parentheses indicate cited sources, which are then listed by their entire source citation. A full bibliography at the end of the paper includes full source citations.
Citing Chicago Style - University of Chicago Press Quick Guide
Excellent set of examples published online by the University of Chicago Press.
Sample Chicago-style papers:
Footnotes and bibliography style paper (from OWL)
End-notes and bibliography style paper
Chicago-Style Guide Poster (from OWL)
Use your NoodleTools account for easy citing!