About Chicago Style notes and a bibliography system

If you are new to referencing, it is strongly recommended that you first read introduction to referencing, before reading this page. 

This page describes Chicago Style notes and a bibliography system:

In this section

• About
• Notes
• Bibliography

The footnoting and bibliography style is summarised in brief below. For further information on Chicago's notes-bibliography, or author-date style, consult the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed., or The Chicago Manual of Style Online website:  http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html

In the note-bibliography system, authors are identified by a number in the text, and further details indexed by number at the bottom of the page in the form of footnotes (for university-level writing, this is preferred), or at the end of the text in the form of endnotes (this is sometimes used in writing for publication).

Check your assignment instructions regarding whether you can use short notes throughout or whether you need to include a full note for the first note followed by short notes.

In the note-bibliography system, authors are identified by a number in the text, and further details indexed by number at the bottom of the page in the form of footnotes (for university-level writing, this is preferred), or at the end of the text in the form of endnotes (this is sometimes used in writing for publication). The format will vary depending on the type of source (see books, journals, online material or other material).

If a source is cited in full in the bibliography (and all sources should be with the exception of personal communications and writer-sourced material such as personal photos), a shortened version of the reference can be given at first reference. However, some lecturers or course coordinators prefer to see the full footnote citation the first time, and the shortened form used in subsequent citations. It is best to check with them about their preference.

The shortened footnote involves the author’s family name, a shortened form of the book title, and page number:

Note, in a departure from previous versions of the Chicago Manual of Style, the current version does not recommend the use of ibid or idem and recommends using shortened citations for subsequent citations by the same author(s) as outlined below.

Bibliography entries vary depending on the type of source (see books, journals, online material or other material), but the format of each entry in the bibliography follows this structure:

• The first author's surname is put before their first name. Any following authors are given in the order of first name last name, with multiple authors separated by a comma, and an and before the last author. There are full stops between each source element such as the author, chapter/article title, and book title.
• Page numbers are only given for chapters in edited books, and journal articles. The page range for the chapter or article is given (Note: in the footnote, the specific page of the information you are referencing is given).

Bibliography entry:

The entries each have a hanging indent, and are alphabetised according to the surname of the first author.

References and further reading

 

Disclaimer

These pages are provided as a guide to proper referencing. Your course, department, school, or institute may prescribe specific conventions, and their recommendations supersede these instructions. If you have questions not covered here, check in the style guide listed above, ask your course coordinator, or ask at Academic Q+A.

Page authorised by Director, CTL
Last updated on 17 April, 2020