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Citing Sources: Chicago Style

This LibGuide is designed to provide students with assistance in citing sources from a variety of sources.

Chicago Style Basics

Use these basic guidelines when preparing your paper:

  • Use one-inch margins all around.
  • Spacing: Double-space throughout (including block quotes)
  • Choose a clean 12-point font.
  • Include a title page.
  • Page numbers begin in the header of the first page of text with Arabic number 1. 
  • Cite your sources in both the footnotes and the bibliography page. 

Additional Resources

The Chicago Citation Style

Chicago style is used to write papers and cite sources most often within the discipline of history. You probably used this style for your history research paper! Look below and on the other Chicago Style tabs (at the top of the page) for examples for the general format for research papers, footnote citations, and the Bibliography page. 

This style is also often known as "Turabian". This refers to Kate L. Turabian who is the author of the famous Manual for Writers of Research, Theses, and Dissertations a style manual based heavily off of the Chicago style.

Footnotes vs. Bibliography

Footnotes: Citations at the end of the page on which the source is referenced, marked by a superscript number which corresponds to the superscript number within the body of the text next to the content being cited.

Bibliography: All of the sources you consulted while writing your paper. These full citations are placed in alphabetical order by author's last name and include sources cited and relevant source that were not cited but used as a reference. 

Bibliography vs Works Cited

Bibliography : All of the sources you consulted while writing your paper, including sources cited and sources just referenced. (Usually used when citing sources in the Chicago format style.)

Works Cited : Only the items you actually cited in your paper. (Usually used when citing sources in the MLA format style.)

Source: https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/DocChicago_Bibliography.html