Dr. Matt Kuefler

11. NOTES IN THE CHICAGO STYLE

Note: The following section has been revised to conform to the most
recent edition of the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition (2003).

What is the Chicago Style?

The Chicago Style is the name for a convention first developed by the University of Chicago for giving credit to other works for ideas, information, or words borrowed, and for indicating the precise location where something was found, the set of practices called citation. The conventions of the Chicago Style include a lot of precise details, all of which you have no choice but to learn in order to master the style. The Chicago Style uses a system of numbers within the main body of the text, numbers that direct the reader to specific notes either at the bottom of each page, called footnotes, or at the end of the essay, called endnotes.

What do I need to do within the main body of my essay?

In the Chicago Style, information is cited by putting a number, in sequence, at the end of each sentence where there are words or ideas borrowed. You do not use the same number more than once: each number in the Chicago Style is used only once, even if two or more notes refer to exactly the same page in the same source. So your first note to any source must be 1, your second note must always be 2, and so on. Note also that the numbering is done using Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, and so on) and not Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, and so on) or any other numbering system.

Note: Most computer software programs have a means of automatic sequential numbering for notes, if you use the "Insert" menu and the "Reference" then "Footnote" function. If this numbering default is in Roman rather than Arabic numerals, click on "Options" after you click on "Insert Footnote" and it should tell you how you can switch from one numbering system to the other. It will also tell you how to switch from footnotes to endnotes or vice versa.

Example:

Howard Spodek suggests that "history offers perspective and guidance in forming a personal view of human development."1 Historians thus ask the kinds of questions that interest them.2

The first note, 1, follows the end of the sentence that is quoted in part from Spodek's book. The second note, 2, follows the end of the sentence where a further idea is taken from Spodek's book.

Note: The numbers should normally be placed a bit above the line. Most computer software programs do that automatically to notes. This web program does not allow me to do that, so I have used a smaller font to indicate the note numbers.

The numbers should normally be placed at the ends of sentences. If the sentence is a quotation, the number should be placed immediately after the quotation marks. In other words, the proper order is: the period--even if not part of the original quotation--then close quotation mark, then the note number, as follows: . . . aid of the party."5 If this sentence is not a quotation, the number should be placed immediately after the period. Even if only part of your sentence is quoted, though, and you continue your sentence after the quotation, the number should be placed at the end of your sentence, because it is less distracting to the reader. Only if the information at the end of a sentence is definitely not part of the citation but could be mistaken as such should the number appear in the middle of a sentence. (Normally this happens only if you are giving credit for information rather than for words. If you are using quotation marks to set off someone else's words from your own, there is no chance for confusion, even if the quotation ends in mid-sentence.)

Example:

Howard Spodek suggests that "history offers perspective and guidance in forming a personal view of human development," and that historians thus ask the kinds of questions that interest them.1

There MUST be a note number after each sentence in which there is a quotation, to let your reader know where that quotation comes from. (The only exception to this rule is when you have two or more quotations from the same page of the same source and in the same paragraph, without any other intervening notes or use of sources. In that case, you can use one note at the end of the last quoted passage.)

But if several of your sentences borrow the ideas rather than the words of the same author and come from more or less the same part of that author's work, you can put one number at the end of the last sentence where an idea is borrowed. In such a case, there must be at least one number for each of your paragraphs, to show where the ideas in that paragraph came from, even if you continue to use that source in the next paragraph.

Example:

Howard Spodek describes history as "among the most passionate and bitterly contentious of disciplines."1 According to Spodek, history reflects individual's values and identities. For this reason, he adds, it cannot help but be as diverse as the individuals who write it. But each historian must still try to persuade others to see the past as he or she sees it.2

Do not be concerned if you think that you have too many notes in a short essay. Your notes will indicate your diligence in giving credit where credit is due. And the sentences that contain your own analysis will stand out all the more. But it is not a good idea to quote continuously from other authors: you should include your own words as often as those of others. In the last example, only the words in quotation marks are Spodek's, but all of the ideas are his. So the quoted sentence needs a note at the end of it, but the next note only comes at the end of the paragraph.

What form should the notes for my essay take?

The Chicago Style allows either footnotes or endnotes. Footnotes are located at the bottom of each page, and endnotes on the second-to-last page (just before the bibliography). If you use footnotes, you should try to make sure that the footnotes appear at the bottom of the same page where the number is located in the text.

Note: If you use endnotes, you should begin a new page for them (using the "Page Break" function), and put the title "Endnotes" at the top of the page where the endnotes will appear. Most computer software programs allow you to choose when you "insert footnote" to have notes be either footnotes or endnotes, and to switch them from one to the other if you so decide.

The 15th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style now allows for shortened notes if there is a bibliography. I wills start by giving the format for notes in essays without a bibliography, and then discuss how the inclusion of a bibliography changes that format.

The first reference to a particular work in your notes should provide all of the relevant information about that work (for the most part, the author's full name, the full title, the place of publication, publisher, and date of publication, as well as the page or pages where the words or ideas came from). All subsequent references to the same works use an abbreviated reference (for the most part, the author's last name and page number).

The format differs slightly for different types of works. Again, it will take some dedication to learn and to master the different forms, but the convention is meant to help those who know and use it to find exactly what they need when they look at notes, since all notes in the Chicago Style will have exactly the same format. Note that these formats are not the same format for entries in the bibliography (see Writing Tip #12 for information on a bibliography in the Chicago Style).

For the purposes of this course, you will need to know the following (as you will see, the first note to a particular source gives full information; any other notes give only partial information):

Notes for books :

1Henry Hodges, Technology in the Ancient World (New York: Barnes and Noble, 1970), 17.

2Hodges, 17.

3Hodges, 27.

Note the following features: The author's name is given in its usual order. The title of the book is given in full, and either put in italics or underlined (but not put in quotation marks). The place of publication (always a city, and sometimes a state or country too if the city is not widely known by itself), publisher, and date of publication is put in parentheses, and separated by a colon after the place of publication, and a comma after the publisher's name. The page number from which the ideas or words are taken is written simply as a number following a comma (and no abbreviation for the word "page" is used, such as p. or pg., since it is clear what the number means).

In subsequent references, only the author's last name and the page number is given, even when, as in the two examples above, they come from the same source, the second from the same page and the third from a different page. Although Ibid. (an abbreviation, short for ibidem, meaning "in the same place") used to be used when two or more notes in a row referred to the same source, it is being discontinued in the Chicago Style, as are all Latin abbreviations. But it is still correct, so if you want to use Ibid., go ahead. (If so, the first I is capitalized, it is not italicized, and it is followed by a period and then a comma).

1Henry Hodges, Technology in the Ancient World (New York: Barnes and Noble, 1970), 17.

2Ibid.

3Ibid., 27.

Note that "Ibid." standing by itself means "from the same source and page" while "Ibid." followed by another number means "from the same source but from a different page, the page that follows."

Books with subtitles include both the title and subtitle in the first reference, separated by a colon. Translated works add the translator's name after the title and before the publication information (the date of publication is given as the date that the translation was published, not the date that the book was published in its original language):

4Georges Duby, The Early Growth of the European Economy: Warriors and Peasants from the Seventh to the Twelfth Century, trans. Howard B. Clarke (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1974), 25.

5Duby, 37-39.

Note also that if more your information or ideas come from more than one page of the book (and this happens especially when summarizing), then the format includes all of the pages separated by a dash (as in the note above).

Anonymous books are noted by omitting the author's name and beginning with the full title in the first reference, and with an abbreviated title for subsequent references. No name other than the author's should ever precede the title.

6Beowulf: A New Verse Translation, trans. Seamus Heaney (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2000), 21.

7Beowulf, 56.

Books written by ancient and medieval authors use their full name in first and in subsequent references, although often ancient and medieval authors have only one name or a name that includes their place of origin rather than being a last name.

For example: Plato, Julius Caesar, Augustine of Hippo, Marie de France.

Books written by two authors are listed as follows:

In the first note : John D'Emilio and Estelle Freedman,

In subsequent references: D'Emilio and Freedman,

Notes for articles in scholarly journals:

8Michaela di Leonardo, "Warrior Virgins and Boston Marriages: Spinsterhood in History and Culture," Feminist Studies 5 (1985), 51.

97di Leonardo, 61.

10di Leonardo, 64-65.

Again, note the following features: The author's name uses the same format as for books. The title of the article is put in quotation marks. The title of the magazine or journal is either italicized or underlined. The number that follows the title is the volume number. The date is put in parentheses after the volume number (for scholarly journals, a year is usually sufficient, since the pages are numbered in them for a whole year's publications; for magazines, there is another convention that you don't need to know here). The page follows, as in the format for books, as a simple number after a comma.

Subsequent references, as in the format for books, use the author's last name and the page number, as in the notes above.

Notes for primary sources in larger modern collections, like sourcebooks of historical documents:

11Sulpicius Severus, The Life of Saint Martin of Tours, trans. F. R. Hoare, in Soldiers of Christ: Saints and Saints' Lives from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, ed. Thomas F. X. Noble and Thomas Head (University Park, Penn.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995), 23.

12Sulpicius Severus, 22.

Again, note the following features: Both the title of the original work and the modern work within which it is found are italicized or underlined. Since many primary sources in English are translated, the translator's name follows immediately after the title of the source. After that follows the title of the modern collection or the sourcebook, separated by a comma and the word "in." After the title comes the name(s) of the editor(s) of that modern collection or sourebook, with a comma, then the abbreviation "ed." and then the name(s). After that follows the publication information and page number(s) as in other books.

Note that in the abbreviated references that follow, the name of the author of the primary source is given. Never use the name of the translator or editor as the abbreviated reference. If the primary source is anonymous, use the title or an abbreviated version of the title for references after the first.

Notes for excerpts from the Bible and other sacred writings:

13Genesis 12.1 Revised Standard Version.

14Genesis 15.10-20.

Again, note the following features: The title of the book of the Bible is given without being italicized, underlined, or put in quotation marks. The chapter and verse of the book is given separated by a period but no space (in the Chicago Style, this period replaces the otherwise commonplace colon used to separate chapter and verse used in other styles). The publication information is not given: only the translation of the Bible is given in the first citation.

The same procedure is used for other religious writings considered sacred or holy, such as the Koran or Talmud or Dhammapada, but for these, the translator's name and publication information is given in the first reference as for other books.

Notes for websites:

15Kharlena Ramanan, "Hunting and Diet," Neandertals: A Cyber Perspective, http:thunder.indstate.edu/~ramanank/.

16Ramanan, "Tools."

17Ramanan, "Neandertal Architecture."

Note the following features: The author of the words, if known, is given, followed by a comma. If no author is named, it is omitted, as with other anonymous works. Then the title of the webpage or section of a webpage is given, in quotation marks, with a comma just before the close quotation marks. Then the title of the whole website, if there is one, is given in italics or underlined, followed by a comma. (If there is no title to the website, a short description of the website is given, such as "San Diego State University, History 505, Dr. M. Kuefler website"). Then the URL or web address is given, followed by a period.

Because there are no real page numbers on web sites, anything that can help readers locate the place in the website where the information was found should be included. If the sections have titles or subtitles, use these in quotation marks. If the paragraphs on a webpage are numbered, then use these instead of titles.

In subsequent references, only the author's last name and section title are given. If the website is anonymous, then the section title and website title should be given in subsequent references.

Notes for primary sources found online:

18Caradoc of Llangarfan, The Life of Gildas, trans. Hugh Williams, in Medieval Sourcebook, ed. Paul Halsall, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columba-rule.html, 3.

19Caradoc of Llangarfan, 2.

20Caradoc of Llangarfan, 5.

Note the following features: The author of the primary source is given first, followed by a comma. If the author is unknown, it is omitted (the translator or webmaster is never given in the author's position). Then the title of the primary source is given in italics or underlined, followed by a comma. (Many online sourcebooks, the Medieval Sourcebook included, give new titles to primary sources--in this case, the webpage title read "Medieval Sourcebook: Caradoc of Llangarfan: The Life of Gildas"--so try to find out what the precise title of the primary source is.) Then the translator, if identified, is given, followed by a comma, then the title of the website is given, in italics or underlined, followed by a comma. Then the webmaster, if identified, is given, followed by a comma. Then the URL or web address is given, followed by a comma. Then anything that helps to identify the specific passage is given: here is it paragraph number, but elsewhere it may be a section title, and if so, the section title is given in quotation marks.

In s ubsequent references, only the author of the primary source is given, and if the source is anonymous, its title or an abbreviation of the title is given, followed by the specific passage locator.

Notes for films:

21Snowstorm scene, North by Northwest, DVD, dir. Alfred Hitchcock (1959; Burbank, Calif.: Warner Home Video, 2000).

22Farmyard scene, North by Northwest.

23Second kitchen scene, North by Northwest.

Note the following features: The scene of the film is given first, followed by a comma. Then the title of the film is given, in italics or underlined, followed by a comma. Then the type of film is listed, whether DVD or videocassette, then a comma, then followed by the director are listed (in the same format as the editor or translator of a book, with an abbreviated reference). In parenthesis, first the original date of the film is given, then the place and name of the production company, then the date the product was released.

Because there is no easy method to identify scenes within a film from which information is taken, unless you have a script with the number of the act or its title, a casual reference usually suffices. Notice that subsequent references only list the scenes and the title of the film.

What if I use more than one source by the same author?

If you use more than one source by the same author, you must give more than the author's name in references after the first to each source, so that your readers can distinguish which source you are citing. In such cases, subsequent references use the title, or if it is a long title, an abbreviated version of your own choosing, after the author's name but before the page reference.

Examples:

24Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, 23.

25Augustine of Hippo, The City of God, 275.

26Fredriksen, "Augustine and Israel," 134.

27Fredriksen, "Augustine on History," 110.

If you are including a bibliography, the 15th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style now permits you to omit the long first references to sources, and use the shorter format of references--described above for subsequent references--for all citations, including the first, since your readers can look up the more detailed information from your bibliography.

Can I use parentheses at the ends of sentences instead of notes?

Only in rare cases does the Chicago Style use parentheses at the end of sentences. Only one of the cases would apply in your essays: if you are referring to the same source over and over again in your essay. In that case, your first note should be in the usual format, but afterwards in the same note there should be an additional sentence reading "Hereafter cited in text." After that first number, use the page number only in parentheses at the ends of sentences. (In such cases, the punctuation changes, and should be: end of quotation without any final punctuation, then close quotation marks, then space, then open parentheses, then page number--just the number alone without p. or any other identifiers--then close parentheses, then the period, as follows: . . . aid of the party" (229). Note that as soon as you cite a different source, you must go back to the more usual practice of using notes.