Notes
Chicago style uses footnotes or end notes to refer to works of others. Footnotes appear within the paper and have specific guidelines for citations and format. End notes are exactly like footnotes, except instead of appearing on the page they are referenced, they are included in a reference page at the end of the chapter.
Note: Chicago style citations differ very slightly based on whether they are for a note or a works cited page citation. Notes are written as a complete sentence, with publisher information in parentheses. Works Cited references do not have parentheses and have periods breaking them up into phrases.
Additionally, the Chicago style allows the use of Author-Date in-text citations (similar to APA) in lieu of footnotes. See Author-Date for more information.
In-Text Citation Options
- Footnotes
- Footnotes with Full Citation
- Shortened Footnotes
- End notes
- Author-Date
Shortened Footnotes and Author-Date styles all require a Works Cited page at the end of your paper. Works Cited pages are optional for the other styles.
Chicago Style citations give many different options for how to cite sources. Be sure to check with your instructor if you are unsure which style to use.
The Basics
Chicago uses superscript numerals and footnotes to indicate references.
Kerouac2 reported...
2Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums (New York: Viking Press, 1958), 128.
The order of the superscript numerals is chosen in order of appearance; your first in-text citation should be 1 followed by 2, 3, and so on.
The first reference for an article usually requires the entire citation in the endnote section. If desired, you can choose to use just the shortened notes for your footnotes and include a Works Cited page at the end of your paper.
Referencing the same work later in the paper requires a new reference and footnote; the footnote at the end of the page is shortened to its author and page number after the first mention of the article.
At the end of your paper, it is helpful to include a bibliography or works cited page. The works cited page is separate from the footnotes and is organized alphabetically by author last name or title, whichever appears first.
Where to place the superscript? The superscript number is inserted into the document immediately next to the fact, concept, or quotation being cited. If citing more than one reference at the same point, separate the numbers with commas and no spaces between. The superscript numerals should appear:
- Outside (after) periods, commas, and quotation marks
- Inside (before) colons and semicolons.
Shortened Endnotes
After referencing a source once, the end note for any subsequent reference is shortened to the author's last name or the title of the source and the page number. The new note will get its own superscript numeral. In the bibliography page, the source is referenced only once- only in the notes are sources cited multiple times.
Kerouac...1
1Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums (New York: Viking Press, 1958), 128.
Then, if cited again...
... by Kerouac.2
2Jack Kerouac, 129.
If the second citation is from a different page number, then that note should contain the corresponding page number. If it is the same, the end note is still shortened.