Chicago
The system of annotation for undergraduate student papers recommended by the Chicago Manual of Style uses footnotes to identify the sources of quotes, listed at the bottom of each page of a paper. Upon their first reference to a given source, footnotes list full bibliographical information and, in subsequent notes to the same source, a shortened version of the same information.
Each footnote links up to a corresponding entry in a concluding list of Works Cited (on which, see Bibliographies).
Full information on the Chicago system can be found in: The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. (Chicago: U. Chicago Press, 2003). Your college library has several copies. Also, go to <http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html>.
For an explanation of the formatting of a Works Cited page in the Chicago style, go to Bibliographies. Rules governing the use of single quotation marks, lengthy block quotes, on how to modify the wording of a quote without changing its meaning, and ellipses can be found in the Advanced Quoting Skillssection, along with where to place footnotes in the text.
Below, we have listed the Chicago rules (with examples) that are most relevant to undergraduate history papers. They cover the following:
- Basic quotes and footnotes (including footnotes to websites - see Example # 3)
- A sample passage with sample Works Cited
- Footnoting other types of sources
Please choose from the options above.
Basic quotes and footnotes (Chicago system)
Having quoted, follow your quote with a footnote. Here's how:
The Mechanics of quoting
In Microsoft Word, pull down the "Insert" menu at the top of your toolbar; select "Reference," then click "Footnote." (On the Mac, simply click "Footnote" in the "Insert" pull-down menu). In the MS-Word window that opens, ensure that the "Location" section at the top indicates "Footnote." In the "Format" section of the window, be sure that the "Number Format" selected is "1,2,3 ..." and that the "Numbering" selected is "Continuous." (In the Mac window, the "AutoNumber" option should be selected). These are all default settings, so you are unlikely to encounter any problems. Press "Insert" at the bottom left of the MS-Word Word window ("OK," in the lower right of the Mac window), and a footnote will appear in your text in the location in which you last placed your cursor. Simultaneously, your screen will display the bottom (or "foot") of your page, allowing you to fill in the required information.
Example # 1: (from the book The Rape of Nanking, by Iris Chang)
If this is your paper's first quote from a given source, you must provide all bibliographical information in the footnote, as shown below (note punctuation of footnote and order of the information).
Note that the first line of a footnote is typically indented. The information provided in a footnote (upon the first listing of a source) is as follows: Author's first and last name followed by a comma; the full title of the book, underlined or italicized (either/or, not both); the place of publication, colon, publisher, comma, and year of publication, all enclosed within parentheses, followed by a comma; and the page number or numbers quoted, followed by a period, as above.
Example # 2:
For a second (or any subsequent) quote from the same source, it is no longer necessary to provide all the above information; instead simply provide the author's last name, comma, the page number(s) and a period:
Example # 2a
The abbreviation "ibid." (from Latin, ibidem, meaning "in the same place") may be used to indicate the same source as listed in the footnote immediately prior. As the quote in example # 2, above, follows directly after a previous quote from the same source (in example # 1) it could also have been footnoted as follows:
Note that the "ibid." option is frowned upon by some professors who prefer that you always use the author's last name and page number to footnote a prior-referenced source, even if the two notes are consecutive. Check with your professor to see which method is preferred.
Example # 3 (internet source)
Once you interrupt a sequence of quotes by the same author, from the same work, with a quote from a different author, you need to identify the new author and source in your footnote. If this is your paper's first quote from this new source, you will again provide the full bibliographical information, as in example # 1, above:
As you can tell, the above is an internet source: a website.
The information required for website references in the Chicago system is as follows, in the following order: The author's full name (if available), followed by a comma; the title of the website in quotation marks, followed by a comma (within the quotation marks); the date on which the website was posted or last updated (if available; if not, use the abbreviation "n.d." for "no date"), followed by a comma; the URL enclosed in angle brackets; the date you accessed the site, in parentheses; and a final period, as above. The Chicago system does not require you to list a page, section, chapter, or paragraph number for internet sources.
Please note that if the author's name is unavailable, you simply skip ahead to the title of the website, followed by the date posted, the URL, and the date accessed.
Note also that the Masaaki quote above features single quotation marks within the larger quote. On the use of such single quotation marks, see Advanced Quoting Skills.
Example # 4 (same as # 1, with a source credited to two [or three] authors)
Returning to print sources, our next footnote refers to a book credited to two authors. Please note that the rule is the same for books written by two or three authors:
Aside from the fact that the above source lists two authors (and the same rule holds for a book written by three authors), the order of the information in the footnote is the same as in example # 1, for a book written by a single author. List two (or three) authors in the order in which they are listed on the cover page or the spine of the book.
Example # 5 (same as # 2)
Returning to an earlier-footnoted source, such as Iris Chang, your very first source in this sequence, requires only that you provide a shortened reference (last name, comma, page number), as explained in Example # 2:
Example # 6 (same as # 1, with a work credited to more than three authors)
A footnote to a source credited to more than three authors requires only that you list the first-listed author on the book's cover page or spine, followed by the abbreviation et al. (from Latin, et alii, meaning "and others"), followed by the usual full bibliographical information, ending with the page number(s):
Note that, if a book is not the first edition, you should include the edition number in your footnote, immediately following the title. Title and edition number are separated by a comma, edition is abbreviated "ed."
BACK TO TOPSample Passage with sample Works Cited list
Following an introductory sentence, here is the entire sequence of quotes above, including all footnotes, followed by a list of Works Cited (on which, see Bibliographies).
While its exact death toll remains disputed, the so-called "Rape of Nanking" in 1937 surely numbers among the worst atrocities of the World War II-era, perhaps of all time: "Using numbers killed alone, the Rape of Nanking surpasses much of the worst barbarism of the ages."1 Chinese-American historian Iris Chang conjures grisly images of the event: "Corpses piled up outside the city walls, along the river (which had literally turned red with blood), ponds and lakes, and on hills and mountains."2 Japanese scholar Tanaka Masaaki, however, disagrees with Chang's version of the event, suggesting that she describes "'mountains of dead bodies' that no one saw."3 Other Japanese scholars have argued that if deaths did indeed result from Japan's conquest of Nanking, they were solely "the responsibility of each individual [Japanese] soldier," rather than the responsibility of the Japanese army as a whole, or the Japanese government, whom these scholars absolve of all blame.4 The arguments of the above-cited Japanese scholars are examples of precisely the kind of revisionism Iris Chang seeks to challenge. They offer evidence, she says, of "how the Japanese, as a people, manage, nurture, and sustain their collective amnesia-even denial-when confronted with the record of their behavior through this period."5 While the dispute between Chang and the Japanese scholars cannot be reliably settled, American World War II historiography favors her view. According to a standard U.S. history college textbook, The American Promise, "Japanese invaders captured Nanking and celebrated their triumph in a deadly rampage of murder, rape, and plunder that killed 200,000 Chinese."6
Works Cited
Please note: rules governing Works Cited entries are listed in Bibliographies.
- Chang, Iris. The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II. New York: BasicBooks, 1997.
- Masaaki, Tanaka. "'Mountains of Bodies' that No One Saw." N.d. What Really Happened in Nanking: The Refutation of a Common Myth. July 1, 2007 <http://www.ne.jp/asahi/unko/tamezou/nankin/whatreally/index.html>.
- Roark, James, et al. The American Promise: A History of the United States. 3rd ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005.
- Takemoto, Tadao and Ohara Yasuo. The Alleged 'Nanking Massacre': Japan's Rebuttal to China's Forged Claims. Tokyo: Meisei-sha, Inc., 2000.
Footnoting other types of sources
Our sample passage included footnotes to a book written by a single author (Chang's), a book written by two authors (Takemoto and Yasuo's; the same rules of footnoting apply to books written by three authors); a book written by more than three authors (Roark's et al.), and a website (Masaaki's). Below, we offer some rules on what to include in footnotes to other varieties of sources. To see how any of the types of sources listed below are listed on a Works Cited page, go to Bibliographies.
Footnoting references to websites:
See example # 3, above.
Footnoting an author who has multiple works listed in the Works Cited
If you are quoting from multiple works by the same author, your footnotes must clearly indicate which of the author's works you are quoting from, so as to avoid any confusion among your readers.
If, for example, you quote both Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking and The Chinese in America: A Narrative History (also by Chang), you will provide the full bibliographical information for each in your first footnotes and, in subsequent footnotes, will indicate via shortened titles, which of the two sources you are referring to:
Footnoting an anthology, or edited work
If you are quoting from an essay or article in an anthology or a collection, your footnote will provide, first, the name of the author of the essay or article, followed by a comma; the title of the essay or article (in quotation marks) ending with a comma (within the quotation marks); and, second, the word "in" (lower-case "i") followed by (if applicable) the name of the editor, comma, "ed.,"; the title of the book; the bibliographical information in parentheses (place: publisher, year) followed by a comma; and the page number(s) quoted, followed by a period, as below.
Note: If there is no editor, go straight from the word "in" to the title of the book.
Example:
An interesting perspective on Nanking is provided by Chinese scholars whose families survived the massacre, such as Daqin Yang, who considers some of Chang's more sensational claims to be "morally misguided."5
Footnoting an article in a scholarly journal paginated by volume
Most, but not all academic journals paginate their page numbers consecutively from one issue to the next (the first issue of the year begins with page 1 and ends with p. 150; the second issue continues with page 151 and ends with p. 300; the third continues with 301 and ends with 450, etc.). This is the case for the Journal of Asian Studies, for example, quoted and footnoted below.
Example:
In the footnote above, the number 59 designates volume 59 of the journal; (2000) identifies the year of publication in parentheses, followed by a colon; and 845 is the page number from which the quote is taken. Note the correct punctuation.
Footnoting an article in a scholarly journal which paginates each issue separately
Some academic journals begin paginating each issue anew, beginning each with page 1. This is the case with Cinema Journal, for example, quoted and footnoted below. In this case, you must include the issue number in your footnote.
Example:
The Edward Dymtryk movie Behind the Rising Sun (1943) hints at "the rape of women in occupied China," according to J. David Slocum: "following the scream of a woman offscreen, a sign reads 'All women will welcome all Japanese soldiers.'"7
In the footnote above, the number 44 designates volume 44 of the journal; no. 3 identifies the issue as the third during that year of publication, whose date (2000) is placed in parentheses, followed by a colon; 48 is the page number from which the quote is taken. Note the correct punctuation.
Footnoting a newspaper article
Most newspaper articles list their authors' names. If available, provide the author's name, comma; title of the article (in quotation marks), comma (within the quotation marks); title of the newspaper (omit the article The, if it precedes the paper's title); the date, followed by a comma; the section of the newspaper, if applicable (usually, newspapers' sections are organized according to consecutive capital letters), followed by a comma; and (if applicable) the edition of the paper (first, final, etc.). Unlike a footnote for an academic journal, Chicago does not require that you provide page numbers for newspaper articles. If you choose to include them, they are the last item listed in your footnote, preceded by a comma, as below.
If the article you are footnoting does not list an author, begin with the title of the article.
Example:
In 2007, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe rejected a "masochistc view of history that has robbed postwar Japanese of their pride."8
Footnoting a popular magazine
A footnote for a quote from an article published in a popular magazine provides all the usual information: author's name, title of article, title of publication, and the date. As for a newspaper article, and unlike a footnote to an academic journal, page numbers are not required. If you choose to include them, they are preceded by a comma, as below.
Example:
Japan, Hampton Sides remarks, "has been widely accused of suffering from a kind of national amnesia on the subject of World War II."9
Note that Chicago does not require that you list the volume or issue of the magazine; page numbers, too, are optional; if included, they are listed last, preceded by a comma, and followed by a period.
If a magazine article does not list an author's name, begin your footnote with the title of the article, then proceed as above.
If you are using sources not listed in the examples above, consult The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. (Chicago: U. Chicago Press, 2003) - available at your college library; or try http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html.
To see how any of the above sources are correctly listed on a Works Cited page, see Bibliographies.
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