Chicago 17 Resource Center: Notes / Bibliography Examples

This section is intended to cover only the Notes and Bibliography system.

For each type of source in this section, both the general form and a specific example will be provided. The following format will be used:

• Full Note - use the first time that you cite a source.
• Subsequent Note - use after the first time you cite a source.
• Bibliography - use when you are compiling the Bibliography that appears at the end of your paper.

Information on citing and several of the examples were drawn from The Chicago Manual of Style (17th ed.).

The Chicago Style footnote system uses superscript numbers. These numbers should be placed at the end of the sentence (or clause) in which the cited material appears. Use your software's formatting menu to change the number to a superscript.

Example:

Henry I was largely responsible for ending the arbitrariness of forest law under William II.¹ At his coronation, he supposedly promised to "abolish all the evil customs by which the kingdom of England has been unjustly oppressed" and replace it with much less inconsistent legislation.²

Footnotes and endnotes should be detailed on first references; second and later references then take a short form that uses either the author’s name and a page number or the Latin term ibid and a page number if needed.

• Footnotes are placed at the bottom of each page.
• Endnotes are placed at the end of the paper.

The two sources referenced in the above passage are then put in a reference list (also called a works cited list) list like this:

Douglass, David C., and George W. Greenaway, eds. 1953. English Historical Documents,1042-1189. London, U.K.: Eyre and Spottiswoode.

Young, Charles R. 1979. The Royal Forests of Medieval England.  Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Chicago Style lists of references should be alphabetized by the author’s surname, and presented as a “Bibliography” page that may include all sources you consulted. Ask your instructor what your list of references should include—all the sources you consulted, or only those you cite in the paper?