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Chicago Referencing

Instructions and links for Referencing support

Footnotes

  • A note number should generally be placed at the end of a sentence or at the end of a quote.
  • The number is raised which is known as superscript.
  • Every number must have a corresponding footnote number and entry at the bottom of the page.
  • The number follows any punctuation, for example it should appear after the full stop at the end of your sentence.
  • Footnote number should be consecutive beginning with 1.
  • Using MS Word select the References tab from the top menu and click Insert Footnote. A superscript number will be inserted into the text and a corresponding footnote number created at the bottom of the page.
  • Footnote number at bottom of page can be either in normal size with a period or in superscript. Both are acceptable.

Subsequent citations of sources already given in full should be shortened whenever possible. The short form should include enough information to remind readers of the full title or to lead them to the appropriate entry in the bibliography. The most common short form consists of the last name of the author and the main title of the work cited, usually shortened if more than four words.

Full footnote:

1 Samuel A. Morley, Poverty and Inequality in Latin America: The Impact of Adjustment and Recovery (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995), 24–25.

Subsequent citation:

Morley, Poverty and Inequality, 43.

  • If you are citing several sources in the one footnote, separate them using semi-colons.
  • In your bibliography, list each source separately.

Footnote:

23 Paul Jackson, Cut and Fold Paper Textures (London: Laurence King, 2017), 36; Jason Franz, "Magic Wand: The Power of the Ballpoint Pen," Drawing 14, no. 54 (Summer 2017), Art & Architecture Complete.

Bibliography entry:

Franz, Jason. "Magic Wand: The Power of the Ballpoint Pen," Drawing 14, no. 54 (Summer 2017), Art & Architecture Complete.

Jackson, Paul. Cut and Fold Paper Textures (London: Laurence King, 2017).

 

 

  • It is generally discouraged to include extensive discussion of the content referenced within the footnote space. If it is important enough to discuss, it should be in the main body of your work.
  • However if you are including a comment in your footnote, the source information comes first then a full stop, then your comments.

Example:

Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, act 3, sc. 1. Caesar’s claim of constancy should be taken with a grain of salt.

  • In your research you will often encounter resources where an author refers to another researcher's work. A source within another source is known as a secondary source.
  • Generally it is discouraged to cite a source from within another source as you are expected to have consulted the work directly. However sometimes this is not possible. In these cases the footnote should list both the original source first, joined by words such as "quoted in" or "discussed in" and then list the secondary source.

Example:

23 Louis Zukofsky, “Sincerity and Objectification,” Poetry 37 (February 1931): 269, quoted in Bonnie Costello, Marianne Moore: Imaginary Possessions (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981), 78.

Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition discourages the use of ibid. in your footnotes in favor of shortened citations. Shortened citations generally take up less than a line, meaning that ibid. saves no space.