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Citation Help

Citation assistance for other formats.

General Rules

Two Varieties!

Chicago-style source citations come in two varieties: (1) notes and bibliography and (2) author-date:

The notes and bibliography system is preferred by many working in the humanities—including literature, history, and the arts. In this system, sources are cited in numbered footnotes or endnotes. Each note corresponds to a raised (superscript) number in the text. Sources are also usually listed in a separate bibliography.

The author-date system is more common in the sciences and social sciences. In this system, sources are briefly cited in the text, usually in parentheses, by author’s last name and year of publication. Each in-text citation matches up with an entry in a reference list, where full bibliographic information is provided.

Chicago-style Resources

Chicago-style Citation Quick Guide — right from the source!

The OWL: Purdue Online Writing Lab for Chicago Manual of Style — tons of examples, including sample papers for both varieties:

Noodle Tools — can help you generate Chicago-style citations!

Chicago or Turabian?

Kate L. Turabian’s Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations is the student version of The Chicago Manual of Style, aimed at high school and college students who are writing papers, theses, and dissertations that are not intended for publication. (The Chicago Manual of Style is aimed at professional scholars and publishers.) The two books are compatible; both are official Chicago style.

There are a few copies of each of these books in the Maricopa system that you can request and check out!