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Writing & Research · pattern C, Text in

A Chicago-style reference, assembled from its parts.

Enter the source details for a Chicago-style entry. The tool assembles the elements in order; which of Chicago's two systems your department wants is a question only they can answer.

Inputs

Author(s)Surname, first name.YearPublication year.TitleTitle case.Container or publisherJournal, book or publisher.Volume, issue or pagesLocator details.

The formula used

Author. "Title." Journal Volume, no. Issue (Year): Pages.

Chicago has two systems: notes and bibliography, which uses footnotes, and author–date, which looks closer to APA. They are not interchangeable within one piece of work.

In-text citation

(Foucault 1977)

In-text citation. The full reference-list entry is below — check it against your own style guide edition before submitting.

Reference list entry: Foucault, Michel. "Discipline and Punish." Pantheon Books (1977): 195–228

Worked steps

1Foucault, Michel. "Discipline and Punish." Pantheon Books (1977): 195–228
Order of elements: author, date, title, source, locator. Italics are not applied here — apply them to the source title in your document.

Pick a system before you start, not halfway through.

Notes and bibliography suits history and the humanities, where a footnote can carry commentary as well as a source; author–date suits the sciences and social sciences. Switching between them mid-document produces a bibliography that does not match the notes, which is one of the most visible presentation faults a marker encounters. Ask which system the module expects before the first citation.

Questions about chicago citation

Which Chicago system should I use?: Ask your department. History and literature usually expect notes and bibliography; economics and the social sciences usually expect author–date.
Do footnotes count toward the word limit?: Often yes, and sometimes only substantive notes rather than pure citations. It is set locally, and it matters most in disciplines where footnotes carry argument.
What about ibid.?: Chicago now discourages it in favour of a shortened citation — author, short title, page. Shortened forms are clearer to a reader jumping between notes.

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Counts, readability scores and citation formats are guides. Your institution's word-count rule and its preferred style-guide edition override anything shown here.