A Note on Using Chicago Citation Style

The Chicago citation style is the method established by the University of Chicago Press. It is widely used for academic writing in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. A slight modification of the Chicago style is known as Turabian style. Chicago/Turabian style features two basic documentation systems:

1. Notes-Bibliography Style: used in the humanities (literature, history and the arts). It cites the sources as footnote or endnote and gives a full bibliography at the end of the paper.
2. Author-Date style: used in the social, physical, and natural sciences. It cites the sources in the text, in parentheses, by author’s last name and date of publication. These short citations are detailed on the References page at the end of the paper.

(1) Notes-Bibliography Style

The notes-bibliography format combines two components: (a) footnotes or endnotes (b) Bibliography.

Footnotes/ End Notes

• It is a numbered system whereby authorship is acknowledged using a number to represent the reference. The reader can follow this in-text number to the corresponding number in the footnote or endnote.
• Citation numbers should be inserted in superscript to the right of commas and full stops, and to the left of colons and semi-colons.
• The first source cited on the page is “1,” the second source is “2,” and so on. This numbering system resets with each page, and you start over with “1” instead of moving on to “3.”
• In the endnotes, it is formatted in the exact same way, but the numbering reaches from the first to last page, rather than restarting with each new page.
• Cite authors’ names as they appear in the texts. Don’t replace first names with initials unless the names appear this way on the title page of the source.
• If no author is mentioned in the source, organize the entry by the title.
• The first time you cite a source, you will include a full citation. For all subsequent references to that text, your footnote citation will be in abbreviated form. The shortened form consists of the author’s last name, title (shortened if more than four words) and page.
• All footnotes/endnotes must be chronologically numbered.
• If there is no date of the publication, use n.d. (no date).
• If the second reference to a text comes immediately after the first, use “Ibid.” in place of the author’s name and the book title. Include the page number if it is different from that listed in the first reference.

Example for the First Citation:  Author’s name as in the source, Title in Italics and in Headline Style (City of Publication: Publisher, Year), page number if relevant.

Bipan Chandra, Communalism in India (New Delhi: Har Anand, 1998), 123.

Subsequent references to the same text: 

Last name, Title in Shortened Form, page number. (If there is only one source from the author, then Last name and the page number is enough)

Chandra, 123

(If there is more than one source from the author, then Last name, an abbreviated form of title and the page number is needed)

Chandra, Communalism, 123

Bibliography

A bibliography is a list of the full details of all the sources you cited in your paper. In the Chicago style, the bibliography starts on a separate page at the end of your paper and is titled Bibliography. The Bibliography contains details of the sources used in writing your paper and can include works not cited in your paper that you consulted in your research.

• All sources appearing in the Bibliography must be ordered alphabetically by the last name of the first author or title if there is no author is identified.
• Works by the same author/s are listed alphabetically by title. Bibliographies with only one author are ordered chronologically.
• If notes are given as endnotes, then the bibliography is optional because all the sources are cited in notes already. However, many people choose to create a consolidated list of sources.
• If one includes a range of sources, some of which he/she read but did not specifically need to cite for the paper then should call the document a "Selected Bibliography."
• The name of the first author is inverted; subsequent author’s names are given in the form in which they appear in the original source publication.
• The bibliography should be double spaced and intend every line comes after the first line.
• Italics is the preferred format for titles of books, journals, and videos. However, article and chapter titles are not italicised; these are put in double quotation marks.
• Capitalisation within the Chicago style requires all major words to be first letter upper case.

Format of a Bibliography Entry for a Single Authored Book

• Author’s last name followed by a comma
• First name of the author followed by a full stop
• Title of the book in italics and all major words capitalised followed by a full stop
• Location of the publications followed by a colon
• Publisher followed by a comma
• Year of the publication followed by a full stop

Example: Chandra, Bipan. Communalism in India. New Delhi: Har Anand, 1998.

(2) Chicago Author-Date Style

The Chicago Author-Date style is like a mixture of MLA and APA. Just like in MLA, the Chicago Author-Date style inserts a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence, before the period. But the information included in the parenthetical is more like APA: author, date, and page number. There is no punctuation between the author and date, but the date and page number are separated by a comma:

Example: (Chandra 1998, 123).

If the name of the author is given in the text, then the year and the page number are enough.

Example: Bipan Chandra considered the Indian national movement, a passive revolution (1998, 123)

If there are multiple authors with the same last name, include the first initial in the parenthetical citation: (B. Chandra 1998, 123).

If there are multiple essays by the same author and published in the same year, mark them with a letter, like in APA. (Chandra 1998a, 123).

Reference List

The Date-Author system requires a reference list at the end of the paper, like in MLA or APA.

A Note on Using APA Citation Style

APA is the formatting style for the American Psychological Association, which is used in social sciences as well. The APA style uses the author/date in-text citation with the reference list at the end of the research report.

(1) In-text Citation

The APA style uses the in-text citation method similar to the MLA with one additional element. In MLA, the author's last name and the page number is given in the in-text citation. In APA, along with these elements, the year in which the work was published is to be added. The order of information in the parenthetical always goes Author, Year, Page.

Example: (Chandra, 1998, p.123)

A further difference from MLA style is that in MLA, the in-text citation always goes at the end of the sentence, in APA it can be cited wherever it is necessary.

Using in-text citations

• If the author’s name mentioned in the sentence, the year appears in parentheses immediately after author’s name. Example: Chandra (1998) argues that "quotation" (p. 123). The page number always appears immediately after the quoted or referenced material appears. Example: Chandra (1998) argues that the Indian national movement was a passive revolution (p. 54), though there are conflicting views by others.
• If the author’s name doesn’t come in the sentence, give all three elements of information in the parenthetical citation. Example: Indian national movement can be considered as a ‘Passive Revolution’ (Chandra, 1998, p. 54), though there are other conflicting views.
• If there is more than one the author with the same last name, prefix the first initial of the author's first name in the in-text citation as in the case of MLA style Example: (B. Chandra, 1998, p. 123).
• If there are two or more titles by the same author published in the same year, then alphabetically arrange the works by the first major word of the title in the Reference list. The first work will be considered “a”, the second “b” and so on. Add this letter designation to the year in the in-text to show which work is cited. Example: (Chandra, 1998a, p.123)

 (2) Reference List

In APA, the Reference List is a bibliography, just like MLA’s Works Cited. A reference list includes only those references which were actually cited in the text of a research paper. A single-author book can be arranged like:

• Last name of the author followed by a comma
• Author’s first names are NOT included in the entries; include only the initials of the given name(s) followed by a full stop
• Year of the publication in parenthesis followed by a full stop
• Title of the book in italics and sentence case followed by a full stop
• Location of Publication followed by a colon
• Publishing Company followed by a full stop

Example: Chandra, B. (1998). Communalism in modern India. New Delhi: Har Anand.

When compiling a reference list the researcher needs to pay particular attention to the following: (1) Sequence; (2) Punctuation and spacing; (3) Capitalization; and (4) Italicising.

Arrange entries in alphabetical order by the last name of the first author. Items in a reference list should be double-spaced. Indent all lines that come after the first line of a Reference List. This lets the reader know where one citation ends and the next one begins.

Format for Book and Journal Article

Book: Author’s Last name, Initial(s) of the First name. (Year). Title of book. Location: Publisher.

Journal: Author’s Last name, Initial(s) of the First name. (Year). Title of journal article. Title of Journal, Volume number (issue number), page number(s).

A Note on Using MLA Citation Style

MLA is the formatting style of the Modern Language Association. It is generally used in English and humanities. The MLA Handbook outlines a two-level citation method to provide references to a particular source: (i) in-text citation and (ii) Works Cited. It means, when citing a source, the researcher has to include its information in two places.

(i)   In-text Citation

In "in-text citation", a source is cited in the body of the text itself. Generally, an in-text citation is used when a researcher quotes from a source directly. However, the researcher also needs to use an in-text citation any time he/she uses information borrowed from a source, but which is not come in  “common knowledge.” They are used instead of footnotes or endnotes. They are sometimes called parenthetical references because the in-text citation appears in parentheses. It must be given at the end of a sentence. The in-text citation directs the reader to the full citation of the source in the ‘Work Cited’ list given at the end of the research report. The author's last name and the page number are usually given to indicate the location in the source.

Example: If the source is taken from the 123rd page of the book written by Bipan Chandra, the in-text citation will be (Chandra 123)

Various conditions and usages of in-text citations

There are several instances in which the researcher has to make a slight variation in giving in-text citations. Some general conditions are:

• If the text includes the name of the author, (like According to Bipan Chandra or Bipan Chandra argued that or in his book, Bipan Chandra mentions) then give only the page number in the in-text citation. This allows the researcher to keep the references in parentheses as brief as possible. Example: Bipan Chandra defined Indian national movement a ‘passive revolution’. (123)
• If there are two or more titles by the same author, the normal in-text citation may confuse the reader. When the reader looks up the sources at the Works Cited, they will find multiple sources from one author. To avoid this confusion, the researcher must include a shortened version of the author’s title in the in-text citation. Example: (Chandra, Communalism 123)
• If there is more than one author with the same last name, a normal in-text citation may confuse the reader about the authorship. In this case, prefix the first initial of the author's first name in the in-text citation. Example: (B. Chandra 123).
• If there is no author mentioned in the source, the in-text citation would contain an abbreviated title and the page number.

 (ii)  Works Cited

It is the second component of the MLA citation. It is just a bibliography; the list of sources cited in the text. Every single source that contains information used in the text that must be included in the Works Cited. Thus, each entry in the work cited corresponds to an in-text citation. A single author book can be arranged like:

• The last name of the author followed by a comma
• First name of the author followed by a full stop
• Title of the book in italics and each important words capitalised followed by a full stop
• Location of Publication followed by a colon
• Publishing Company followed by a comma
• Year followed by full stop

Example: Chandra, Bipan. Communalism in Modern India. New Delhi: Har Anand, 1998.

Indent all lines that come after the first line of a Works Cited citation. This lets the reader know where one citation ends and the next one begins. Arrange entries alphabetically, using the last name of the author. If no author is given, alphabetize by the title, eliminating any initial A, An, or The. The first word and all major words must be capitalized.

Format for Book and Journal Article

Book with One Author: Author’s last name, First name, and Middle initial [if available]. Italicize Title. Publication Location: Publishing Company, Year. Print.

Book with two authors: First author’s last name, First name, and Middle initial [if available], Second author's First name and Last name, and Third author's First name and Last name. Italicize Title. Publication Location: Publishing Company, Year. Print.

Journal Article: Author's last name, First name, and Middle initial. "Title of Article." Italicized Title of Journal volume.issue [if available] (year): page number(s). Format.

Introduction to Citation Style Manuals

The citations in a research report must be arranged in a widely accepted uniform pattern. It will help the researcher to organise and place the research report within an academic standard. There are several style manuals, which provide guidelines to organise a research report and also arranging citations properly. The three most commonly used style manuals are:

1. MLA: Modern Language Association
2. APA: American Psychological Association
3. Chicago Manual by University of Chicago

These research style manuals provide a set of rules and instructions to the researchers to organise the research report in a standard pattern. Apart from the guidelines to citations, a research style manual provides instructions to organise the basic elements of a report like:

• The font style and font size
• Page numbering and line spacing
• Title and sub-title arrangements
• Paragraph arrangements
• Margin settings
• Rules for using various punctuation marks
• Rules for using abbreviations, tables, figures, appendix, and index

The Popular Citation Style Manuals  

MLA: It is the formatting style of the Modern Language Association. It is generally used in English and humanities. The MLA Handbook outlines a two-level citation method to provide a reference to a particular source: (i) in-text citation and (ii) Works Cited. It means when citing a source, the researcher has to include its information in two places.

APA: is the formatting style for the American Psychological Association, which is also used in social sciences. The APA style uses the author/date in-text citation with the reference list at the end of the research report.

Chicago Citation Style: It is the method established by the University of Chicago Press. It is widely used for academic writing in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. A slight modification of the Chicago style is known as Turabian style. Chicago/Turabian style features two basic documentation systems: (1) Notes-Bibliography Style and (2) Author-Date Style