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Format Your Paper & Cite Your Sources

Learn to format your papers and cite your sources in MLA, APA, Chicago, and other styles.

What is Chicago Style?

The Chicago Manual of Style is a comprehensive reference for authors, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers in any field, though most often used in the humanities.

Chicago Style


What You Need to Know About Chicago Style

Whenever you use a citation style (ANY citation style!) you will be governed by that style in three ways:

  1. The general format of the paper. This includes margins, font, page numbers, line spacing, titles, headings, etc.
     
  2. The bibliography. The bibliography is the cumulative list of all sources used in your research. In Chicago, this is called the Bibliography (if you're using the notes-bibliography system) or  Reference list (if you're using the author-date system). How do you cite a printed book vs. a book found on a database vs. a book found on the Web? 
     
  3. In-text citation. Citing sources within the body of your paper lets your reader know you're incorporating someone else's words/research/ideas. In the notes-bibliography system you'll use footnotes or endnotes for your in-text citations. In the author-date references system you'll use parenthetical citations for your in-text citations.

Here's what you need to know to complete your paper in Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) format.

The links below will take you to the Ready, Set, Cite (Chicago) research guide:

NoodleTools

Use NoodleTools to help you create your citations.

It's easy; it's a form you fill out with the information about your source; it helps you catch mistakes.

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NoodleTools Help: