Chicago Style: Get Started

The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) is a set of guidelines covering topics such as grammar, documentation, and usage, as well as information concerning manuscript preparation and publication. It contains two distinct documentation styles: 

• The Notes and Bibliography system, covered in this guide, is often used by those in literature, history, and the arts. 
• The Author-Date system is most often used by those in the physical, natural, and social sciences. For information concerning the Author-Date system, please consult the CMS or this Purdue OWL presentation, or contact a reference librarian.
• Be sure to know which your professor requires!

This LibGuide was adapted from the Chicago Style Guide by Leecy Barnett at the Lynn University Library in Boca Raton, Florida.

The Basics: Requirements, components of Notes/Bibliography style.

Formatting Your Paper: Margins, indents, spacing, etc. (See video tutorial, in Word, for information on how to set up formatting, insert footnotes and create a bibliography)

Notes and Bibliographies:  More information about the notes and bibliographies system.

Elements of a Citation: About the bits and pieces that make up a citation.

Books (Print): Citation format, examples for print books.

Books (Electronic): Citation format, examples for e-books.

Articles (Print): Citation format, examples for print articles.

Articles (Electronic): Citation format, examples for articles accessed electronically.

Web Pages/Sites: Citation format, examples for web pages and sites.

Quotations: In-text citations, run-in (short), and block (long) quotes.

For additional information related to Chicago Style, try these Web sites: