Chicago Style Guidelines
This handout provides simple guidelines for using Chicago style. See the Chicago Manual of Style in the
Writing Lab for further instructions.
1.
Title Page (section 1.9)
The title page presents the full title of the paper; the subtitle, if any; your name; the course
title; the instructors name; and the date.
The title and subtitle should appear centered and double-spaced 1/3 down from the top of
the page. If you are using a subtitle, end your title with a colon.
Your name should appear in the middle of the page.
Near the bottom of the page and centered should appear the course title. Double-spaced and
centered below the course title is the instructors name, and double spaced and centered
below the instructors name is the date.
2. Margins (sections 2.10 2.13)
Use at least one-inch margins on all sides of all pages. All information should be within
these margins.
3. Spacing (sections 2.12, 2.14, 6.11, 11.11, and 11.12)
All text should be double-spaced, including all notes and bibliography. (However, see
Block quotations below.)
Indent the first line of a new paragraph by using the tab key.
Block quotations (quotes of at least one hundred words or eight lines or more than one
paragraph, even if the paragraphs are very short) always start a new line and may be
indented or set in smaller type or a different font from the text; they may have less space
between lines. Quotation marks are not used in block quotations.
One space, not two (in other words, a regular word space), follows any mark of punctuation
that ends a sentence: a colon, a question mark, an exclamation mark, or closing quotation
marks.
4. Notes (sections 16.19 16.35, 16.59)
Use the endnote or footnote function of the word processor to create notes.
Use superscript for reference numbers in the text.
The reference numbers (followed by a period) in the notes themselves are normal size.
Number notes consecutively throughout the paper.
A reference number in the text appears at the end of a sentence or clause. It will precede a
dash but follow any other punctuation, including a parenthesis.
A note number usually follows a quotation.
4a. Endnotes (sections 16.23, 16.59)
Endnotes appear at the end of a paper/article on a Notes page, after any
appendices but before the bibliography.
Endnotes work best for tables, quoted poetry, and matters requiring special
typography.
4b. Footnotes (section 16.19)
Footnotes appear at the bottom of the page.
5.
Bibliography (sections 16.71 16.89 and Figure 16.3 on page 627)
Entries in the bibliography are alphabetized by the last name of the author(s) or, if no author
is given, by the title or a keyword readers are most likely to seek.
The bibliography is double-spaced with the first line of each entry flush left and the
subsequent lines indented from the left margin (hanging indent).
6. Miscellaneous (sections 1.71-75, 1.100, 2.24, 2.53, 9.3, 16.11, 16.15)
In bibliographies, authors names are inverted to put the last name first. In footnotes,
however, names are given in the normal order.
In bibliographies, the main elements are separated by periods. In footnotes, they are
separated by commas.
Chicagos general rule for numbers is that in nontechnical contexts, the following numbers
are spelled out: whole numbers from one through one hundred, round numbers, and any
number beginning a sentence. All other numbers are written as figures.
Pages are numbered consecutively (typically top right), and pages without numbers on them,
such as the title page, count in the pagination.
When mentioning a source author in the text, use the first and last name the first time.
Thereafter, the last name alone is sufficient.
Section headings are short, meaningful, and parallel in structure and tone. If a section is
divided into subheadings, at least two such subheadings must be used, each subheading on
its own line separate from the following text, with one or two lines of space above the
subheading.
