Q. I am writing a long research paper, and in almost every page the footnotes take up nearly half the page. Most of my sources have URLs with them; am I allowed to take out all of the URLs in the footnotes if they are included in my bibliography?
A. You should ask your instructor what’s allowed, but as far as Chicago is concerned, footnotes may consist of short citations (author, short title, page number) when there’s a bibliography to provide full citations. Please see CMOS 14.23.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Many online journals are switching from continuous pagination of their articles to assigning each article a number. I’m working with a company that wants to incorporate these article numbers in their citations. Where would the article number go in the citation?
A. Since CMOS is silent on this, it’s up to you, but logic would suggest that article numbers come after volume numbers.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am editing a paper and changing the citations into Chicago style. The sentence in question reads: “In terms of the transition from a sociology of labour, there has been enough uptake to allow for such assessments (see Lier 2007; Castree 2007; Coe and Lier 2011; Rutherford 2010; and Coe 2013 for a more recent review).” How would I cite this in Chicago?
A. This is your lucky day: they are already in Chicago style! Please see CMOS 15.30 (“Multiple text references”) for a similar example.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I’m trying to write a footnote for a book that has been revised and enlarged. How do I cite the reviser? This is what the author has currently provided: James Boswell, Life of Johnson, ed. George Birkbeck Hill, revised by L. F. Powell, rev. ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1934–64), 2:365. I feel that if I include Powell it should be abbreviated somehow—“rev. by” or something. Should I treat him like an editor instead?
A. Yes, you can change “revised by” to ed. or rev. (not rev. by) to match the ed. in front of George Hill’s name. And it would make sense to place the fact of its being a revised edition (rev. ed.) before the name of the revision editor so that the phrases together mean “the revised edition was edited by L. F. Powell”: James Boswell, Life of Johnson, ed. George Birkbeck Hill, rev. ed., ed. L. F. Powell . . .
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am citing a letter from a volume of documents that was once part of a manuscript collection at an archive. I have a photocopy of the letter, made twenty-five years ago when the volume was at the archive, but the volume has since been stolen. How do I cite the letter?
A. You could cite the document and add “The volume has since been lost” or “No longer available.” Be sure to add the word photocopy to your citation (see CMOS 14.218). You don’t want readers to think you’re the perp who took the original!
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. In my footnotes, I want to cite something as well as explain what it is I have cited, because I do not want to insert the info in the body of my paragraph. How do I do this? Does the citation go first or the explanation?
A. Put your citation first and the explanation after. (When an explanation comes first in a note, a citation after it might appear to be in support of the explanation rather than in support of something in the text.)
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. How do I cite a Google Forms survey that I have conducted for my research paper in Chicago format?
A. State the title and add that it was a Google Forms survey. If the survey has a URL, you can give it, along with the dates you gave the survey.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Hello, how do I cite an electronic thesis that I found on the web?
A. Cite this as you would any other dissertation (see CMOS 14.215 for examples), but include a URL. For documents retrieved from a commercial database, give the name of the database and add, in parentheses, any identification number supplied or recommended by the database.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I found a nice comment written in a book by the last owner. Have no idea who that was, but the words are good. How do I cite this?
A. Unfortunately, you’re stuck with “I saw this written in a book.” You could mention the date you saw it, if it matters, but there’s little point to citing the book unless it’s in some way relevant.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am teaching my students CMOS notes and bibliography type for all of their academic papers. When using footnotes on a paper the student did the full bibliographic citation on page 1. Then on page 2 there was a reference to the same source. Is it correct to allow the student to simply use author-date for that subsequent citation? Or is it more correct for the student to repeat the full bibliographic citation?
A. Chicago prefers shortened citations after the first full mention. Section 14.23 of CMOS will give you a solid overview of notes/bibliography style that will help you teach your students. Our Citation Quick Guide includes examples of such shortened citations (author, title, page). In addition, our Shop Talk blog has a great deal of free information geared toward helping students learn Chicago style and good citation and paper-writing practices.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]