Q. I need help on how it would be easier to make a bibliography easier.
A. You could keep it short. You could find the references online and copy and paste them in so you don’t
have to type them. You could buy some software that helps format bibliographies. You could ask your mom to do it.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am doing some developmental editing on a book about Elvis and East Tupelo, Mississippi. The author has gathered her information
from a variety of sources, including firsthand interviews. Footnotes and a bibliography will not work with the format. How
do we acknowledge sources such as websites or newspapers?
A. If you absolutely can’t have notes (not even endnotes? or a brief section called “Sources”?),
then you have to write the sources into the text. That could get ugly. It’s one reason notes were invented.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Our (I believe overzealous) rights manager has decreed that when trademarked terms are used in running text in our fiction and nonfiction books, they must be written in all caps, since this is what the International Trademark Association recommends. I argue that Chicago allows trademarks (used only when a generic term cannot be substituted) to be initial-capped only.
A. INTA in fact allows initial caps (see “Trademark Basics” at http://www.inta.org/). Not only does it look suspicious to use all caps (readers will assume you are promoting the product), but it’s not always feasible to research and duplicate all the typographic variations that trademarked names involve. Chicago prefers initial caps.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Please, please settle this question about questions for me! A colleague insists that the following construction does not
require a question mark: “I had to consult an authority. What would The Chicago Manual of Style say.” Another example: “I got a new bike. How cool is that.”
CMOS indicates that a question mark is not required for indirect or courtesy questions, but a question, even if it is not being
asked of someone in dialogue, is still a question. Who’s right?
A. When a sentence structured as a question doesn’t end with a question mark, it conveys the tone of voice
we use when we don’t really expect an answer. The first example you give, however, seems to be an actual
question. If it isn’t—if your colleague means it to sound like “I
drank everyone under the table; what would Grandma say”—then fine. But actual
questions require question marks.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Is there text in CMOS that explains that placing a footnote number or symbol at the nearest point of punctuation—rather than at the precise point of reference—will not mislead the reader? I know I have seen such an explanation, but I cannot find it in CMOS. If it no longer appears in CMOS, can you point me to a source?
A. Although CMOS 14.26 doesn’t promise in so many words not to mislead the reader, it does call for placing the note number at the end of a sentence or a clause. Of course, in a situation where more precise placement would be preferable, there’s no need to avoid it. For example, although you could put a single note at the end of the sentence “Statistics for Asia, Europe, and Africa disprove the theory,” a separate note after the name of each continent might make more sense if the statistical sources cited were many and complex.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I have a question about citing journal articles that are in print but have only been accessed online, where the online version
is a PDF identical to the print version. CMOS states that you need to cite the DOI or URL. What is wrong with citing the page number of the print version as it appears
on the PDF, if all things are identical?
Q. I am preparing an author-date-style reference list for a forthcoming book by my professor. She would like to include a paper
that I wrote for her class in the fall. How do I do this? I have no intention of publishing the paper in the near future.
A. You could style it after the “paper presented” model:
O’Guinn, Thomas C. 1987. “Touching Greatness: Some Aspects of Star Worship in
Contemporary Consumption.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association,
New York.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. The first time an author is cited in text it would appear thus: (Brown 1999, 34). The way I have been citing this author
thereafter is (Brown, 56). Is that okay, or must I always put the year in the citation? If there is an author who has two
works, I assume the year must always be reproduced. And if an author is cited with others, e.g., (Brown 1999; Harris 2002),
should the year be put in the next time I cite only Brown?
A. Chicago’s author-date style includes the year at every citation. Although in many instances your shortening
would be clear enough, it’s easier to include the date every time than to work out how to treat exceptions
and confusions like the ones you raise.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. How would I format an endnote citing a table published in an online census report? Is it necessary to include the table title,
and would all of this go after the access date, or after the title and before the website?
A. Table titles are often piled with information, so consider including them if you have room (e.g., U.S. Census Bureau, “All
Persons, by Sex, Race, Hispanic Origin, and Health Insurance Coverage: Calendar Year 1993,” Health Insurance
Historical Tables, 1992 to 1993, table 1, accessed March 6, 2010, http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/hlthins/hlth9293/hi93t1.html).
If you’re citing a table from a book, you can put the table number and title at the end of the citation
followed by the page number.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Are there any conventions yet for citing a text on Kindle? That is, because the type size is variable, there are no page numbers in a Kindle edition; instead, there is a running locator at the bottom of each screen. I’m wondering whether it would be permissible to cite these location numbers rather than look up my quotes in a hard copy of the text.
A. Yes, you can cite the location numbers, although unless a reader has the Kindle edition of that work, the numbers will be of little use for finding the text. Like unpaged online content, Kindle editions are best cited with reference to chapter titles or numbers, subheadings, or a unique phrase that can be located by searching. For more details, including examples, see CMOS 14.160.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]