Q. I am currently copyediting a business-advice book that has a very casual, conversational tone. The book includes a bibliography,
but so far, none of the quoted works mentioned in the text are in the bibliography. There are many sound bites from famous
actors and writers. These one-liners are not necessarily well-known quotes, but considering that the people quoted are public
figures and the quotes themselves are (in most cases) only a short sentence, is a source really needed? And then a bibliographic
entry? It seems a bit excessive, but I don’t know how else to do this. Unfortunately, this book does
not have notes. Any ideas?
A. Quotations from famous people must be attributed (to newspaper or magazine articles, blogs, online news sites, television
or radio appearances, or whatever), but you needn’t include such sources in the bibliography.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. In the citation of the following newspaper showing various issues and page numbers, would it be written like this?
Southern Patriot, 20 January 1835, 3, 27 January 1835, 3, 30 January 1835, 3, 2 February 1835, 3, 3 February 1835, 3, 3 March 1835, 3, and 19 March 1835, 3.
A. No. I’m afraid my vision began to blur when I came to “1835, 3, 27.” This calls for the deployment of what Lynne Truss calls “a kind of Special Policeman in the event of comma fights,” that is, the semicolon (Eats, Shoots & Leaves [New York: Gotham Books, 2004], 125):
Southern Patriot, 20 January 1835, 3; 27 January 1835, 3; 30 January 1835, 3; 2 February 1835, 3; 3 February 1835, 3; 3 March 1835, 3; and 19 March 1835, 3.
An alternative is to omit the page numbers, as is often done in newspaper citations, since articles may migrate from one page to another in different editions of the same paper.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Should footnotes and bibliographic entries for foreign publications be written in the foreign language or in English?
A. Use the original language for the book title. You may transliterate languages that have non-Latin alphabets, and you may also provide an English translation of the title in brackets [Like this: Sentence-capped and roman], if you think it will be helpful to readers. The place of publication should be given in English, and if you are certain of the correct translation, you may render terms like vol. and ser. in English. Please see CMOS 14.99 and 14.202.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am writing a qualitative thesis in which I quote several primary-source published documents that, if cited under the actual
names of the authors, would destroy subject anonymity. How do I create a reference list citation for a document I quote or
cite and protect the research subject’s rights to anonymity?
A. You can either use pseudonyms or use “Anonymous” in place of the person’s
name. Perhaps in your research you can find other reference lists that show solutions to this problem. It’s
usual for a university to have strict guidelines for protecting the subjects of research, so you might also consult your school’s
dissertation secretary or your thesis advisor.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. In a book I’m working on, the author tells stories that go on for several paragraphs and include quotations. When those quotations are all from one source, my author has put a single note callout at the end of the last quotation as a blanket reference for all the quotations in the story. The copy editor is suggesting that he instead put the note callout after the first quotation. I looked in CMOS but haven’t been able to find anything on this subject. What do you recommend?
A. Either method is fine, assuming that the single note at the end contains all the relevant page references. CMOS 13.67 suggests the following: “In a work containing notes, the full citation of a source may be given in a note at first mention, with subsequent citations made parenthetically in the text.” If no other source intervenes, a simple page reference will suffice (114). Otherwise, repeat the author’s name and a short title. Alternatively, CMOS 13.66 discusses the use of either the author’s name or “ibid.” in the notes: “If a second passage from the same source is quoted close to the first and there is no intervening quotation from a different source, the author’s name or ibid. (set in roman) may be used in the second parenthetical reference (e.g., ‘Hawking, 114’ or ‘ibid., 114’).” Chicago now prefers the author’s name or other short form over “ibid.”
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Should “ibid.” in citations be italicized? Are block quotes always a smaller
font size than the rest of the text? If a publisher specifies that only US and not British spelling should be used in a manuscript,
should quoted words be changed as well?
Q. If I have several unpublished sources in the same endnote and they are all housed at the same location, should I list that
location repeatedly throughout the endnote, or can I just place it at the end of the note?
A. You can do it either way. I prefer to economize. If every source in the note is at the same location, you can end with “All
at location X.” If other sources not at location X are scattered through the note, you will have to
clarify all locations with repeated references. If all the location X sources occur in a row, however, you can list them in
a single sentence with semicolons between the sources, concluding that sentence with “all at location
X.”
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am writing a seminar paper of which the majority of references are interviews I have done. How do I reference these within the paper? Should I provide a note each time I reference an interview? What should the note look like if I’m also attaching a full bibliography?
A. Please see CMOS 14.211: “Unpublished interviews are best cited in text or in notes, though they occasionally appear in bibliographies. Citations should include the names of both the person interviewed and the interviewer; brief identifying information, if appropriate; the place or date of the interview (or both, if known); and, if a transcript or recording is available, where it may be found.” If you give complete information in the text, you don’t also need a note. Write something like “In an interview with the author in Hinsdale, Illinois, on February 20, 2008, Richard Goss claimed that . . .” The next time, you can be more brief: “In my 2008 interview with Goss, I learned . . .” For examples of note form, see 14.211.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I’ve been asked to change the author-date style used in a list of works cited to the author-title humanities
style. But some of the authors have multiple works, some with the same year of publication. In the author-date style, it was
written 1949a, 1949b, and so on, and cited in the text as (author 1949b). When I move the date to follow the publisher’s
name, how do I handle that? Can I write “City: Publisher, 1949(b)”? Some of those
entries refer to journals, which would mean “Journal Name 2 (1949b): 3–7.” Which looks silly. Please help me out of this awkward spot!
A. The request to put the list of works cited in humanities style while leaving the text citations as author-date is unreasoned
and unworkable, as you’ve figured out for yourself. The styles should be the same. If you must change
the list of works cited, then you must also change the text citations. I’m sorry not to be more helpful—unless
perhaps this advice from Chicago will help you make a case for leaving things as they are.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. What is the correct way to cite websites in an appendix or bibliography? Do you include the name of the organization, and then the website?
A. Yes, that’s right. Several sections in chapter 14 of CMOS cover ways to cite electronic sources; see especially 14.207. If you do not have a subscription to CMOS Online, you can find some examples at our Citation Quick Guide.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]