Q. I’m applying the author-date system in my Ph.D. dissertation. When I have several references to the same source within the same paragraph, I have been attaching the date only for the first citation. For example: “. . . was introduced by Nasberg (1985). . . . The basic formulation in Nasberg’s model is . . .” Is this policy okay? A pre-examiner of my work disagrees on this.
A. Although Chicago style would allow the method you are using (please see CMOS 15.25), perhaps your university doesn’t. You should check with the dissertation secretary of your institution.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. How do I introduce a quote in a research paper if I am going to say: Randolph states that “blah-blah-blah
(Randolph 2002).” Would this be right, or can I just say: Randolph states that (if I put it in my own
words) slavery was unethical (Randolph 2002). With no quotes? With quotes? HELP!
A. If you use Randolph’s exact words, then you must use quotation marks. Don’t
put the citation inside the quote—after all, Randolph didn’t say “Randolph
2002.” If you use your own words, don’t use quotation marks. In either case,
include the page number you're quoting from.
Randolph says, “Blah-blah-blah” (2002, 32).
Randolph (2002, 32) states that the blah was blah-blah.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am still trying to grasp the whole idea of footnotes using CMOS. Do I put a footnote after everything that I use out of a book even if it’s not a quote? For example,
I am writing a paper on Thomas Jefferson and in one of the books I’m using it states that he had six
sisters and a younger brother. Do I need to cite that in a footnote?
A. Not necessarily, if you believe that the information about Jefferson’s siblings is generally known
and mentioned in many sources. You should footnote information that you borrow from someone else that isn’t
common knowledge, whether you quote it or not; and if any of the information is disputed (for instance, if some sources say
that Jefferson had seven sisters), it’s a good idea to footnote the version that supports your statement.
Even if you don’t footnote general information about Jefferson in your text, you should list the source
you learned it from in your bibliography.
The idea of footnotes is to acknowledge where you got your information, both in order to give credit to the researchers who
did the work and in order to tell your readers where they can find the information. Everyone knows that George Washington
was the first president, so even if you read it somewhere, there are so many sources that say so that it doesn’t
make sense to give credit to a particular one.
It’s not always clear whether something should be cited or not, so until you develop some confidence,
be generous in your citations, without being silly.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Dear CM: I have read everything I could find on text citation and have one remaining question, re section 15.25 (“author-date citations are usually placed just before a mark of punctuation”). BUT, what if the text ends with a period and quotation marks? “. . . most of the time (Pynchon 1974, 313).” Is this the correct placement of the period and the quotation marks?
A. It depends. The way you’ve written it means that “(Pynchon 1974, 313)” is part of the quoted text. If you want Pynchon to be the source of the quotation, and not part of what’s quoted, do it this way: “. . . most of the time” (Pynchon 1974, 313).
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am editing a book of invited papers, where the initials of names are used without periods. In the chapter opening page
the author names have the initials before the name and are separated by a space (T C Scott). In the reference list, the initials
follow the names and are closed up (Scott, TC). Should the same convention be followed in both places?
A. There are two issues here: (1) whether the initials are closed up, and (2) whether surnames and initials are inverted. Chicago
style puts a space between the initials in a person’s name and adds periods (T. C. Scott), but the style
without periods is acceptable in some publications, open or closed. It’s good to pick one style and
stick with it. The inversion of names, however, is a less flexible issue. Inverted names are unreadable anywhere except in
an alphabetical list like a bibliography or index. There the surnames must come first in order for the reader to scan easily
down the list.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Please help. I need to cite a few lines from a poem, but there are no page numbers in the book of poems. Do I make page numbers
up? Do I use poem 1, poem 2? My cites are to be author/date style. For example, after my quote I need to reference it, as
in (Grimes 1999, ???). No page numbers!
A. If you’ve already mentioned the poem’s title or number in the text, you can write
(Grimes 1999, n.p.), which indicates that there are no page numbers. If you haven’t mentioned a title
or number, you can add it to the citation: (Grimes 1999, “Something Will Happen”).
“N.p.” is optional in any case.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. What is the best way to give a concise citation within a text based on the bibliography at the end?
A. Chicago style puts the author’s name and the date in parentheses (Brown 2001). You can also add a page
reference or whatever else is relevant (Singer 1985, 155, table 6.1).
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Is it okay to use and cite a draft of an article even if the article isn’t forthcoming in a journal?
A. Sure. Cite it as a manuscript or working paper, and give whatever information you have (author, title, date). Please see CMOS 14.218 for examples.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am copyediting a scholarly journal with an introduction and essays by multiple authors. I asked an author to provide a citation for a quote from a newspaper article. He replied that no citation was necessary since the quoted material appears in the introduction, not an essay. I can’t find anything in CMOS that exempts authors of introductions from documenting their sources. Who’s right?
A. Introductions are not exempt from source citation. The only element that we consider exempt is an epigraph. If your author gives the newspaper name and date in the text, however, that’s sufficient.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. The university I work for produces a magazine and I am charged with organizing our faculty scholarship and honors into Chicago
style. Unfortunately, it seems that every faculty member uses a different style and I spend days trying to get journal articles,
books, and papers that they have written into a clear format as well as speeches, talks, honors, and awards. Do you have
any advice with regard to tackling this? It seems I can never get everything in the correct style format.
A. Welcome to the world of copyediting. It does often seem overwhelming, and the kind of project you describe, where items have
been styled by many different people, can be time-consuming to edit. It takes patience and organization. Keep a style sheet
with examples of each type of citation, and follow it each time you come to a similar item. If this is a huge project that
will never end, you might consider developing a form for faculty to update once a year, where the fields for author, title,
and so forth are arranged in the order you prefer. Better yet, if you have the resources, organize it online, so others do
the typing for you. Finally, let me assure you that in time the most common formats (books, chapters, journal articles) will
become familiar, and you won’t have to think so much about how to do what.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]