Citing Sources: Footnotes - Chicago

Signal phrases let your reader know that you are quoting or summarizing from another source. In the text of your essay, you refer to the source you are using.

Examples:

• In the words of researchers Redelmeier and Tibshirani, "..."
• As Matt Sundeen has noted, "..."
• Patti Pena, mother of a child killed by a driver distracted by a cell phone, points out that "..."
• "...," writes Christine Haughtney.
• "...," claims wireless spokesperson Annette Jacobs.
• from Bedford Handbook (583).

The Chicago style of formatting is usually introduced after students are familiar with MLA. As a result, this guide does not go into the same depth as the MLA and APA citation guides. If you are not familiar with citations, please review the Understanding Citations page.

A footnote is required when:

• You use the exact words of a souce (direct quote)
• You paraphrase from a source
• You use an idea or any information from a source.

RULES to live by:

IF THE INFORMATION CAME FROM A SOURCE - CITE IT

Check with your teacher and follow any adaptations to the style he/she requests

How to use:

• Need a separate footnote each time you refer to a source in your paper
• Use regular paragraph indentation (indent first line)
• A superscript number is used to correspond to a note at the bottom of the page with the bibliographic information 
• St. Paul's uses the superscript in the footnote at the bottom of the page because it is the default of most word processing programs. The preferred method is to use a full sized number followed by a period and a space: 1. Please check with your teacher.
• You may use the default text size for your notes. The preferred method is to use the same font and font size as your text (12 pt font Times New Roman)
• Footnotes should be placed at the end of all punctuation except the dash

Footnote:

        1. Author’s first and last names, Title of the Book (Place of Publication: Publisher’s Name, Date of Publication), XX-XX.

Example

            1. Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers, 8th ed., Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013), 1.

Bibliography

If source used again:

            2. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, 21.

If same source used again without a different source in between:

            3. Ibid., 21.

Footnote:

        1. Author’s first and last names, “Title of the Article,” Title of the Journal Volume number, Issue number (Date of Publication): XX-XX, accessed Date of Access, URL OR name of database.

Bibliography

If source used again:

        2. Last name, “Title of the Article,” 3. (assuming you have a page number)

If same source used again without a different source in between:

        2. Ibid., 2.

Include as much of the following as you can determine: author, title of the page, title or owner of the site, and publication or revision date. Also include access date and URL.

Footnote:

       1. Author’s first name and last name, “Title of Webpage,” Name of Website, Publication/revision date, accessed When you accessed, URL