Chicago Style Guide, for 17th Edition

View sample paper

Note-- This paper is written using the footnote/endnote style. The same general formatting rules apply to the author/date format.  

General Formatting

• 1" margins on all four sides
• Times New Roman; 12 pt. font
• Text should be double-spaced, with the exception of:
  • Block quotes
  • Table Titles
  • Figure Captions

• Use a 1/2” indent for paragraph beginnings, block quotes and bibliographic indents.
• Bibliographic and notation entries should be single spaced internally, but contain a space between each entry.
• Page numbers should be placed in the header of the first page of text, beginning with number 1. Continue your page numbers till the end of your bibliography.
• Longer publications should use Subheadings.
• Assemble your paper in the following order:
  • Cover/Title page
  • Body of the paper
  • Appendix (if needed)
  • Endnotes (if using endnote style)
  • Bibliography

Title/Cover Page

• ​Center the title of your page around half-way down.
• If your paper has a subtitle, end the title line with a colon and place the subtitle on the next line.
• Center your name directly under the title.
• Center your teacher’s name, course title, and date, in three separate lines, directly underneath your name.
• Do not bold, underline, or otherwise decorate your title.
• Do not put a page number on your cover page and do not include it in your page count total.

Names and Numbers

• Use the full name of any person or agency the first time you reference them in a paper. For agencies, include the acronym in parentheses after the full name when first used, e.g. Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). After that, you may choose to use only a person’s last name, or agency acronym.
• Write out any numbers lower than 100.

 Footnotes/Endnotes

• Footnotes will always appear at the bottom of the page where the reference occurs and endnotes go on a separate page after the body of the paper.
• Place the note number at the end of the sentence in which the reference occurs and after any punctuation; remember to superscript it.
• If using endnotes, title the top of the first page as ‘Notes’ in 12 pt. Times New Roman font. Do not embolden the title.
• All notes should be typed in 12pt font using Times New Roman.
• Within the notes themselves, numbers are full-sized, and are followed by a period.
• Indent the first line of any footnote 1/2” from the margin. Other lines will be flushed left (this formatting is opposite of the bibliography).
• Notes should be typed using single-space, but different notes should contain a space between them.
• Only use Arabic numerals, not Roman.
• Never reuse a number.
• Use a shortened citation for sources you refer to more than once.
• If citing multiple sources in a single note, separate each citation with a semicolon.
• Never use two note numbers at the end of a sentence (see above).
• If citing the same work again immediately after you've already cited it, use ibid.

Bibliography

• The bibliography should start on a new page, and be titled ‘Bibliography’ at the top in 12 pt. Times New Roman font. Do not embolden the title.
• Use proper formatting for each type of source and always using a hanging indent. The first line of the citation will begin on the margin, subsequent lines are indented (opposite of a footnote/endnote).
• The bibliography must be ordered alphabetically.
• Entries should be typed single-space with a blank line between each separate citation.
• If you have multiple bibliographic entries from the same author, it is acceptable to use what is called the ‘3-em’ dash to replace the name of the content creators. For Example:

Judt, Tony. A Grand Illusion? An Essay on Europe. New York: Hill and Wang, 1996.

—. Reappraisals: Reflections on the Forgotten Twentieth Century. New York: Penguin Press, 2008.

—, ed. Resistance and Revolution in Mediterranean Europe, 1939-1948. New York: Routledge, 1989.