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The Chicago referencing style is commonly used in the field of humanities. The guidelines for Chicago referencing style are published and updated by the University of Chicago press. The Chicago referencing style uses a foot note system. The sources are cited by adding a superscript1 number after the information and the reference details are given in the footnote at the bottom of the page.
1. Chicago in-text citation examples
In the following example, we are making some claims about the use of AI in education. We have cited the sources by adding superscript numbers at the end of the sentence. Then, we have provided the full reference details as a footnote at the bottom of the page.
✔ Reference number is given at the end of the information in superscript. The reference details are given as a footnote at the bottom of the page.
A recent research showed that students use generative AI in more than 90% of their assignments1. These findings are broadly in line with previous large scale studies in this arena2.
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- Sam Smith, “Use of AI in academia,” Education Journal 29, no. 3 (2011): 109.
- Jeoff Lawday, “A multicentre trial on use of AI in education”, Higher Education 12, no.1 (2000): 45.
Please note that reference numbers should run consecutively across the entire document, you must not restart the numbering with a new page. For example, if you’ve cited two sources on page 1 and assigned them numbers 1 and 2, the next citation on page 2 should begin with number 3, not start again at number 1.
One important thing to remember is that if the same source is cited twice, it should still be assigned a new citation number. In the example below, we have cited a paper from Sam Smith twice, but each citation has a different number. Both citation numbers 1 and 2 refer to the same source. In the footnote, you must provide the full details of the source the first time it is cited – this is called a full note. For any subsequent citation of the same source, a shortened version of the source is sufficient. This is called a short note.
✔ We have cited the same source twice. In the footnote, we have provided the full details of the source for the first citation and shortened version for the second citation.
A recent research showed that students use generative AI in more than 90% of their assignments1. The data also showed that most students were hesitant to admit that they used AI in their assignments2.
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- Sam Smith, “Use of AI in academia,” Education Journal 29, no. 3 (2011): 109.
- Smith, “Use of AI in Academia”, 109.
2. Citing multiple sources in Chicago style
Sometimes you may have to support your statement with multiple sources. If this is the case, please don’t add multiple citation numbers (e.g. 1, 2, 3) and add separate footnotes for each source. You must use one superscript number in the text, and combine all the sources into one footnote. You can use a semicolon to separate the sources.
✖ This is incorrect. You shouldn’t add multiple reference numbers in superscript if you want to cite multiple sources
A recent research showed that students use generative AI in more than 90% of their assignments1,2.
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- Sam Smith, “Use of AI in academia,” Education Journal 29, no. 3 (2011): 109.
- Jeoff Lawday, “A multicentre trial on use of AI in education”, Higher Education 12, no.1 (2000): 45.
✔ Multiple sources should be cited by combining them into one footnote. The sources should be separated by a semicolon.
A recent research showed that students use generative AI in more than 90% of their assignments1.
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- Sam Smith, “Use of AI in academia,” Education Journal 29, no. 3 (2011): 109; Jeoff Lawday, “A multicentre trial on use of AI in education”, Higher Education 12, no.1 (2000): 45.
3. Direct quotes from sources
If you are making a direct quote from a paper word-for-word, you must enclose it within double quotation marks. You must also include the page number in the reference detail within the footnote.
✔ Direct quote from a paper enclosed in double quotes and page number mentioned in the footnote
As Wilson et al. states, “More than 70% of papers rejected by scientific journals are written by non-native English speakers”.1
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- Peter Wilson et al., “The AI problem,” Education Journal 56, no. 1 (2020): 10.
4. Reference list
You must include a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text. You must list all sources in the reference list, and it should be arranged alphabetically by the author’s last name. The first line of your reference should be aligned with the left margin and each line after that should have a hanging indent applied to it as shown in the example below.
Example below shows a list of references formatted in Chicago style. The following reference list includes a journal, a book, a website, and a conference proceeding. If you use a good citation tool, the reference list will be automatically generated for you. If you choose to format the references manually, please read this blog, you will find formatting rules for various sources.
5. Summary
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