Learn about the basic building blocks of citing sources using CMS.

1. CHICAGO MANUAL OF
STYLE1
THE BASICS

2. BUILDING BLOCKS
Superscript Numbers
 In text notification that refers the reader to notes with the corresponding number.
Notes
 The Notes can either appear as footnotes at the end of the page or as endnotes in a
Notes section at the end of the paper.
 The Note for a superscript reference contains the citation of the work referenced or
quoted in the paper.
Bibliography
 Regardless of the Notes option you choose, your paper will still contain a
Bibliography. The Bibliography provides the reader with the complete citation list
of the works you consulted while writing your paper.

3. EXAMPLE
Superscript Numbers (in text)
 A union soldier, Jacob Thompson, claimed to have seen Forrest order the killing,
but when asked to describe the six-foot-two general, he called him “a little bit of a
man.”13
Footnote or Endnote
 Brain Street Willis, A Battle from the Start: The Life of Nathan Bedford Forrest (New
York: HarperCollins, 1992). 187.
Bibliography
 Willis, Brian Street. A Battle from the Start: The Life of Nathan Bedford Forrest. New
York: HarperCollins, 1992.

4. NOTES
First Time Source is Cited
 The first time you cite the source in the notes section, the note should contain author,
title of work, publication information including date, and the page number being
referenced.
 EXAMPLE: Peter Burchard, One Gallant Rush: Robert Gould Shaw and His Brave Black Regiment (New York: St.
Martin’s, 1965), 85.
Subsequent References
 For any source you have already cited in full (see above) you can give the author’s last
name, shortened version of the title, and page range cited.
 EXAMPLE: Burchard, One Gallant Rush, 31.
Consecutive Notes
 When you cite the same two or more times in a row you may use the abbreviation “Ibid”
(meaning “in the same place”) and the page number. If the page number is the same as
the above note, only include “Ibid.”
 EXAMPLE: Ibid., 34.

5. NOTES
FORMAT EXAMPLES
 BOOK
 First Last, Title of Book (City: Publisher, Year), page #.
 Peter Burchard, One Gallant Rush: Robert Gould Shaw and His Brave Black Regiment (New York: St. Martin’s, 1965), 85.
 ARTICLE
 First Last, “Title of Article,” in Title of Journal volumne, no. # (Year): page #.
 Jonathan Zimmerman, “Ethnicity and the History Wars in the 1920s.” Journal of American History 87, no.1 (2000): page.
 GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS
 Government Organization, Title of the Document (City, Organization, Year), page #.
 U.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1943 (Washington, DC: GPO, 1965),
 WEBSITE
 Contributer’s Name, Title of Page/Resource, Website Name/Sponsor of the Site, last edited date, URL of website.
 Jessica Clements, Elizabeth Angeli, Karen Schiller, S. C. Gooch, Laurie Pinkert, and Allen Brizee, General Format, The Purdue
October 12, 2011, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/13/.

6. QUOTATIONS
SHORT QUOTATIONS
 EXAMPLE
 As Husrt has pointed out, until “an outcry erupted in the Northern press,” even the Confederates did not
there had been a massacre at Fort Pillow.4
LONG QUOTATIONS
CMS does not have strict rules of off-setting (indenting) long quotations as other citations styles do. The
recommendation is to offset long quotations for emphasis and offset for quotes longer than 10 sentences.
are not used for offset quotations. Instead include the page number in parenthesis after the quote.
 EXAMPLE
 In a society of control, a politics of conduct is designed into the fabric of existence itself, into
space, time, visibility, circuits of communication. And these enwrap each individual life decision and
labour [sic], purchases, debts, credits, lifestyle, sexual contracts and the like—in a web of incitements,
current sanctions and foreboding of future sanctions which serve to enjoin citizens to maintain particular
control over their conduct. These assemblages which entail the securitization of identity are not unified,
dispersed, not hierarchical but rhizomatic, not totalized but connected in a web or relays and relations.

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
FORMAT EXAMPLES
 BOOK
 Last, First. Title of Book. City: Publisher, Year.
 Burchard, Peter. One Gallant Rush: Robert Gould Shaw and His Brave Black Regiment. New York: St. Martin’s, 1965.
 ARTICLE
 Last, First, “Title of Article.” Title of Journal volumn, no. # (Year): page range. Database URL
 Zimmerman, Jonathan. “Ethnicity and the History Wars in the 1920s.” Journal of American History 87, no.1 (2000): 92-
 GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS
 Government Organization. Title of the Document. City, Organization, Year.
 U.S. Department of State. Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1943. Washington, DC: GPO,
 WEBSITE
 Contributer’s Name. Title of Page/Resource, Website Name/Sponsor of the Site. Last edited date, URL of website.
 Jessica Clements, Elizabeth Angeli, Karen Schiller, S. C. Gooch, Laurie Pinkert, and Allen Brizee. General Format. The
OWL, October 12, 2011, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/13/.

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY (RESOURCES USED IN THIS
POWERPOINT)
Clements, Jessica, Elizabeth Angeli, Karen Schiller, S. C. Gooch, Laurie Pinkert, and Allen Brizee. General
Format. The Purdue
OWL, October 12, 2011, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/13/.
Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2009.

9. NEED HELP?
Contact me if you need any help for your research. I’m happy to meet with you to discuss topics, resources, and
citations.
Erica Street
Instruction/Serials Librarian
e. erica.street@gordon.edu
p. 978.867.4345
office: jenks 420 (4th floor)