Citation Styles Guide: Footnotes and endnotes - formatting

When do you use a note?

In the Notes and Bibliography (NB) system of Chicago Style, you include a note any time you quote, paraphrase, or summarize any information from a source, no matter what format that source takes. You have the option to use either footnotes or endnotes. In terms of content, they are identical. In terms of placement in the text, footnotes appear at the bottom of the page where you used that source, while endnotes appear at the end of your paper, before your Bibliography. Generally speaking, most teachers at the College prefer footnotes to endnotes for their ease of use, since they place all the relevant information for a source on the same page as the original reference. Whichever form you choose to use, be consistent about using footnotes or endnotes throughout the entire paper. Never use both in the same paper. Ask your teacher if you are not sure if they prefer that you use footnotes or endnotes for your paper.

Placing a note in the text

When you use footnotes or endnotes, you place a superscript number at the end of the sentence where you used the information from another source, or, if you are using a direct quotation from the text, immediately following the quotation. A superscript number is a small number that appears slightly above the line of text. Your notes always start at one with the first note in the paper and increase by one for each new note (e.g.: 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on).

example: By linking his work to the memory of the martyred president, Whitman was able to salvage his respectability.¹

Contents of a note

If you are using footnotes, at the bottom of that same page, you begin your footnote with the same number as the one that appears in the paper, followed by all of the relevant bibliographic information. Chicago recommends that the note number is not presented in superscript at the bottom of the page, but accepts superscript numbers if that is what is used by the footnotes function of your word processor (this is the case for MS Word, for example). The note should include the full names of the author(s), the title of the source, the facts of publication (publisher, date, volumes, etc. . .), and relevant page numbers. Each element is separated by a comma or by parentheses, according to the specific NB rules for that type of source. Here is a general example of what a note will look like. The specific formatting for different types of sources is detailed later on in this guide.

example: 1. Susan M. Ryan, “Stowe, Byron, and the Art of Scandal,” American Literature 83, no. 1 (2011): 61-62.

After citing the source in a note in the full format shown above for the first time in  your work, Chicago encourages you to use a shortened note format instead. For details on Shortened notes, see below.

If you are using endnotes, all of the same information and formatting as in the footnote example shown above will also appear in your note, but the note will appear as part of a list of all the notes you’ve made in your paper, at the end of the paper, prefaced by the centered title “Notes.” It is not necessary to begin a new page for your endnotes.

Citing multiple sources in the same sentence

Sometimes, you may refer to two or more sources in the same sentence. In these cases, only put one superscript number at the end of the sentence and place the information for all of the sources used in the sentence in the same note. Separate the information for each source with a semicolon ";".

A work with two authors

With a work that has two authors, list the full names of both authors in the order they appear in the work for a full note, or the last names of all of the authors in a short form note. Insert "and" before the second author's name in both the full and short forms.

A work with three or more authors

With a work that has three or more authors, only list the first author's name, followed by et al. List the author's full name for a full note and just the author's last name for a short form note.

A work with no known author

If the author of your work is unknown, begin your note with the title of the work. Do not place "Anonymous" where the author would normally go in the note. For the shortened note format, just include the abbreviated title of the work and the relevant page number(s).

Alternatives to page numbers

Traditionally, a footnote will include a page number or range of pages that points the reader to the specific part of a source where the quoted or paraphrased information can be found. However, in some cases, page numbers will not be available. For example, some eBooks do not contain standardized page numbers. In these cases, use another indicator to help your reader find the location of the information in your source. Some examples can include:

Chapters - example "ch.4"
Sections - example "sec.9"
Parts - example "pt.14"

Only use alternate indicators such as chapters or sections if they are numbered in the source. If no numbering is used, do no include them, even if the source lacks standard page numbers.

For sources with published line numbers, you should include the numbers in the note instead of page number, labeling them with "line" or "lines."

Films and audio recordings: For sources such as films or audio recordings, you do not need to include a time stamp for the exact time of the content being cited.

Scriptural references (Style manual sections 14.138 to 14.141): For references to the Jewish or Christian scriptures in text. They should include the standardized book, chapter, and verses being referenced instead of a page number. Book titles should be abbreviated according to sections 10.51 to 10.53 in the Chicago Manual of Style. Place a colon between the chapter and verse numbers. For example: Exod. 4:5
For sacred works from other religious traditions, treat them in a manner similar to Biblical works. Supply standard book, chapter, and verse numbers whenever available, and separate each with a colon.

Classical Greek and Latin works (Style manual sections 14.142 to 14.143): For classical Greek and Latin works, use the standardized book, section, and line numbers provided by the source. Separate each with a period. For example: Metaphysics 3.2.996b5-8. Omit page numbers unless referencing introductions, notes, and the like supplied by a modern author.

Classical English Poems and Plays (Style manual sections 14.153 to 14.154): Classic English poems and plays, such as Beowulf, the works of Geoffry Chaucer, or the works of William Shakespeare, can often be cited by book, canto, and stanza; stanza and line; act, scene, and line; or similar, depending on the standardized number provided. Include labels such as "bk." for book, "canto" for a canto, and "st." for a stanza, and "line" or "lines" for line numbers. For example: The Faerie Queene, bk. 2, canto 8, st. 14, or Paradise Lost, bk. 1, lines 44-50. 

For plays such as the works of Shakespeare that use an easily recognizable act, scene, and line format, you can just include the number for each, separated by a period. For example: Othello 3.1.11.

Using footnotes and endnotes in Microsoft Word

If you are using Word, footnotes and endnotes can be added using the “Insert Footnote” or “Insert Endnote” buttons in the “References” tab. This will automatically add the superscript numbering to your text, place the notes at the bottom of the page or end of the paper, and track the numbering for all your notes. Most other word processors, such as Google Docs or Pages, have similar functions.

Chicago instructs to include an author's full name in first name last name order as the first element of a full note. Usually, you do not abbreviate the name in any way, unless this author is commonly know by these abbreviations (e.g. J.R.R. Tolkien, W.H. Auden). This ordering of names is based off of what Chicago refers to as "Western" naming ordering conventions, which will usually given a person's given name(s) first, followed by their family name(s).

However, many cultures follow what Chicago refers to as "Eastern" naming order, where the family name if traditionally listed first. When citing an author whose name follow the Eastern naming order convention, retain that order in your note. The only exception to this rule are authors whose names are commonly presented in their writings using Western ordering conventions. For example, the Chinese author Liu Cixin commonly publishes his work in English as Cixin Liu. So, if citing his English work, you would present the name as Cixin Liu. However, if you were citing his work in the original Chinese, where he is know as Liu Cixin, you would retain the Liu Cixin order.

If an author is published under different forms of their name, each work should be listed under the name that appears on the work, unless the difference is just the use of initials instead of a full names. However, there are cases, such as with deadnames, where an author no longer wishes to be known by an earlier name. In these cases, cite their work under their current name only, regardless of how the work was originally published. For example, list any work by N. D. Stevenson under the name N. D. Stevenson, even though some works by the author were originally published under a previous name.

The 18th edition of Chicago Style Notes and Bibliography citation uses something called a  "shortened note" to reduce the amount of information that you need to put in your notes. The first time you reference a source, you still have to give a full note with all the necessary information about the source. However, for every note for that source after the first note, you may use the shortened note format, which usually only includes the last name(s) of the author(s) of the source, the title of the source, and any relevant page numbers.

Example:

1. David Levithan, Boy Meets Boy (Ember, 2003), 101.    (first note - full format)

2. Levithan, Boy Meets Boy, 150.    (second note for the same source - shortened format)

Short Titles in Shortened Notes

You may shorten long titles when including them in shortened notes. A short title should include the key word or words from the main title. Any initial A, An, or The is usually omitted in longer titles, but retained if the title is short. Do not change the order of words. Do not shorten a title of four words or less. 

Example:

Full title: The 15-Minute City: A Solution for Saving Our Time & Our Planet

Short title: 15-Minute City

Using "Ibid"

As of the 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style, using "Ibid" for multiple citations from the same source if discouraged. Use the shortened note format instead. You can further shorten the note to just the author and the page number when using the same source multiple times in a row.

Example:

1. David Levithan, Boy Meets Boy (Ember, 2003), 101.      (first note - full format)

2. Levithan, Boy Meets Boy, 150.     (second note for the same source - shortened format)

3. Levithan, 152.     (third consecutive note for the same source - shortened, shortened format)

4. Levithan, 156.     (fourth consecutive note for the same source - shortened, shortened format)

If you reference a different source between notes for a source that you're using multiple times, you will have to return to the full shortened note format (Author, Title, page number) for the next time you use the first source.

Example:

1. David Levithan, Boy Meets Boy (Ember, 2003), 101.     (first note - full format)

2. Levithan, Boy Meets Boy, 150.    (second note for the same source - shortened format)

3. Levithan, 152.    (third consecutive note for the same source - shortened, shortened format)

4. Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Heinemann, 1995), 52. (first note for a different source - full format)

5. Levithan, Boy Meets Boy, 107.   (non-consecutive note for the first source - shortened format)

Whenever possible, always use the original source for any information you use in your essay. However, sometimes it isn't possible to find the original source (e.g. the source is out of print, unavailable through the Library, or not available in a language you can read). In those cases, Chicago Style allows you to cite the information from what it calls a secondary source. A secondary source is a book, article, etc, that quotes or references a piece of information, but is not the original source of that information. When citing a secondary source of information in a note, you must list the original source and the secondary source in your note, linked together with "quoted in".

example (full note): 3. "Miriam, Star of Venice," Drum, October 1959, 65, quoted in Ruth Feldstein, How it Feels to Be Free: Black Women Entertainers and the Civil Rights Movement (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 56.

example (short form): 4. "Miriam", 65, quoted in Feldstein, How it Feels, 56.

In the examples, the October 1959 issue of Drum magazine is the original source of the quote about Miriam Makeba. Since we couldn't find a copy of Drum, we used a book by Ruth Feldstein as the source for our information, which is where we first found the quote. The information about the issue of Drum magazine in question and the page number where the information originally appeared was taken from the in-text notes included in How it Feels to Be Free.

When citing a secondary source in this manner, only include the source where the information was quoted in your bibliography. Do not include the original source information.

Note: We are citing from a secondary source that is a book (How it Feels to Be Free), which quotes a primary source that is a magazine article ("Miriam, Star of Venice" from Drum magazine). When you cite a primary and secondary source, always use the formatting for the type of source (book, magazine, etc. . . see below for examples of each type) for both the primary source and the secondary source when constructing your note. In other words, if your primary source is a book and your secondary source is a journal article, use the book note formatting for the first part of your note and the journal article note formatting for the second part of your note. You can mix any formats like this to fit your needs, as long as you remember to link the two formats with "quoted in."