Which Chicago system should I use?

Notes-and-bibliography suits history and the humanities; author–date suits the sciences and social sciences. Your department usually specifies one — we follow whichever you require.

What is the difference between Chicago and Turabian?

Turabian is a student-focused adaptation of Chicago with the same core rules but simplified guidance for coursework and theses. If your guide names Turabian, the citations still look like Chicago.

Chicago (17th edition)

Footnote-and-bibliography or author–date referencing used widely in history and the humanities.

Typically used inHistory, art history, religion, and much of the humanities.

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Key rules

The rules that actually get marked.

These are the distinctive rules for Chicago (17th edition). Edge cases vary by edition and institution, so confirm anything unusual against your department's guide.

The notes-and-bibliography system uses superscript numbers keyed to footnotes or endnotes, plus a full bibliography.
The first note for a source is full; later notes to the same source are shortened to author, short title, and page.
Bibliography entries are alphabetised by author surname and use a hanging indent.
An author–date variant exists for the sciences, using (Author Year, page) in text with a matching reference list.
Book titles and journal titles are italicised; article and chapter titles take quotation marks.

Questions

Chicago, clarified.

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