Program / Course 23: Research Methodology / Lesson 4.1
What you will learn
- Explain how the Chicago notes and bibliography system works and why theology and history use it.
- Write a full note and a bibliography entry for a book, a journal article and a chapter in an edited book.
- Use shortened notes for later references to the same source.
- Say how Turabian relates to the Chicago Manual of Style.
The big idea
The Chicago notes and bibliography system puts a numbered note at the foot of the page (a footnote) wherever a source is used, and gathers all sources in an alphabetical bibliography at the end. The first note for a source gives full details, and later notes are shortened. Turabian’s manual is a student version of the same system. The rules look fussy, but each serves the reader: they let a stranger find the exact passage in the exact edition you used.
Key terms
- Footnote
- A note at the bottom of the page, marked by a raised number in the text, giving the source of a fact, idea or quotation.
- Endnote
- A note gathered at the end of a chapter or work instead of at the foot of the page. The content is the same.
- Bibliography
- An alphabetical list of the sources used, with full details, placed at the end of the paper.
- Full note
- The first note for a source, giving complete publication details and the page number.
- Shortened note
- A later note for the same source, giving the author’s surname, a short title and the page number.
- Chicago Manual of Style
- A style guide published by the University of Chicago Press, widely used in history, religion and the humanities.
- Turabian
- Kate Turabian’s manual for student writers, which adapts the Chicago style for research papers, theses and dissertations.
- Author-date system
- Chicago’s other system, used mainly in the sciences, in which short references in the text point to a reference list. The humanities usually prefer notes.
Background
A citation style is an agreed format for telling the reader where information came from. There are many. The Chicago Manual of Style, first issued by the University of Chicago Press in 1906 and revised many times since, offers two: notes and bibliography, and author-date. Theology, church history and most of the humanities favor the first, because notes keep the text clean and have room for comment. Turabian’s manual, first written by Kate Turabian for students at the University of Chicago, gives a simplified version for student papers. Its ninth edition was issued in 2018.
Styles change between editions. The Chicago Manual has been revised several times, and details, such as how to cite online sources or whether to use ‘ibid.’, differ across editions. The examples in this lesson give the general pattern, with the page numbers and some publication details left as placeholders. Before you finalize a paper, check the details against the current edition of the manual, or the edition your teacher or publisher requires. What matters is that you choose one system and apply it consistently.
The form of a note follows a logic. For a book: author, title, publication details in parentheses, then the page. For an article: author, title in quotation marks, journal, volume, issue, year, page. In the bibliography, the author’s name is inverted for alphabetizing, and the parts are separated by periods instead of commas. If you understand the logic, you can work out the form for unusual sources with the manual’s help.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: Place the note number in the text
Put a raised number after the sentence, or after the clause containing the borrowed material, and after any punctuation mark except a dash. Number the notes consecutively through the paper. The note itself goes at the foot of the page, beginning with the same number.
Use a note every time you quote, paraphrase or rely on a source for a fact or idea. Several sources for one sentence can go in one note, separated by semicolons.
Step 2: Write the full note for a book
The pattern is: First name Last name, Title in Italics, edition if not the first (City: Publisher, year), page. For a book with a translator: add ‘trans. First Last’ after the title. For a book with an editor and no author, name the editor followed by ‘ed.’
Example: 1. Bruce M. Metzger and Bart D. Ehrman, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration, 4th ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 123. The page number here is a placeholder. Use the edition you actually read.
Step 3: Write notes for an article and a chapter
Article pattern: 2. First Last, ‘Title of Article,’ Journal Name volume, no. issue (year): page. For a chapter in an edited book: 3. First Last, ‘Title of Chapter,’ in Title of Book, ed. First Last (City: Publisher, year), page.
Titles of books and journals are italicized. Titles of articles and chapters are in quotation marks. If you read an article online, give the digital object identifier (DOI) or a stable address if the article has one.
Step 4: Use shortened notes for later references
After the first full note for a source, later notes give the author’s last name, a short title of four words or fewer, and the page. For example: 4. Metzger and Ehrman, Text of the New Testament, 130. Current editions of the Chicago Manual prefer shortened notes to the Latin ‘ibid.’
If you cite two works by the same author, the short title tells them apart. If the next note is to the same page of the same source, the same shortened form can be repeated.
Step 5: Build the bibliography
List every source you cite, alphabetically by the author’s last name. Invert the first author’s name. Use periods between the main parts. Example: Metzger, Bruce M., and Bart D. Ehrman. The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Use a hanging indent, in which the first line is flush left and the following lines are indented. Include page ranges for articles and chapters. If your teacher or publisher also wants works consulted but not cited, ask whether to include them.
- Which edition of this book did I actually read?
- Have I given the page number for each specific claim?
- Is the title of this work italicized, or in quotation marks?
- Is my first note full and my later notes shortened?
- Is my bibliography alphabetical, with names inverted?
- Have I checked the format against the current manual?
Examples
Full note, book
1. Bruce M. Metzger and Bart D. Ehrman, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration, 4th ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 123. (Page number is a placeholder. Verify the details on the title page of your own copy.)
Full note, article (pattern)
2. First Last, ‘Title of the Article,’ Journal Name 45, no. 2 (2012): 211-35. This pattern shows the order of elements. Replace each part with the details of your source.
Full note, chapter (pattern)
3. First Last, ‘Title of the Chapter,’ in Title of the Book, ed. First Last (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 55. The pattern shows how a chapter points to the larger volume.
Shortened note and bibliography entry
4. Metzger and Ehrman, Text of the New Testament, 130. Bibliography: Metzger, Bruce M., and Bart D. Ehrman. The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Different perspectives
Academic publishing
Most university presses and journals in history, religion and theology require Chicago or a close variant, though many publish their own style sheets. Authors are expected to follow the style requested. Differences among journals are common, so an author should check the instructions of the journal.
Catholic and Orthodox publishing
Catholic and Orthodox presses and journals also generally use Chicago-based styles, with adaptations for citing papal documents, councils, liturgical texts and the Fathers. Some patristic series have their own conventions, discussed in the next lesson.
Protestant seminaries and publishers
Many Protestant seminaries require Turabian for student papers, and evangelical and academic presses often use Chicago. Some Protestant publishers have house styles for Scripture and for commentaries that differ slightly. A student writes to the requirements of the school or press involved.
Other style systems
Fields such as psychology use the American Psychological Association style, and literary studies often use the Modern Language Association style. Both use in-text references. They are legitimate, but theology and history more often use footnotes, and this course teaches Chicago and Turabian.
Why it matters
Citations are the visible sign of honest research. A reader who can find your sources can check your claims, and a writer who cites carefully is forced to know where each claim came from. Consistent form also shows respect for the reader, who should not have to puzzle over abbreviations. And since citation is a skill of mechanical exactness, it can be learned by anyone with patience.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: There is one correct citation style.
Correction: There are many valid styles. The key is to follow one consistently, in the form required by the reader or publisher. This course teaches Chicago and Turabian.
Misunderstanding: I can copy the citation that a website or catalog generates.
Correction: Generated citations often contain errors, such as wrong capitalization or missing editions. Use them as a starting point and check them against the book itself and the manual.
Misunderstanding: A bibliography replaces footnotes.
Correction: In the notes and bibliography system you need both. The notes direct the reader to the specific page, and the bibliography gives the whole list in one place.
Misunderstanding: Page numbers are optional if I name the book.
Correction: A note for a quotation or specific claim needs a page number. Without it the reader must search the whole book.
Knowledge check
What are the two parts of the Chicago notes and bibliography system?
Notes, usually footnotes, are placed at the foot of the page, each marked by a number in the text, and give the source and page for a specific use. The bibliography, at the end of the paper, lists all sources alphabetically with full details. The first note for each source is complete and later notes are shortened.
How do a full note and a bibliography entry for a book differ in form?
A full note gives the author’s name in normal order, with commas between parts, the publication details in parentheses, and the page number. A bibliography entry inverts the first author’s name for alphabetizing, separates parts with periods, omits the parentheses, and does not give a specific page for a whole book.
What is a shortened note?
A shortened note is used for later citations of a source already given in full. It includes the author’s last name, a short form of the title and the page number. It saves space while still allowing the reader to find the full entry in the first note or the bibliography.
How is Turabian related to Chicago?
Turabian’s manual for student writers adapts the Chicago Manual of Style for research papers, theses and dissertations. It teaches the same notes and bibliography system in a simpler form. A student who learns one can use the other, and should follow the version the school or publisher requires.
Think it through
- Why do you think the system asks for the edition and the publisher, not only the title?
- Is there a source you use often whose details you would find hard to give exactly?
- How does consistent form serve a reader who is not you?
- What could go wrong if you follow the format but do not check the page numbers?
Independent assignment
Notes and a bibliography
In your own notebook, choose one real book, one real journal article and one real chapter in an edited book that bear on your topic. Write a full note for each, a shortened note for each, and a bibliography entry for each, using the patterns in this lesson and checking the details against the title pages. Add 100 words on any decisions you had to make. Do not send this to anyone.
Further study
- Bruce M. Metzger and Bart D. Ehrman, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration Use its title page to practice recording a full note and a bibliography entry.
- J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines Look at how its notes cite primary sources, and practice writing notes in the Chicago form.
- Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine (5 volumes) Study its notes to see how a historian documents claims.
- Colossians 3:23 Work heartily, a text for careful scholarship.
- Exodus 20:16 The commandment against false witness.