Chicago/Turabian formatting and citation style

The 16th Edition is the latest publication of the Chicago Manual of Style. This is the style required by most book publishers. This manual is a big one, but there is a section that is alphabetized according to topic, so it is not as intimidating as it first appears. This guide is very good about showing an abundance of examples. It is very easy to follow. However, if this guide is required, it is best to purchase your own copy and make yourself acquainted with it.

There is a shorter form, Kate L. Turabian’s Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, which puts forth two documentation systems (again, check with your teacher). The two systems are the notes-bibliography style and parenthetical citations-reference list style. They conform fairly closely with the Chicago Manual. This manual is used mostly in literature, history, and the arts. For this form of documentation, you will choose between footnotes and endnotes (check with your teacher). The other documentation system is the parenthetical system, similar to that preferred by the APA and described above. Please note that if you are using footnotes, Microsoft Word has built-in capabilities, making using this form much easier than it has ever been.