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Chicago Citation Style Guide: Formatting Your Paper

Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition, rules for formatting citations using the Author/Date and Footnote/Endnote Bibliography styles.

Typography

The Chicago Manual of Style does not specify a specific font type and size. 

A Manual for Writers by Kate Turabian suggests using either 12-point Times New Roman font or 10-point Arial font.

Line Spacing & Margin Suggestions

Use double-spacing throughout the body of the paper.

Single space after periods between sentences. 

Indent the first line of each paragraph. 

Leave 1 in. margins on the top, bottom, and sides.  

Sample Paper

Chicago/Turabian Style Paper Format

The following guidelines are suggested:

While the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Ed. does not specify font size or style the IRSC librarians recommend Times New Roman size 12 font. 

Title page

  • Include your paper title (centered) about a third of the way down the page
  • About three-quarters of the way down the page include your name, your professor's name, date, and the name of your class (Check with your professor to see what specific information they want on the title page)
  • Omit a header and page number on the cover page (use the Different First Page header option found on the Design menu)

Body of the paper:

  • Add a header after the cover page. The header should contain the page number (starting with 2)
  • Double-space the entire paper and use 1-inch margins
  • Insert a footnote each time you use information from a source in your paper (found on the References menu)
  • If you use sections like "Abstract, Introduction, Discussions", center the section title on the page

Bibliography:

  • Type the world Bibliography in the center of the page
  • The bibliography will be on a separate page from the body of the paper
  • The citations on the bibliography page are single spaced
  • There will be an extra space between each citation