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Creative Writing : Chicago/Turabian Style

A guide filled with resources and information to compliment ENG 231: Intro to Creative Writing.

What Is Chicago/Turabian?

Published by the University of Chicago Press, Chicago Style is a writing system that is used by many publishers and academic disciplines in the United States. The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) is currently in its 17th edition. Chicago style is sometimes referred to as Turabian style, as Turabian style developed from CMOS and is nearly identical. Turabian does not include information about publishing.

Chicago offers two citation systems: the Notes and Bibliography System and the Author-Date System

The differences between the Chicago and Turabian styles are mainly seen in how notes are numbered. 

In Turabian style, use superscript 1 for endnote and footnote numbers in the text and at the beginning of each note.

In Chicago style, the note number in the text is in parentheses (1) and is followed by a period and space in the note, as in the following example:

1. Chicago  1Turabian 

Notes and Bibliography System Author-Date System
Sources are cited in the text by numbered footnotes or endnotes, noted with superscripts. Sources are listed in a separate bibliography.

Sources are cited in the text by author's last name and year of publication (usually in parentheses). Each in-text citation corresponds with an entry in a reference list.

This system looks similar to APA.

 

 

The Book

OWL @ Purdue

Contains information on The Chicago Manual of Style method of document formatting and citation. These resources follow the sixteenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style, which was issued in September 2010.

Citation Examples

The Author-Date System has long been used by those in the physical, natural, and social sciences. In this system, sources are briefly cited in the text, usually in parentheses, by author’s last name and date of publication. The short citations are amplified in a list of references, where full bibliographic information is provided.

Each example includes an in-text citation [T] followed by a reference-list entry [R]

Book:
Single Author

T: (Gutman 1999, 41)

R: Gutman, Robert W. 1999. Mozart: A cultural biography. New York: Harcourt Brace.

Book:
Two Authors

T: (Hock and Price 2004, 93-4)

R: Hock, Randolph, and Gary Price. 2004. The extreme searcher’s Internet handbook: A guide for the serious searcher. Medford: CyberAge Books.

Book:
Four or More Authors

T: (Davidson et al. 1988, 149)

R: Davidson, William, Daniel Sweeney, Thomas Jones, and Ronald Stampfl. 1988. Retailing management. 6th ed. New York: Wiley.

Book:
No Author

If no personal author's name is listed on the title page, the organization/corporation is listed as author, even if it is also given as publisher.

T: (JIST Works 2000, 73)

R: JIST Works. 2000. NAICS desk reference: The North American industry classification system desk reference. Indianapolis: JIST Works.

Book: Multivolume

When citing the work as a whole, give the total number of volumes after the title (or editor). If published over several years, give the range of years.

T: (Wright 1968-78, 2:341)

R: Wright, Sewell. 1968-78. Evolution and the genetics of populations. 4 vols. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.

When citing only one volume:

T: (Wright 1969, 341)

R: Wright, Sewell. 1969. Theory of gene frequencies. Vol. 2 of Evolution and the genetics of populations. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.

Chapter in a Book

T: (Willson 2005, 52-3)

R: Willson, Jr., Robert F. 2005. William Shakespeare's Theater. In The Greenwood companion to Shakespeare: A comprehensive guide for students, ed. Joseph Rosenblum, 47-64. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Note: No quotations are used around book chapters in this format.

Book Published Electronically

If a book is available in more than one format, you should cite the version you consulted, but you may also list the other formats, as in the second example below. If an access date is required by your publisher or discipline, include it parenthetically at the end of the citation, as in the second example below.

T: (Kurland and Lerner 1987)

R: Kurland, Philip B., and Ralph Lerner, eds. 1987. The Founders’ Constitution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/ (accessed July 14, 2009).

 

For additional examples, see pages 229-247 in the Turabian Manual (2007).

Journals vs Magazines: Journals are normally cited by volume and date, while magazines are normally cited by date alone. If in doubt whether a particular periodical is a journal or magazine, use the journal format if the volume number is easily located, and the magazine format if it is not.

Journal with Issue Number Available

T: (Simmons and Becker-Olsen 2006, 161)

R: Simmons, Carolyn, and Karen Becker-Olsen. 2006. Achieving marketing objectives through social sponsorships.Journal of Marketing 70, no. 4:154-169. 

Journal with no Issue Number

T: (Graham 2006, 157)

R: Graham, Sarah. 2006. Impossible to hold: Women and culture in the 1960s. Journal of American Studies 40:156-159.

Article in an Online Journal

Just like print journals, only adding the URL and also the access date in parentheses at the end if required by your professor or discipline.

T: (Hlatky et al. 2002)

R: Hlatky, Mark A., Derek Boothroyd, Eric Vittinghoff, Penny Sharp, and Mary A. Whooley. 2002. Quality-of-life and depressive symptoms in postmenopausal women after receiving hormone therapy. Journal of the American Medical Association 287, no. 5 (February 6), http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v287n5/rfull/joc10108.html#aainfo(accessed January 7, 2004).

Article in an Online Database

This is the same as for online journals as listed above, including use of access date. Also include the URL of the main entrance of the database.

T: (Thomas 1956, 71)

R: Thomas, Trevor M. Wales: Land of Mines and Quarries. Geographical Review 46, no. 1 (1956): 59-81. http://www.jstor.org/.

Entire Website

Websites may be cited in running text ("According to the National Weather Service's website, warmer temperatures may be expected...") instead of in a note, and they are commonly omitted from the reference list as well. The following examples show the more formal version of the citations. Add the date the material was last accessed for time-sensitive data or if you are required.

T: (National Weather Service)

R: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA's National Weather Service. U.S. Dept. of Commerce. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/ (accessed January 17, 2010).

Magazine

T: (Reed 2006, 21)

R: Reed, Stanley. 2006. Seeing past the war. Business Week, August 21.

Newspaper

Newspaper articles may be cited in running text (“As William Niederkorn noted in a New York Times article on June 20, 2002, . . . ”) instead of in a note or an in-text citation, and they are commonly omitted from a bibliography or reference list as well. The following examples show the more formal version of the citations.

T: (Seward 2006)

R: Seward, Zachary. 2006. Colleges expand early admissions. Wall Street Journal. December 14. Eastern edition.

 

 For additional examples, see pages 247-254 in the Turabian Manual (2007). 

The Bibliography Style is preferred by many in the humanities (e.g., literature, history, and the arts). This style presents bibliographic information in notes (either footnotes or endnotes) and, often, a bibliography. It accommodates a variety of sources, including esoteric ones less appropriate to the author-date system.

NOTE: If the bibliography includes all works cited in the notes, the note citations can be quite concise, since readers can turn to the bibliography for publication details. In works with no bibliography or only a selected list, full details must be given in a note at first mention of any work cited. Subsequent citations of that work may then be concise.

Each example includes a note [N] followed by a bibliographic entry [B]. After the first book entry, all Note examples will use the full version. To make it concise, use just the author's last name(s), the main title, and page number(s).

Book:
Single Author

First note citation in a paper with full bibliography or subsequent citations with or without:
N:   1. Gutman, Mozart, 41.

First note citation in a paper without full bibliography:
N:   1. Robert W. Gutman, Mozart: A Cultural Biography (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1999), 41.

B: Gutman, Robert W. Mozart: A Cultural Biography. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1999.

Book:
Two Authors

N:   7. Randolph Hock and Gary Price, The Extreme Searcher’s Internet Handbook: A Guide for the Serious Searcher (Medford: CyberAge Books, 2004), 93-4.

B: Hock, Randolph, and Gary Price. The Extreme Searcher’s Internet Handbook: A Guide for the Serious Searcher.Medford: CyberAge Books, 2004.

Book:
Four or More Authors

N:   2. William Davidson et al., Retailing Management, 6th ed. (New York: Wiley, 1988), 149.

B: Davidson, William, Daniel Sweeney, Thomas Jones, and Ronald Stampfl. Retailing Management. 6th ed. New York: Wiley, 1988.

Book:
No Author

If no personal author's name is listed on the title page, the organization/corporation is listed as author, even if it is also given as publisher.

N:   5. JIST Works, NAICS Desk Reference, 73.

B: JIST Works. NAICS Desk Reference: The North American Industry Classification System Desk Reference. Indianapolis: JIST Works, 2000.

Book: Multivolume

When citing the work as a whole, give the total number of volumes after the title (or editor). If published over several years, give the range of years.

N:   8. Wright, Evolution and the Genetics of Populations. 4 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968-78, 2:341.

B: Wright, Sewell. Evolution and the Genetics of Populations. 4 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968-78.

When citing only one volume:

N: Sewell Wright, Evolution and the Genetics of Populations, vol. 2, Theory of Gene Frequencies (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969), 341.

B: Wright, Sewell. Theory of Gene Frequencies. Vol. 2, Evolution and the Genetics of Populations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969.

Chapter in a Book

N:   6. Robert F. Willson, Jr., "William Shakespeare's Theater," in The Greenwood Companion to Shakespeare: A Comprehensive Guide for Students (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005), 52-3.

B: Willson, Jr., Robert F. "William Shakespeare's Theater." In The Greenwood Companion to Shakespeare: A Comprehensive Guide for Students, edited by Joseph Rosenblum, 47-64. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005.

Book Published Electronically

If a book is available in more than one format, you should cite the version you consulted, but you may also list the other formats, as in the second example below. If an access date is required by your publisher or discipline, include it parenthetically at the end of the citation, as in the first example below.

N:   3. Philip B. Kurland and Ralph Lerner, eds., The Founders’ Constitution (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987), http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/ (accessed June 27, 2006).

B: Kurland, Philip B., and Ralph Lerner, eds. The Founders’ Constitution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987. http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/. Also available in print form and as a CD-ROM.

 

For additional examples, see pages 162-181 in the Turabian Manual (2007).

Citing Journal Articles

Journals vs Magazines: Journals are normally cited by volume and date, while magazines are normally cited by date alone. If in doubt whether a particular periodical is a journal or magazine, use the journal format if the volume number is easily located, and the magazine format if it is not.

 

Journal with Issue Number Available

N:   1. Carolyn Simmons and Karen Becker-Olsen, "Achieving Marketing Objectives through Social Sponsorships,"Journal of Marketing 70, no. 4 (2006): 161.

B: Simmons, Carolyn, and Karen Becker-Olsen. "Achieving Marketing Objectives through Social Sponsorships."Journal of Marketing, 70, no. 4 (2006): 154-169. 

Journal with no Issue Number

N:   4. Sarah Graham, "Impossible to Hold: Women and Culture in the 1960s." Journal of American Studies 40 (2006): 157.

B: Graham, Sarah. "Impossible to Hold: Women and Culture in the 1960s." Journal of American Studies 40 (2006):156-159.

Article in an Online Journal

Just like print journals, only adding the URL and also the access date in parentheses at the end if required by your professor or discipline.

N:   2. Mark A. Hlatky et al., "Quality-of-life and depressive symptoms in postmenopausal women after receiving hormone therapy," Journal of the American Medical Association 287, no. 5 (2002),http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v287n5/rfull/joc10108.html#aainfo.

B: Hlatky, Mark A., Derek Boothroyd, Eric Vittinghoff, Penny Sharp, and Mary A. Whooley. "Quality-of-Life and Depressive Symptoms in Postmenopausal Women after Receiving Hormone Therapy." Journal of the American Medical Association 287, no. 5 (February 6, 2002),http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v287n5/rfull/joc10108.html#aainfo (accessed January 7, 2004).

Article in an Online Database

This is the same as for online journals as listed above, including use of access date. Also include the URL of the main entrance of the service.

N:   17. Trevor M. Thomas, "Wales: Land of Mines and Quarries," Geographical Review 46, no. 1 (1956): 71, http://www.jstor.org/.

B: Thomas, Trevor M. "Wales: Land of Mines and Quarries." Geographical Review 46, no. 1 (1956): 59-81. http://www.jstor.org/.

Entire Website

Websites may be cited in running text ("According to the National Weather Service's website, warmer temperatures may be expected...") instead of in a note, and they are commonly omitted from the bibliography as well. The following examples show the more formal version of the citations. Add the date the material was last accessed for time-sensitive data or if you are required.

N:   13. “Internet Weather Source,” National Weather Service, http://www.nws.noaa.gov/.

B: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "NOAA's National Weather Service." U.S. Dept. of Commerce. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/ (accessed January 17, 2010).

Magazine

If article is from an online magazine, add the URL after the date and, if required or for time-sensitive data, the date the material was last accessed (see second "B" example).

N:   4. Stanley Reed, "Seeing Past the War," Business Week, August 21, 2006, 21.

B: Reed, Stanley. "Seeing Past the War." Business Week, August 21, 2006.

B: Reed, Stanley. "Seeing Past the War." Business Week, August 21, 2006.http://www.businessweek.com/news/2006-08-21/seeing-past-the-war.html (accessed October 3, 2006).

Newspaper

Newspaper articles may be cited in running text (“As William Niederkorn noted in a New York Times article on June 20, 2002, . . . ”) instead of in a note, and they are commonly omitted from the bibliography as well. The following examples show the more formal version of the citations.

N:   3. Zachary Seward, "Colleges Expand Early Admissions," Wall Street Journal, December 14, 2006, eastern edition.

B: Seward, Zachary. "Colleges Expand Early Admissions." Wall Street Journal. December 14, 2006, eastern edition.

 

 

 For additional examples, see pages 247-254 in the Turabian Manual (2007).

At present (June 2023), the Chicago Manual of Style instructs you to cite content created by AI generative tools in the text of your assignment and/or in footnote form only (not in your bibliography). Because the unique URLS generated by AI tools require personal login credentials to be accessed, they cannot cannot be accessed by others (including your instructor). As a result, the Chicago Manual of Style treats AI generated information as though it is unretrievable, similar to some types of personal communications (such as email, phone, or text conversations) and recommends against including them in your bibliography. This also means that you do not need to include the URL in your footnote or assignment text, but can if you wish.


FOOTNOTE FORM

 6. Text generated by ChatGPT, June 2, 2023, Open AI, https://chat.openai.com/chat.

 7. ChatGPT, response to “Explain how to make vegetarian pakoras,” June 2, 2023, Open AI.

 8. Smart Copy, AI-generated response to “What are three key marketing strategies for websites?,” June 3, 2023, Unbounce.

 

IN TEXT EXAMPLE

The following recipe for vegetarian pakoras was generated by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, June 2, 2023.

When asked to list three key marketing strategies for websites, Unbounce’s AI-generator, Smart Copy, indicated that the use of SEO, understanding user experience, and social media engagement were all important methods (edited for style and content).

CITING IMAGES
When citing images generated with the assistance of AI tools (such as DALL·E 2, Deep Dream Generator), be transparent about the involvement of AI in the work: provide credit to the source just as you would with other types of images.

As with other images, illustrations, and tables, the Chicago Manual of Style instructs you to cite images created by AI generative tools using a brief in-text statement called a "credit line". However, the Chicago Manual is primarily designed to help professional authors and publishers format their publications, rather than to guide students with research papers and assignments. As a result, Camosun library recommends that best practice for student assignments is for all images referred to in your essay, assignment, or presentation, be included in both your bibliography and referenced in footnotes/endnotes. You can also refer to details about the image in the body of your assignment text. You will need to include:

  • the creator of the content (e.g., DALL·E 2, Deep Dream Generator)
  • the text prompt you used to generate the content in quotation marks (if you included the prompt in the body of your text, you are not required to repeat the prompt in the footnote)
  • the organization or developer that created the tool (e.g., OpenAI, Aifnet Ltd.)
  • the date the content was generated
     

    BIBLIOGRAPHY FORMAT

    Name of AI Tool. Response to "Text prompt used."  AI-generated image. Developer's Name, Date generated. 

     

    BIBLIOGRAPHY EXAMPLE

    DALL·E 2. Response to "Cat with a moustache."  AI-generated image. Open AI, June 9, 2023.

     

    FOOTNOTE FORM

     6. Image generated by DALL·E 2, June 9, 2023, Open AI.

     7. DALL·E 2, response to “Cat with a moustache,” June 9, 2023, Open AI.

     8. Deep Dream Generator, image generated in response to “A cluttered kitchen rendered as an impressionist painting,” June 10, 2023, Aifnet Ltd.

     

    IN TEXT EXAMPLE

    “Cat with a moustache,” image generated by OpenAI’s DALL·E 2, June 9, 2023.

    “A cluttered kitchen rendered as an impressionist painting,” image generated by Aifnet Ltd.'s Deep Dream Generator, June 10, 2023.

Chicago Style Annotations

Creating an annotated bibliography in Chicago style

Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations is very similar, and is on reserve behind the IRC Desk on the Ground Floor.

 

General guidelines

Annotations can be merely descriptive, summarizing the authors' qualifications, research methods, and arguments. 

Annotations can evaluate the quality of scholarship in a book or article.  You might want to consider the logic of authors' arguments, and the quality of their evidence.  Your findings can be positive, negative, or mixed.

Your professor might also want you to explain why the source is relevant to your assignment. 

 

Sample Page: Chicago-formatted annotated bibliography

1

Battle, Ken. "Child Poverty: The Evolution and Impact of Child Benefits." In A Question of Commitment:  Children's Rights in Canada, edited by Katherine Covell and Howe, R. Brian, 21-44. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2007.

            Ken Battle draws on a close study of government documents, as well as his own research as an extensively-published policy analyst, to explain Canadian child benefit programs.  He outlines some fundamental assumptions supporting the belief that all society members should contribute to the upbringing of children.  His comparison of child poverty rates in a number of countries is a useful wake-up to anyone assuming Canadian society is doing a good job of protecting children.  Battle pays particular attention to the National Child Benefit (NCB), arguing that it did not deserve to be criticized by politicians and journalists.  He outlines the NCB’s development, costs, and benefits, and laments that the Conservative government scaled it back in favour of the inferior Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB).  However, he relies too heavily on his own work; he is the sole or primary author of almost half the sources in his bibliography.  He could make this work stronger by drawing from others' perspectives and analyses.  However, Battle does offer a valuable source for this essay, because the chapter provides a concise overview of government-funded assistance currently available to parents.  This offers context for analyzing the scope and financial reality of child poverty in Canada.

Kerr, Don, and Roderic Beaujot. "Child Poverty and Family Structure in Canada, 1981-1997." Journal of  Comparative Family Studies 34, no. 3 (2003): 321-335.

            Sociology professors Kerr and Beaujot analyze the demographics of impoverished families.  Drawing on data from Canada’s annual Survey of Consumer Finances, the authors consider whether each family had one or two parents, the age of single parents, and the number of children in each household.  They analyze child poverty rates in light of both these demographic factors and larger economic issues.  Kerr and Beaujot use this data to argue that

Rules! rules! rules!

The Chicago Manual of Style states the following formatting rules.  Check your assignment description in case your instructor has other instructions.

  • The text should be double-spaced.
  • Numbering starts on the first page of writing (not the title page), at the top right of the page.
  • Reference list entries must have a hanging indent (to do this in Microsoft Word 2003, click Format, then Paragraph, then Special, and choose Hanging).
  • There should be 1 inch (2.54 cm) margins all around (top, bottom, left, and right) on each page.
  • Use Times Roman font, or a similar serif font.
  • Each paragraph should be indented using the tab key.

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