In Chicago style, you use superscript numbers (¹) to mark citations in the text. Place the superscript number for each note near the cited material—at the end of the relevant quotation, sentence, clause, or phrase. Type the number after any punctuation mark except the dash; do not leave space between the superscript and the preceding letter or punctuation mark. Number citations sequentially throughout the text.

The notes themselves can be footnotes (each typed at the bottom of the page on which the superscript for it appears in the text) or endnotes (all typed on a separate page at the end of the text under the heading Notes). Be sure to check your instructor's preference. The first line of each note is indented like a paragraph (five spaces or one-half inch) and begins with a number followed by a period and one space before the first word of the entry. All remaining lines of the entry are typed flush with the left margin. Footnotes should be single-spaced with a double space between notes. All endnotes should be double-spaced.

In the text

In the first note

In subsequent notes

After giving complete information the first time you cite a work, shorten any additional references to that work: list only the author's name followed by a comma, a shortened version of the title followed by a comma, and the page number. If the reference is to the same source cited in the previous note, you can use the Latin abbreviation Ibid. (for "in the same place") instead of the name and title.

An alphabetical list of the sources you use in your paper is usually titled Bibliography in Chicago style. If Sources Consulted, Works Cited, or Selected Bibliography better describes your list, however, any of these titles is acceptable.

In the bibliographic entry for a source, include the same information as in the first note for that source, but omit the specific page reference. However, give the first author's name last name first, followed by a comma and the first name; separate the main elements of the entry with periods rather than commas; and do not enclose the publication information for books in parentheses.

In the bibliography

Start the bibliography on a separate page after the main text and any endnotes. Continue the consecutive numbering of pages. Type the title Bibliography (without italics or quotation marks) and center it below the top of the page. Begin each entry at the left margin. Indent the second and subsequent lines of each entry five spaces (or one-half inch). Double-space the entire list.

List sources alphabetically by authors' last names (or by the first major word in the title if the author is unknown).