Skip to Main Content

TOK - Exhibition: Chicago

Chicago uses two types of citations:

  • The most commonly used type is Notes and Bibliography:
    • Citations are placed in footnotes
    • Bibliography lists all your sources at the end of your work
  •  The other type is Author-date and Reference List
    • Parenthetical in-text citations
    • Reference list of all cited sources at the end of your work

This page will only be discussing the Notes and Bibliography Style.

To cite a source using Chicago style Notes and Bibliography, you need to place a superscript number, beginning with ¹ at the end of a sentence or clause, after all the punctuationion. This superscript number then corresponds to a numbered footnote at the bottom of that page, or endnote at the bottom of the final page, where you include information such as author, title, date and page numbers. You can also include additional information without detracting from the main text –  but try to keep the extra information brief and concise.

There are two types of notes: Full Notes or Short Notes. Full Notes give the full reference in the first footnote for that resource. Subsequent footnotes for the same resource take Short Note form. According to IB Requirements, you must include a Bibliography at the end of your work.

Examples:

FULL NOTE

According to Bryson and Gosney, Shakespeare came into his strength at the best possible time.¹

 _________________________________________

1. Bill Bryson and Joy Gosney, Shakespeare : The Illustrated Edition (Hammersmith, London: Harper Press, 2012), 101.

SHORT NOTE

“Shakespeare could not have chosen a more propitious time to come of age.”²

__________________________________________

2. Bryson and Gosney, Shakespeare, 101

Example - Book

Example - Journal found online

Example - Video (e.g. YouTube)

Example: Classes / Tutorials / Seminars

Table Example

Figure 2. Sheridan Library and Learning Services. Chicago Style: Tables and Figures. April 20, 2022, accessed 19 May, 2022. Digital image. Sheridan Library and Learning Services. https://sheridancollege.libguides.com/c.php?g=704224&p=5008629.

Example - Website

Example - Website with no author and no date

Example: Personal Interview

Figure Example:

Figure 1. Chen Rong, Chinese, first half of the 13th century, Asian, Far East Asian, and Chinese. Nine Dragons. n.d. Images, 46.3 x 1096.4 cm (18 1/4 x 431 5/8 in.). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston;Boston, Massachusetts, USA;Francis Gardner Curtis Fund;17.1697;http://www.mfa.org/. https://jstor.org/stable/community.15635949.

Images, Graphs and Tables

Images, Graphs

When using images or graphs to illustrate your argument, you still need to cite and reference each item. Include the image or graph before or after the paragraph where it is mentioned and then refer to it using in-text citations in your paragraph, e.g. The image seen in figure 1 shows only a small section of the original piece.

Below each figure, place a caption or short explanation directly after the figure number. Cite the source of the table or figure information with a "credit line" at the bottom of the table or figure, after the caption. the credit line should be differentiated from the caption using parenthesis or italics. The credit line should include author, title, publication details and (if appropriate) copyright date as well as page or location details. 

If the full reference is found in the Bibliography, only a shortened form needs to appear in the credit line.

Tables

When using tables they should be included in the text as soon as possible after it is first mentioned in the text. Tables are then labeled with Table numbers above the table, followed by a brief descriptive heading in italics.

Full Notes are then used to acknowledgement source materials in unnumbered notes starting with the words Source: or Sources: