The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) is a style guide for American English published since 1906 by the University of Chicago Press. Its 17 editions have prescribed writing and citation styles widely used in publishing. It is "the most widely used and respected style guide in the United States".
CMOS offers two main systems for citing sources: notes and bibliography, and author-date. The notes and bibliography system is more traditional and is often used in the humanities. The author-date system is more modern and is often used in the sciences and social sciences.
Notes and Bibliography System
In the notes and bibliography system, sources are cited in the text by superscript numbers. These numbers correspond to footnotes or endnotes at the bottom of the page. The full bibliographic information for each source is then listed in a bibliography at the end of the document.
Here is an example of a note and bibliography citation for a book:
- John Smith, The History of the World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2023), 10.
The bibliography entry for this source would look like this:
Smith, John. The History of the World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2023.
Author-Date System
In the author-date system, sources are cited in the text by the author's last name and the year of publication. These citations are enclosed in parentheses. The full bibliographic information for each source is then listed in a list of references at the end of the document.
Here is an example of an author-date citation for a book:
(Smith 2023)
The reference entry for this source would look like this:
Smith, John. The History of the World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2023.
Other Types of Sources
In addition to books and journals, CMOS also provides guidelines for citing a variety of other types of sources, including:
- Articles from magazines and newspapers
- Websites
- Emails
- Interviews
- Films and television shows
- Music
- Art
- Photographs
- Maps
- Government documents
- Legal documents
The specific format for citing each type of source is covered in the Chicago Manual of Style.
Using Chicago Style
When using Chicago style, it is important to be consistent in your formatting. All of your citations should be formatted in the same way, regardless of the type of source. You should also make sure that your citations are accurate and complete.
Chicago style is a comprehensive and flexible style guide that can be used for a variety of writing projects. If you are unsure about how to cite a particular source, the Chicago Manual of Style is a valuable resource.
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