How To Organize Citations In A Chicago Style Dissertation

There are many things to know about Chicago style, and how to organize citations when using this formatting technique. Therefore, if you are writing a dissertation, it is important that you are aware of any specific instructions, with some suggestions of how to organize citations outlined below.

Using a bibliography for references

Whilst it is possible to include citations within the text of your work, you will also need to include a bibliography, which will include details of any references, where applicable.

Short and long citations

It is important to be aware of the two different styles of citations that can be used when formatting in Chicago style. It is possible to use long citations, as well as short citations, which will generally be a more abbreviated form of the longer citations.

Where you might find content that needs a citation

There are a wide variety of different sources that you might use when including a citation. The precise nature of each citation can vary according to the source that you use. Some examples of sources that you might use include the following:

From a book
From an article published in a journal
From an article published in a newspaper or magazine
From a book review
From someone else's dissertation or thesis
From a website on the internet
From a blog
From an electronic form of communication, such as e-mail or text message
From a commercial database

What details to include in each citation

The precise details that you will need to include in each citation will depend very much on whether you use long or short citations, as well as the source that you are citing. You will most likely need to include the name of the author or authors who wrote the content, as well as the title or any other identifying feature relating to the source of the content. Furthermore, depending on whether content came from, you may need to include details such as the page number and or chapter from which the citation was taken, as well as potentially the date that the work was published.

Where to find more information

Finally, due to the complex nature of writing citations using Chicago style, if you do need to find out any further information, then you will need to look for the latest edition of the instructions for the formatting guide, which can either be found online or in printed copies.