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History: Africa: Citation Help: Chicago

Madison Area Technical College Libraries Research Guide: History of Africa

Quick Tips

Quick Tips:

  • Chicago: Humanities style citations use footnotes or endnotes, not parenthetical references. 
  • Write in the 3rd person, not 1st or 2nd. Don't use "I" or "you" or related words in your writing.
  • Indent the first line of each note by five spaces.
  • Start each note with its corresponding number, a period, and one space.
  • For the first footnote or endnote for a source, give the full citation information.
  • For subsequent notes, use use the author's name, title, and the page number.
  • If you use the same source two or more times in a row, use the abbreviation Ibid., followed by the page number.

To cite books, check the front pages of the book or the record in the library catalog to find the publication information you need to format the citation. Sample Chicago style format for the first footnote or endnote for a print book:

1. Author's Name, Title of Book (Place of Publication: Publisher, Publication Date), Page Numbers.

To cite articles found in our library databases, check the article citation or article information page to find publication information.

Chicago style format 

Sample Chicago style format for the first footnote or endnote for an article from one of our databases:

1. Author's Name, "Title of Article," Title of Journal Volume Number, Issue Number (Date of Publication), Page Numbers, Name of Database, Database Vendor (or persistent/stable URL, accession number or doi).  

The 16th edition does not require the date accessed for articles from library databases. You could generally cite an online database journal article similar to a print journal article, but also add the database information, and an accession number or doi. 

Library databases may allow you export a citation or to save a citation in a particular format. You can then copy and paste the citation text into your footnote or endnote.

For example:

  • EBSCO databases, including Academic Search, select the include when saving/sending checkbox and select Chicago/Turabian:Humanities style from drop-down Citation Format list.

Be sure to check with your instructor and follow requirements for your assignment.  Check the formatting and make any necessary corrections.