Whenever you refer to another person's work in your own essay, dissertation or article you must acknowledge them and give full details of your source. You risk being accused of plagiarism if you fail to do so.
For general information on referencing, including an explanation of different citation systems, and guidance on citing specific types of publication, see our Citing references guide.
For help with citing specific types of publication contact your librarian (details below).
For advice on using references in your work, and how to use them to support your arguments, consult the guidance on the Study Advice website or make an appointment with them.
Details of the books, articles, websites, art works and other formats of information you want to reference are entered using a note system. A note system has three elements;
Whenever you want to refer to something, insert a superscript number at the end of your sentence, after the full stop.1 Start at 1 then number each new reference consecutively - use a new number each time you reference something.
In Word, you can do this in the References ribbon >> Insert Footnote or Insert Endnote, and Word will create a corresponding numbered note either in the footer of the page (a Footnote,) or at the end of your document (an Endnote.)
In the corresponding footnote or endnote, you write the full reference for the item you want to refer to, with the specific page number, or page range, at the end.
As above, footnotes should have the first line indented by 1.27cm, and if the reference goes over two or more lines, justify subsequent lines to the left. In Word you can do this by expanding the Paragraph Settings on the home ribbon;
Then under Indentation select First Line, 1.27cm;
If you refer to the same source later in your writing, you should use a short version of the citation in your footnote or endnote - the short version usually includes only the author / creator's surname, a few key words from the title and a page number or page range;
At the end of your work, insert a Bibliography listing all your sources in alphabetical order of the author / creator's surname.
Bibliography
As above, each item in your bibliography should have a hanging indent (the first line justified left, and if the reference goes over two or more lines, indent subsequent lines by 1.27cm.)
In Word you can do this by going back to the Paragraph Settings and selecting Hanging Indent, 1.27cm;
This is written as a brief introductory guide - for full rules and guidance of the Chicago referencing style, please see section 14 of the
Chicago manual of Style, below
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
Example:
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
Example:
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
The title of the chapter goes in double quotation marks in plain text - follow this with the word 'in' before the book title in italics. Include the start and end page numbers for the chapter after the book title.
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
Example:
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
The title of the chapter goes in double quotation marks in plain text - follow this with the word 'in' before the book title in italics. Include the start and end page numbers for the chapter after the book editor.
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
Example:
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
The title of the article is given in double quotation marks before the Journal title. Instead of a publisher and city of publication, (as for books,) the Volume and Issue number of the journal are given, with the month or season of publication and year.
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
Example:
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
Separate authors' / editors' names with the word 'and' - only invert the first name listed in the Bibliography entry. If they are editors, use the abbreviation 'eds.'
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
Example:
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
Separate authors' / editors' names with a comma then the word 'and' - only invert the first name listed in the Bibliography entry. If they are editors, use the abbreviation 'eds.'
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
Example:
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
In the Footnote / Endnote list only the first author's name, followed by 'et al.' In the Bibliography, list all the authors separating authors' / editors' names with a comma then the word 'and' before the last. Only invert the first name listed in the Bibliography entry. If they are editors, use the abbreviation 'eds.'
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
Example:
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
For websites, it's sometimes not obvious who the author is - it's usual to use the name of the organisation responsible for the website instead. If you're unsure of the date the website was published, try one of the methods on Wikihow: 4 ways to find the publication date of a website
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
Example:
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
Example:
Footnote / Endnote - first time
In Footnote / Endnote - subsequent short version
In Bibliography
When including images in your work, you should give each one the following underneath;
When referring to the image in your sentence, either put the figure number in your sentence like this, as figure 1 shows. Alternatively you can abbreviate Figure and put the mention in brackets when mentioning the image (fig. 1). Then format your figure number, caption and source reference as below (fig. 1). This example image was taken from a website, so the source reference is formatted for a website, but you should use the reference format for the source you used (so book, article etc depending on where your image is from);
FIGURE 1. Positive words radiate in a sunrise from a young black man in
Shout a billboard part of the Black Outdoor Art initiative from "Shout:
Shouting it Loud," Greg Bunbury Communication Design, last modified
November 22, 2020, https://bunbury.co/portfolio/shout-poster.
For examples and guidance on how to format footnote and bibliography references for all other formats - videos, films, podcasts, social media posts, art installations and literally anything you can think of - take a look at the Cite them right guidance for Chicago style;
This online guide has examples of how to reference books, articles, conferences, archives, all different types of art works, performances and exhibitions, digital and social media - literally anything you can think of!
When you do your dissertation you could consider using EndNote to manage your references. This bibliographic management package can be used to store references, and then insert the citation in your Word document, automatically building the bibliography for you in the correct style.
Find out more on our EndNote webpages:
For information on other options for electronic management of your references see our guide to Managing references:
