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Chicago Citation Guide: Bibliography and Sample Papers

This guide covers Chicago citation rules and formatting.

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Quick Rules for a Bibliography or Reference List in Chicago Style

Your research paper ends with a list of all the sources cited in your paper. Here are some quick rules for this Bibliography:

  1. Begin the list on a new page after the text.
  2. Name it "Bibliography" (NB system) or "References" (Author-Date system) and center the section label in bold at the top of the page.
  3. Order the list alphabetically by author's last name.
  4. Double-space the entire list (both within and between entries).
  5. Apply a hanging indent of 0.5 in. to each entry. This means that the first line of the reference is flush left and subsequent lines are indented 0.5 in. from the left margin.

Sample Papers with Bibliographies

Author-Date Sample Paper 
This sample paper, hosted by the Purdue OWL, uses the Author-Date system.

Notes and Bibliography Sample Paper 
This sample paper, hosted by the Purdue OWL, uses the NB system.

Annotated Bibliographies

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How to Write an Annotated Bibliography 
This article covers the fundamentals of creating annotated bibliographies in Chicago style.