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Chicago Style Library Guide: Footnotes, What?

A quick introduction to Chicago Style for academic papers.

Why footnotes?

Footnotes provide information about a cited source without breaking up the flow of the text for your reader.

APA and MLA style deal with this problem by using a very short citation inside parenthesis, instead of a footnote. Parenthetical citation is also called  "author-date" citation style. 

How does a footnote work?

Small superscript numbers are added to the text where you need a citation.

Screenshot of fake text, with superscript footnotes 1, 2, and 3 highlighted where they appear after quoted material.

Corresponding notes at the bottom of the page provide the citation information.

Screen of the numbered footnotes at the bottom of the page, providing information about the cited sources. One is shortened becuase it's a repeat.

Complete information about cited sources is included in the bibiliography at the end of the paper. Bibliography entries are in alphabetical order by author's last name, not in footnote number order. 

Example Bibliography showing complete info for our two cited sources. They are in alphabeticla order by author's last name.