Chicago

There is no universally accepted format for formatting and documenting citations in academic writing. Different disciplines, and even different journals within a discipline, are each likely to have their own partly rational and partly idiosyncratic customs and rules. An important part of scholarly training is learning what the rules are in one's particular field, so one can display the right kind of learning and professionalization.

　　In history and the humanities, Chicago style is a widely-used format, favored by those who prefer the traditional look of footnotes （or endnotes） rather than in-text citations. Nuts and Bolts presents here a concise guide to Chicago style. Lovingly detailed treatment is available in The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. （University of Chicago Press, 2003）.