Documentation
Q. We would like to know the difference between the reference lists in chapter 17 and bibliographies. Is the Chicago Manual of Style trying to move from one to the other? Why would one choose a reference list over a bibliography when citing? Thanks.
A. Reference lists are primarily used with the author-date method of citation (Jones 1999) and include every work cited in the text and no others. A bibliography is generally used with the footnote (or endnote) method of citation, and consists of works that the author researched in order to write the book, and it may also include titles for further reading. Bibliographies often include works that are not referred to in the book, and they often omit cited works that are tangential to the topic. Scholars in the humanities tend to use the notes/bibliography system, and scholars in the social sciences tend to use the author-date method. Occasionally a writer will combine the systems, putting author-date references into notes, for example. CMOS covers both systems and doesn’t promote one or the other.
