Documentation
Q. I’m in the process of finalizing my Ph.D. dissertation, and I’m struggling with two minor stylistic issues: (1) How should I handle citations within a parenthesis when it begins with e.g.? Should the year be enclosed in parentheses or not? That is, “. . . (e.g., Porter (1987))” or “(e.g., Porter 1987).” (2) Is there an elegant way to refer to a page or section in the current document so that the cross-reference is not confused with an external reference. For example, the text may read: “According to Porter (1987), strategy can be defined as. . . . This definition is used in the current research (see also p. 49).” This reference could be interpreted as page 49 in Porter (1987) or as page 49 in the dissertation.
A. If your citation is to the work and not to the author and secondarily to the work, then the correct form is (e.g., Porter 1987). If you were citing the author, that would change:
Many authors have discussed this point (e.g., Porter [1987]).
But it is preferable to avoid the rather awkward nesting of brackets within parentheses whenever you can. That could be done for the above example by avoiding “e.g.”:
Many authors have discussed this point (see Porter 1987).
Your second question is difficult because Chicago discourages cross-references to specific pages in your own work. If you do this, however, you must be explicit, as you clearly understand. But too explicit is inelegant, as you also clearly understand.
What I’ve done most often in the past is to use “below” or “above” when it is a matter of making sure that the internal nature of the cross-reference is clear. So: (see also p. 49 above).
Other than that, I can’t think of a really elegant way. I hope this is, if not an answer, a step in the right direction.
