Welcome students! Do you need to learn the basics of “Chicago Style” for writing and formatting research papers? This page serves as an introduction and includes paper-formatting tip sheets, frequently asked questions, and 26 topic sheets for teachers to use in the classroom.
Kate L. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations is the student version of The Chicago Manual of Style, aimed at college and graduate students who are writing papers, theses, and dissertations that are not intended for publication. (The Chicago Manual of Style is aimed at professional scholars and publishers.) Turabian’s book for beginning writers, the Student’s Guide to Writing College Papers, is written with high school and undergraduate students in mind. All three books are compatible, and all are official “Chicago Style.”
Paper-Formatting Tip Sheets
- Margins and Page Numbers
- Title Page
- Table of Contents
- List of Tables and Figures
- Introduction or Conclusion
- Main Text
- Sections and Subheads
- Chapter Opening Page
- Figure and Figure Caption
- Bibliography
- Endnotes
- Footnotes
- Parenthetical Citations
- Reference List
Chicago Style Basics
- What is Chicago style?
- Is Turabian style the same as Chicago style?
- How do I format my paper in Chicago Style?
- What’s the difference between a note citation and a bibliography citation?
- What is author-date style?
- Why do I have to cite sources?
- How do I know when to cite something?
- How many sources can I cite in one note?
- How do I cite the same source many times?
- How do I cite an image?
- How do I cite a website or blog?
- How do I write a quotation?
Crash Course in Citations
If you need to write a note or bibliography citation for books, articles, and other common sources, you can find examples to follow here.
Quick guide to Turabian-style citations Quick guide to Chicago-style citations
Crafting a Paper
If you are writing your first paper or trying to improve your skills, these one-page tip sheets are written with you in mind. Read the ones that interest you or download all 26 topics in one PDF.
- Why Research?
- Choosing a Topic: Research Questions
- Core of an Argument = Claim + Reasons + Evidence
- Plan Your Research Around the Questions of Argument
- How to Plan Your Time
- Finding a Research Question
- Academic Language of Research—Assignments
- Academic Language of Research—How to Position Your Idea
- Tell and Retell Your Elevator Story
- Finding Relevant and Reliable Sources
- Write as You Read
- How Arguments Grow from Questions
- Academic Language of Research—Acknowledging
- Academic Language of Research—Responding
- Planning Your Draft
- Working Through Writer’s Block: Getting Unstuck
- When to Quote, Paraphrase, or Summarize
- Academic Language of Research—Verbs for Introducing a Quotation or Paraphrase
- Three Principles for Citing Sources
- The Dramatic Pattern of Introductions and Fairy Tales
- Writing an Introduction
- Drafting a Conclusion
- Writing Your Title
- Revising Your Draft: Shape (Organization), Introduction and Conclusion, Sentence Level
- Five Principles for Clear Sentences
- Accepting Feedback
Have a question that isn’t answered here? Send it to CMOSShopTalk@uchicago.edu. While we are unable to answer every question we receive, we may use it in a future blog post or in our monthly Chicago Manual of Style Q&A.
Top photo: Thomas Leuthard.