Q. If a book is not published yet but is under contract, with the manuscript in the copyediting process, and has a publication date and ISBN assigned by the publisher on their website, how is this referenced? Putting “forthcoming” in place of the year ignores the fact that a publication date has been set, and it also applies to books that are less far along, and “in press” seems premature. Is there some terminology between these two?
A. Knowing how often the pitfalls of publishing can delay a book project, Chicago prefers to recommend forthcoming. It’s safer to be vague than to publish a citation that turns out to be wrong. If the stage of publication is important to the topic under discussion, you can always explain in the text or a note rather than try to indicate it in the citation.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I use a software called Zotero to cite my work in graduate school. Zotero has three options for CMOS citations: (1) Author-Date, (2) Full Note with Bibliography, and (3) Note with Bibliography. Which one of these is the best for a thesis paper instructed to be per Chicago/Turabian?
A. They are all fine for a Chicago/Turabian paper. If your instructor didn’t express a preference, pick whichever one you like best. Usually notes-bibliography styles are used in the humanities, author-date in the sciences and social sciences.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. In the author-date format, are multiple references divided by commas or semicolons?
A. Use semicolons to separate references. If there are also locators, put a comma between the year and locator.
(Armstrong and Malacinski 1989; Beigl 1989; Pickett and White 1985)
(Wong 1999, 328; 2000, 475; García 1998, 67)
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I’m working on an edited collection that includes many articles originally published in online sources. These articles often include live links that serve as citations, leading readers to a specific article or resource under discussion. In a traditional print publication, these items would almost certainly be cited in endnotes that we would then include in our volume. Following this logic, it seems that we should incorporate the citations in our print-only volume. Do you have any recommendations on how best to handle them? By creating an endnote structure not native to the original publication? Or through author-date citations, which would likely be even more disruptive but are appropriate for our book’s formatting?
A. It’s important to include the writers’ sources in your collection, and any of your suggestions would work. Book editors usually decide how to handle source citations based on the type of book, expectations and tolerances of the intended reader, production costs (e.g., page count), etc. It is not necessary to follow the endnote structure in the original publication, but be sure to include a note explaining your method.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Do YouTube video blogs that are made by everyday people (i.e., not mainstream corporate companies) need to be cited in the bibliography? Or do they just need a note? If so, what is the style format?
A. Privately made videos are just as much copyrighted as those made by corporations, so provide a complete citation in the note. You can find citation formats for website content at the Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide. Putting a video into your bibliography is optional. Consider how important it is in your paper and decide accordingly.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Has Chicago completely eliminated the use of ibid., when quoting more than once from the same source?
A. Not at all. Although Chicago now prefers the use of a short citation, CMOS still covers the use of ibid. at CMOS 14.34. The new policy is explained in this post at the CMOS Shop Talk blog.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. In a footnote do the year and page number go at the beginning or at the end?
A. The page number usually goes at the end of a citation. The placement of the year depends on whether you’re using the notes-bibliography system or the author-date system. You can find a free guide to both systems at our website.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Dear CMOS, I am attempting to cite a modern edition of a medieval text called The Rule of Saint Benedict, which was written by the eponymous saint. The title page lists only the editor-translator. Which of the following would you recommend for the bibliography entry?
Venarde, Bruce L., ed. and trans. The Rule of Saint Benedict. Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 6. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011.
or
Benedict. The Rule of Saint Benedict. Edited and translated by Bruce L. Venarde. Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 6. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011.
A. Both suggestions are fine. Consider alphabetizing under Benedict’s name (with the name in square brackets). After all, it’s not obvious that a book called The Rule of Saint Benedict was written by the saint.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I’m writing a paper in which I periodically have to repeat quotations, or parts of quotations, that I have already used earlier in the work. I’ve looked through CMOS but I still can’t work out how this should be done. I could just repeat the citation (I’m using author-date style), but this seems cumbersome.
A. Bingo! Repeating author-date citations is not pretty, but when you’re identifying quotations, whether previously quoted or not, it gets the job done. An alternative is to use abbreviations for the titles of works you cite frequently, in which case you should provide a list of abbreviations somewhere.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I am writing a dissertation on a cartoon series that appeared in a magazine. The title of the magazine is in the title of the cartoon series. Do I italicize? Magazine title: The Etude Music Magazine (I will always italicize that). Cartoon series title: “The Etude Educational Cartoons” (I have put it in quotes in every instance, but my editor doesn’t know if The Etude should be italicized in this case).
A. A magazine title is always italic, even if it’s within a title in quotation marks. Please see CMOS 8.173 (“Italicized Terms and Titles within Titles”). Please note, too, that Chicago style for comic strips and cartoon series is also italics (8.200, “Cartoons”). Thus in Chicago style your title would be entirely in italics, with the magazine part quoted: “The Etude” Educational Cartoons.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]