Q. I’m working on a manuscript in which I cite an assignment I gave my students as well as various pieces of writing (and other documents) they produced in response to it. None of this material is available in any archive (besides my filing cabinet). Would you recommend using the CMOS guidelines for unpublished manuscripts for citation? Or do I acknowledge the “archival limits” in the text and, perhaps, use a footnote to tell readers to contact me if they’re curious?
A. A footnote would be appropriate. Not every student assignment merits the label “unpublished manuscript.” A note could explain that copies of all the student work cited are in the author’s possession.