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HI 2328: History of Revolutions in the Twentieth Century: Citation Guidance

Use the tabs below to find information on why and when to cite sources, how to write Chicago style citations, and how to use the citation manager Zotero. 

Citation Guidance

Why Do We Cite Our Sources?

By citing your sources you:

  • Give credit to others for their ideas (avoid plagiarism)
  • Demonstrate to your reader how your own ideas stem from, differ from, or relate to those in your sources
  • Distinguish your ideas from the ideas of others
  • Lend credibility to your own work by citing credible sources
  • Assist your reader, who may want to find the sources that you used

When To Cite Your Sources

You must provide a citation when:

  • Quoting directly from a source (copying the words of another)
  • Paraphrasing ideas or information from a source (rewriting a passage in your own words)
  • Incorporating into your paper information or ideas that are not general knowledge

What's In A Citation

Citations at the end of your paper should always tell you:

  • Who wrote the source? Who is the author, editor, artist, or organization behind the work? For a book, the citation will also include information about who published the source.
  • What is it called? What is the title of the book, article, website, photograph, etc.?
  • When was the source was published? What is the date of publication?
  • Where can your reader find the source? For a journal article, what journal is published in? For online sources, what is the URL or DOI (digital object identifier)?

Citation styles vary in how they present this information, but generally, these elements are always included.

Video: Introductions to Citations

This video provides a brief introductions to what citations are, why we use citations, when to cite, what a citation includes, and an overview of which citation styles are used by different disciplines. 

The Chicago Manual of Style

Chicago Style Citations

The Chicago NB (Notes & Bibliography) system is often used in History scholarship and provides writers with a system for referencing their sources through footnote or endnote citation in their writing and through bibliography pages. It also offers writers an outlet for commenting on those cited sources. 

Resources to Help with Chicago Citations

To see examples of what Chicago style citations should look like for different source types, check out the following websites. These websites provide guidance on how to format footnotes and bibliography entries for a variety of source types. 

Video: Chicago Citations

Run Time: 2:54

Key Student Learning Competencies: 

  • When & Why for Using Chicago (0:25)
  • Chicago In-Text Citations (0:32)
  • Chicago In-Text Footnotes: Books (0:50)
  • Chicago In-Text Footnotes: Journals (1:25)
  • Chicago Bibliographies (1:58)
  • More Resources (2:31)

Footnotes

You should include a footnote each time you use a source, whether through a direct quote or through a paraphrase or summary.

Formatting Footnotes:

  • Note numbers should begin with “1” and follow consecutively throughout a given paper. Each new citation gets a new number, even if you have already cited that source.
  • In the text, a superscript number corresponding to the note should be placed in the text when you reference information in a source. Note numbers should be placed at the end of the clause or sentence to which they refer and should be placed after any and all punctuation.  
  • Write the footnotes in the footer of the page on which the source is referenced. The footnote should begin with the same number used in the text of the paper. The first note for each source should include all relevant information about the source: full name(s) of the author(s), source title, and facts of publication. If you cite the same source again, the note need only include the surname(s) of the author(s), a shortened form of the title (if more than four words), and page number(s).
  • For each footnote, include the page number(s) for where you found the information you are citing. If the source does not have page numbers, cite the  chapter number, section heading, or paragraph number.
  • If you wish to include commentary on the source, place the commentary after the citation in the footnote. Separate the citation and the commentary with a period. 

Bibliography

In the Chicago NB system, the bibliography provides an alphabetical list of all sources used in a given work. This page, most often titled Bibliography, is usually placed at the end of the work. It should include all sources cited within the work.

Although bibliographic entries for various sources may be formatted differently, all included sources (books, articles, websites, etc.) are arranged alphabetically by author’s last name. If no author or editor is listed on a source, the title of that source may be used instead for alphabetization in the bibliography. 

Common Elements

Entries in the bibliography generally include the author (or editor, compiler, translator), title, and publication information. The publication information includes the publication date. For books, include the city of publication and the name of the publisher. For journal articles, include the name of the journal. For journal articles, also include the volume number, issue number, and page range if this information is available. For online sources, include a DOI (digital object identifier) or URL. 

Author’s Names

The first author’s name is inverted in the bibliography, placing the last name first and separating the last name and first name with a comma; for example, John Smith becomes Smith, John. (If an author is not listed first, this applies to compilers, translators, etc.) If there is more than one author, write the first author's name as Surname, First Name. Write the other author's names as First Name Surname. 

Titles

Titles of books and journals are italicized. Titles of articles, chapters, webpages, etc. are placed in quotation marks.

Publication Information

The year of publication is listed after the publisher or journal name.

Punctuation

In a bibliography, all major elements are separated by periods.

Formatting the Bibliography:

  • Label your comprehensive list of sources at the end of your paper as “Bibliography.”
  • Start the bibliography on a new page at the end of your paper. 
  • Leave two blank lines between “Bibliography” and your first entry. 
  • Leave one blank line between remaining entries. 
  • List entries in letter-by-letter alphabetical order according to the first word in each entry. 
  • Authors:
    • Use “and,” not an ampersand (&) for multi-author entries. 
    • For two to three authors, write out all names. 
    • For four to ten authors, write out all names in the bibliography but only the first author’s name plus “et al.” in footnotes. 
    • When a source has no identifiable author, cite it by its title.
  • Write out publishers’ names in full. 
  • Do not use access dates unless publication dates are unavailable.  
  • If you cannot ascertain the publication date of a printed work, use the abbreviation “n.d.”
  • If you cannot ascertain the publication date of an online work, write the date that you accessed that work. 
  • Provide DOIs (digital object identifiers) instead of URLs whenever possible

Zotero

Zotero is a free open-source citation manager that can help you organize your sources and generate citations. Go to zotero.org to create a Zotero account and download Zotero. You can use any of your email addresses to create your account. You need to download Zotero in order to fully use it.

You can find additional support documents on Zotero's website: https://www.zotero.org/support/

Group Libraries

Go to zotero.org/groups to create a group library. One person from your team should create the group and then invite the other team members to join. 

Add Sources to Zotero

There are multiple ways to add sources to your Zotero library. 

1. Use the Zotero browser extension. 

  • In the Zotero desktop app, go to Tools and select "Install Browser Connector." Or go to https://www.zotero.org/download/connectors.
  • You can install the Zotero browser connector in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. 
  • Once you have added the browser connector, you can use it to save online sources to your Zotero library. When you find an online source that you want to save, click on the Zotero browser connector symbol.

 

  • A Zotero box will pop up. Select the library and folder that you would like to add the source too. Use the arrow buttons in the Zotero pop up to find your libraries and folders. Then click done.
  • Zotero generally works well with academic sources, like journal articles and ebooks. It works for some webpages, but, some webpages don't provide any information that Zotero can recognize. If that happens, add the webpage manually to your Zotero library. 

2.  Add a source manually.

  • In the Zotero desktop app, click on the green plus sig

 

  • From the drop-down menu, select the type of source you are adding (book, journal article, etc.)
  • Then fill in the information about that source (author, title, date, etc.) 

3. Add a pdf

  • If you have a pdf of an article saved to your computer, you can click and drag the pdf into Zotero. Zotero is often (but not always) able to read the metadata of the pdf and create a record for the article. 

Learn more about adding items to Zotero: https://www.zotero.org/support/adding_items_to_zotero

Create Citations using Zotero

1. GoogleDocs

  • You need to have the Zotero app open on your computer. 
  • You need to have the Zotero Connector installed in Chrome or Firefox to use Zotero in GoogleDocs. 

    The Zotero Connector adds a Zotero menu to the Google Docs interface: 

  • Add/Edit Citation: Add a new citation or edit an existing citation in your document at the cursor location.

    • The first time you select this option, a pop-up will ask you to log in to your Zotero account. 

    • Then another pop-up will ask you to select your citation style. 

    • Then a red box will appear where you can search for the source you wish to cite (start typing in the author or title to see a drop-down list of sources that match your search). 

    • If you do not see the red Zotero search box, click on the Zotero icon at the bottom of your desktop to bring it up

  • Add/Edit Bibliography: Insert a bibliography. (You must already have at least one in-text citation in your document before you can add the bibliography. As you add in-text citations for new sources, those sources will also be added to your bibliography.)

  • Learn more about using Zotero with GoogleDocs: https://www.zotero.org/support/google_docs

2. Word

  • In Zotero, go to Tools and select Add-ons to find and enable the Word plug-in. 
  • Installing the Zotero Word plugin adds a Zotero tab to Microsoft Word. The Zotero tab has options for Add/Edit Citation and Add/Edit Bibliography.

  • Add/Edit Citation: Add a new citation or edit an existing citation in your document at the cursor location.

    • A pop-up will ask you to select your citation style. 

    • Then a red box will appear where you can search for the source you wish to cite (start typing in the author or title to see a drop-down list of sources that match your search). 

    • If you do not see the red Zotero search box, click on the Zotero icon at the bottom of your desktop to bring it up

  • Add/Edit Bibliography: Insert a bibliography. (You must already have at least one in-text citation in your document before you can add the bibliography. As you add in-text citations for new sources, those sources will also be added to your bibliography.)

  • Learn more about the Zotero Word plug-in: https://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_plugin_usage

3. Right-Click to Create Citation/Bibliography

  • To create a bibliography or a citations list in Zotero, highlight one or more references and then right-click (or control-click on Macs) to select “Create Bibliography from Selected Item(s)…”. Then select a citation style for your citation/bibliography format and choose either to create a list of Citations/Notes or a Bibliography. Then choose one of the following four ways to create your citation/bibliography:
    • Save as RTF will allow you to save the bibliography as a rich text file.
    • Save as HTML will allow you to save the bibliography as a HTML file for viewing in a web browser. 
    • Copy to Clipboard will allow you to save the bibliography to your clipboard to paste into any text field.
    • Print will send your bibliography straight to a printer.
  • Learn more about creating bibliographies with Zotero: https://www.zotero.org/support/creating_bibliographies

ZoteroBib

ZoteroBib is free online citation generator. It is useful for quickly generating a citation that you can copy and paste. You do not need an account, and ZoteroBib will not save your sources. Go to zbib.org to use ZoteroBib.