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How to Write and Format a Chicago Style Paper [With Examples]

• 3-minute read
• 18th August 2023

Are you working on a Chicago style project but struggling with the question, “just what is it?!”

Fear not, this post will walk you through Chicago style basics.

What Is Chicago Style?

The Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS) is a comprehensive style guide primarily used by professional writers, publishers, and researchers. It covers various forms of writing, including books, journals, magazines, and other publications. It’s often the go-to style for publishers and editors. CMoS is also known for its emphasis on scholarly writing and is suitable for a wide range of disciplines, including history, literature, the arts, and social sciences.

However, there’s an important distinction between Chicago style and Turabian style , which is essentially a simplified version of CMoS used in scholarly writing. Turabian omits some of the complexities and focuses on the needs of academic writers, especially those in the humanities and social sciences.

With either style, it’s essential to consult the relevant edition of the style guide specified by your institution or publication: either The Chicago Manual of Style or A Manual for Writers by Kate L. Turabian (currently in its ninth edition).

How Are Chicago Style Citations Formatted?

CMoS emphasizes two primary documentation systems : the notes and bibliography system (often used in the humanities) and the author–date system (preferred in the sciences and social sciences). When formatting a CMoS/Turabian paper, you’ll need to adhere to the guidelines associated with your chosen documentation system.

Notes and Bibliography System:

●  In this system, you’ll use footnotes or endnotes to cite sources within the text.

●  A corresponding bibliography is included at the end of the paper, listing all sources in alphabetical order.

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●  Citations typically include author names, titles, publication details, and page numbers.

Author–Date System:

●  In the author–date system, you’ll incorporate in-text citations within parentheses.

●  A reference list is included at the end of the document, providing full details for each cited source.

●  Citations include author’s last names, publication year, and page numbers (if applicable).

What Does Turabian Style Formatting Look Like?

A well-structured Turabian Style paper should adhere to the following formatting guidelines :

•   Title page : Include the title of your paper, your name, the course name/number, instructor’s name, and the date on a separate page, starting a third of the page down. Alternatively, write the title on the first page.
•   Margins : Apply one-inch margins on all sides.
• Indentation and spacing : Indent paragraphs and double-space the main text.
• Font : Use a legible 12-point font (e.g., Times New Roman).
• Page numbers : Number all pages consecutively in the top right corner, starting with the first page. Alternatively, page numbers may be placed at the bottom center of the page.
• Headings and subheadings : Use headline-style capitalization for headings and subheadings, with different levels distinguished.
• Footnotes or in-text citations: Implement your chosen citation system consistently throughout the paper.
• Bibliography or reference list : Include a comprehensive list of all sources used, following Chicago style citation guidelines for your chosen system.

How Should I Choose Which Chicago Style Documentation to Use?

It’s crucial to find out which specific CMoS system is preferred by your institution, publisher, or field of study. Always consult your assignment guidelines or style manual to determine whether you should use the notes and bibliography system or the author–date system. This choice will significantly impact how you format your citations and references.

Remember that mastering CMoS takes practice. By following these guidelines, you’ll be well on your way to crafting polished, professionally formatted papers that meet the expectations of your academic or professional audience.

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Libraries | Research Guides

Chicago style explained, chicago style manual & complements, chicago style background information, your librarian.

Chicago Manual of Style Online - a selection of sections linked below

• Grammar and Usage - finer points of grammar, punctuation, syntax, and bias free language.
• Punctuation -
• Notes and Bibliography - when, why, and how of footnotes, bibliographies, and citation format for different source types
• Author-Date References
• Chicago Style Q&A - review answers to questions submitted, or ask a question yourself!
• Chicago Manual of Style Online - Resources for Students (Turabian) - incudes paper formatting tip sheets, Chicago Style basics, tip sheets on crafting a paper (shaping your writing and research around a research question) and much more.

Allen, M. (2017). Chicago Style , IN The sage encyclopedia of communication research methods (Vols. 1-4). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc doi: 10.4135/9781483381411

This encyclopedia entry provides an overview of Chicago Style, including general style guidelines, formatting a paper, and both the Notes-Bibliography system (used largely in the humanities) and Author-Date system (used largely in the social sciences) .

Chicago style that has been modified for students is known as Turabian style and is documented in A Manual for Writers, originally by Kate L.Turabian, now in its 8th edition.

Gump, S. (2019). Kate L. Turabian. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers. Journal of Scholarly Publishing, 51(1), 99-104.

Gump's review for the 9th edition of Turabian's  A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers includes a helpful history of the origins and editions of this book, along with its role as in intermediate-level guide in relation to the begin ner guide, Student’s Guide to Writing College Papers (also by Turabian), and the Chicago Manual of Style itself.

What follows are a selection of additional articles in the encyclopedia explaining the writing and citing processes.  Use links at the bottom of each article to continue exploring.

• Allen, M. (2017). Citations to Research, IN The sage encyclopedia of communication research methods (Vols. 1-4). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc doi: 10.4135/9781483381411
• Allen, M. (2017).   Acknowledging the Contribution of Others , IN The sage encyclopedia of communication research methods (Vols. 1-4). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc doi: 10.4135/9781483381411
• Allen, M. (2017). Writing Process, The, IN The sage encyclopedia of communication research methods (Vols. 1-4). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc doi: 10.4135/9781483381411
• Allen, M. (2017). Publication Style Guides , IN The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods . 4 vols. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc, 2017. SAGE Research Methods. Web. 24 Jun. 2020, doi: 10.4135/9781483381411.
• Last Updated: May 26, 2022 8:07 AM
• URL: https://libguides.northwestern.edu/chicagostyle

Citation Guides

• AMA Citation Examples
• APA Citation Examples
• APA Sample Paper
• Chicago General Formatting
• Chicago Citation Examples
• Chicago Sample Papers
• MLA General Formatting
• MLA Citation Examples
• MLA Sample Paper
• Theological/Philosophical Citations

Notes & Bibliography or Author/Date?

The Chicago manual of style includes two systems of citation: the Notes and Bibliography system and the Author/Date system. Both serve the same purpose of citing the sources referenced within an academic/professional text, but through different means. Though both are equally valid methods of citing your sources, the Notes and Bibliography system is the most commonly used within Chicago style. Known also as "the footnote style," the Notes and Bibliography style is the one most professors mean when they ask for a paper to be written using Chicago style.

If your professor is not specific about which Chicago citation system they prefer,  do not assume  that this means you can choose between the two. If they do not clarify, they are most likely referring to the Notes and Bibliography system, as that is far and away the most common version to use. But as with all things academia: When in doubt, Ask!

• Notes and Bibliography System
• Author/Date System

Chicago Sample Paper - Notes and Bibliography System

The Notes and Bibliography System is the most widely known and used version of citing sources in Chicago style. This is the preferred system within Chicago system for most professors at the University of Mary.

The following PDF provides a sample paper written in the Chicago style using the Notes and Bibliography System to demonstrate visually how the guidelines work in action. This PDF is used with thanks and full credit to the  Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) , which maintains a robust online guide to applying a variety of style guides, avoiding plagiarism, and writing at the academic level in general. They are strongly recommended as a resource if you need something more in depth than this guide provides.

"CMOS NB Sample Paper."  CMOS NB Sample Paper - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University , Purdue OWL / Purdue University, 7 Nov. 2019, owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/cmos_nb_sample_paper.html. Accessed on 2 Feb. 2024.

Chicago Sample Paper - Author/Date System

The Author/Date system of Chicago style is a unique system of citation and formatting that is largely recognized by its in-text, parenthetical citations (visually, it is very similar to MLA style). Typically, this system is not used much at the University of Mary, so check with your professors before using it in any class.

Though you may not find that you use it much at UMary, we have included the following PDF provides a sample paper written using the Author/Date System to demonstrate visually how the guidelines work in action. This PDF is used with thanks and full credit to the  Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) , which maintains a robust online guide to applying a variety of style guides, avoiding plagiarism, and writing at the academic level in general. They are strongly recommended as a resource if you need something more in depth than this guide provides.

"CMOS Author Date Sample Paper."  CMOS Author Date Sample Paper - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University , Purdue OWL / Purdue University, 16 Feb. 2018, owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/cmos_nb_sample_paper.html. Accessed on 2 Feb. 2024.

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• Next: MLA (Modern Language Association) >>
• Last Updated: Jun 14, 2024 4:03 PM
• URL: https://libguide.umary.edu/citations

• MJC Library & Learning Center
• Research Guides

Ready, Set, Cite (Chicago)

• Formatting the Paper
• Chicago Style Basics

Paper Formatting Basics

Major paper sections, sample papers.

• Citation Basics
• Plagiarism & Its Consequences
• Citations: Author-Date References System
• Notes-Bibliography System
• Annotated Bibliography

Using Word to Format Your Paper

The video below gives you step-by-step instructions for using Word to format your paper.

Please note: Your teacher is the final authority for how you should format your paper. For example, Chicago Manual of Style  provides for variations in where you place the page numbers for your paper. Turabian recommends that you pick a format and use if consistently. Therefore, the video may show you some style variations that you will not use in your paper.

Margins:  Should be set at no less than 1" and no greater than 1.5" on all four edges of the page

Font:  Uniform typeface and font size. 12 point, roman, proportional serif font (such as Times or Palatino). Except for footnotes  which should be in a smaller font (usually 10 pt.)

Line-spacing: Double-space throughout the paper, except for the following items which should be single-spaced

• block quotations
• table titles and figure captions

The following items should be single-spaced internally but with a blank line between items:

• certain elements in the front matter, including the table of contents and any lists of figures, tables, and abbreviations
• footnotes or endnotes
• bibliographies or reference lists

Paragraphs and indentation:  Indent all paragraphs consistently. Use tabs rather than spaces for indentation, columns of text, and other content requiring consistent alignment. Block quotations have their own rules for indentation, depending on whether they are prose or poetry.

Page numbers:  Page numbers begin in the header of the first page of text with Arabic number 1.  Do not number the title page. Page numbers are usually placed in one of three locations. Choose one of these locations and follow it consistently:

• centered in the  footer (at the bottom of the page),
• centered in the  header (at the top of the page), or
• flush right in the header. 

For more details check out these paper guidelines:

• General CMS Guidelines From the OWL (Online Writing Lab) at Purdue

Title Page 

Class papers will either include a title page or will include the title on the first page of the text. Use the following guidelines to format your title page if your paper includes one:   

• The title should be centered a third of the way down the page.  
• Your name and class information should follow several lines later.  
• For subtitles, end the title line with a colon and place the subtitle on the line below the title.

This is the text of your paper.

• Titles mentioned in the text, notes, or bibliography are capitalized "headline-style," meaning first words of titles and subtitles and any important words thereafter should be capitalized.
• Titles in the text as well as in notes and bibliographies are treated with quotation marks or italics based on the type of work they name.
• A prose quotation of 5 or more lines should be "blocked." Block quotations are single spaced and use no quotation marks, but leave an extra space before and after. Indent the entire quotation .5".
• Label this page Bibliography (for the notes and bibliography system).
• Label this page References  (for the author-date system).
• Leave two blank lines between "Bibliography" or "References" and your first entry.
• Leave one blank line between remaining entries.
• Use "and" not "&" for multiple author entries.
• Write out publishers' names in full.
• If there is no publication date of a  printed work, use the abbreviation "n.d."
• Do not use access dates unless publication dates are unavailable.
• Provide DOIs instead of URLs whenever possible.
• Note numbers should begin with “1” and follow consecutively throughout your paper.
• Chicago has an optional system of five heading levels. Usually only used for longer papers.

Tables and Figures

• If you have any

To see what your paper should look like, check out these sample papers with built-in instructions .

• Sample Paper (with built-in instructions) Example of a paper written using the Notes and Bibliography system. From the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University
• Sample Paper (with built-in instructions) Example of a paper written using the Author-Date References system. From the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University
• << Previous: Chicago Style Basics
• Next: Citation Basics >>
• Last Updated: Apr 18, 2024 12:04 PM
• URL: https://libguides.mjc.edu/chicago

Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 and CC BY-NC 4.0 Licenses .

Chicago Research Paper Formatting

What is chicago, terminology when searching the databases.

• Chicago 17th Template & Paper Sample
• Finding Sources for Your Paper
• Additional Resources

The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) presents two basic documentation systems: (1) notes and bibliography and (2) author-date. Choosing between the two often depends on what your professor requests. Here is an explanation of the differences: 

Notes and Bibliography: Commonly used in the humanities ,  sources are cited in numbered footnotes or endnotes. Each note corresponds to a raised (superscript) number in the text. Sources are also usually listed in a separate bibliography.

Author-date: Commonly used in the sciences and social sciences ,  sources are briefly cited in the text, usually in parentheses, by author’s last name and year of publication. Each in-text citation matches up with an entry in a reference list, where full bibliographic information is provided.

Turabian style  follows the CMOS patterns of documentation with slight modifications suited toward student texts.

 Please check out the Chicago 17th Template & Paper Sample tab for a template of each style! 

Assignment Guidelines and/or Rubric : What is required in the assignment or how the assignment will be graded. Read these before searching. The assignment guidelines/rubric will tell you what limits to apply and what type of research material you need to use in the assignment. Refer back to the assignment guidelines/rubric frequently. 

Full Text : Allows you to read the complete article 

Peer Reviewed : Finds articles that have gone through a peer review process prior to publication, which indicates quality research. May also be called scholarly articles or refereed articles. 

Publication Date : Allows you to limit a search by date range. Read your assignment guidelines to determine if you need to use this limit. May need to go to the Advanced Search in a database to find this limit. 

Advanced Search : Allows you to add additional limits not found on the Basic Search page

Permalink : A stable link that lets you return to that page. When searching in the databases, look for a permalink to save the page. Saving the link at the top of the page or bookmarking the page will not  work, and you could lose your resource(s). 

Cite/Citation : This symbol varies depending on what database you are using. Make sure to choose the correct citation style (e.g. MLA Style, APA Style, Chicago Style) for your assignment. Also, these automatically-generated citations are not necessarily correct. Check it using Polk State Libraries' Citing Sources guide. 

Email : This symbol lets you email the article (does not need to be your school email). Also, depending on the database, sometimes you can specify if you want the automatically-generated citation included with the article. It is a good idea to check your email to make sure you received the article before closing out of the browser. 

• Next: Chicago 17th Template & Paper Sample >>
• Last Updated: Apr 17, 2024 11:25 AM
• URL: https://libguides.polk.edu/chicago

Polk State College is committed to equal access/equal opportunity in its programs, activities, and employment. For additional information, visit polk.edu/compliance .

Thursday, February 23: The Clark Library is closed today.

Chicago Style (17th Edition) Citation Guide: Introduction

• Introduction
• Journal Articles
• Magazine/Newspaper Articles
• Books & Ebooks
• Government & Legal Documents
• Secondary Sources
• Videos & DVDs
• How to Cite: Biblical & Catholic Sources
• How to Cite: Other
• Short Form & Ibid.
• Additional Help

Who should use Chicago Style?

Chicago style is the preferred citation style for history and theology.

Note:  UP typically uses the "notes and bibliography" format of Chicago style, not the "author date" format.

What is Chicago Style?

Chicago style was created by the University of Chicago. It is a set of rules for publications, including research papers.

In Chicago style, you must cite sources that you have paraphrased, quoted or otherwise used to write your research paper. Cite your sources in two places:

• In the body of your paper where you add a footnote  (which appears in the footer at the bottom of the page).
• In the bibliography  at the end of your paper.
• Chicago Style 17th ed. Notes and Bibliography Sample Paper (Purdue OWL)

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Chicago Manual of Style

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• Last Updated: Aug 1, 2024 1:58 PM
• URL: https://libguides.up.edu/chicago

How to Format Your Research Paper

• APA 7 Paper Format
• MLA Paper Format

Writing Your Paper: Chicago

Chicago style papers.

• Hanging Indents
• Ask a Librarian

Chicago Style Resources

• How Do I Format My Class Paper in Chicago Style? If your instructor has specific requirements for the format of your research paper, check with them before preparing your final draft. The most common formatting is presented here.

Things to know before you begin:

• Font:  Times New Roman  
• Font Size:  12 point
• Margins:  1 inch
• Paragraphs: All paragraphs should be indented.
• Spacing: All of the text in the body of your paper should be double-spaced.

Typical Chicago style papers have three sections:

• Bibliography

See the tabs below for a breakdown of how each portion should be formatted.

• Sample Papers

Below you will find an example of an accurately formatted CMOS paper. 

• Sample Paper Chicago Style - PDF Click here to see a sample of an accurately formatted CMOS paper.
• Sample Paper Chicago Style - Word Click here to see a sample of an accurately formatted CMOS paper.

• Your title should be centered and place a third of the way down the page. Use Times New Roman 12-point font.
• Capitalize all the words in your title. If there is a subtitle, place it on the second line.
• Place your course name first, then your name, then the due date of the paper. This should be double-spaced and placed in the bottom third of your paper. 

• Start the body of your paper on the first line of a new page.
• Insert the page number in the top right corner of the page using the header function.
• CMS uses footnotes. Place the footnote after any punctuation. Each number must have an entry at the bottom of the page.

• Center the word "Bibliography" on the first line of a new page.
• Your citations should be alphabetical.
• Each entry is single-spaced with one blank line separating entries.
• Be sure to use a hanging indent for any citations that require more than one line.

Need help formatting your Chicago/Turabian style citations using the 17th edition of the  Chicago Manual of Style ? Click the image or link below to go to the citation guide.

• Chicago Style Citations

Need help learning what hanging indents are and how to create them using Google Docs or Microsoft Word? 

• Hanging Indents This page gives a brief description of what they are, where to find information on when and how to properly use them, and also video tutorials on how to create them.

Need help learning what footnotes are and  how to create them  using Google Docs or Microsoft Word? 

• Footnotes This page gives a brief description of what they are, where to find information on when and how to properly use them, and also video tutorials on how to create them.
• << Previous: MLA Paper Format
• Next: Footnotes >>
• Last Updated: Jul 19, 2024 3:41 PM
• URL: https://necc.mass.libguides.com/formatting

To cite this LibGuide use the following templates:

APA : Northern Essex Community College Library. (Date updated). Title of page . Title of LibGuide. URL

MLA : Northern Essex Community College Library. "Title of Page." Title of LibGuide, Date updated, URL.

• Library Catalogue

Citing tables, figures, and images: Chicago (17th ed) citation guide

On this page.

This guide is based on The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed. It provides examples of citations for commonly-used sources, using Notes and bibliography style only . For more detailed information consult directly The Chicago Manual of Style  (17th ed.) [ print ]. 

For the Author-date style, see the  Social sciences/sciences system .

In Chicago Style, the term figure can refer to illustrations or images that are displayed or reproduced separately from the text. Illustrations or images, in this case, can refer to a wide range of visual materials, including photographs, maps, drawings, and charts placed within a text. [ 3.1 ] [ 3.5 ]

Figures can be used to more easily refer to illustrations cited in your writing. This is particularly helpful where there are several cited illustrations. An example of a textual reference to a figure might look like the following: "as figure 2 shows..."; "when comparing figures 3 and 4." The lowercase  figure  should be used when making references to figures in the text. [ 3.9 ]

Figure captions

Captions are usually included immediately below a figure, and provide a text explanation of the visual. [ 3.9 ] The amount of detail in captions can vary from a few words to several sentences. Caption text should, where appropriate, be formatted as complete sentences with capitalization and punctuation. [ 3.21 ]

The titles of works, such as those from which the figures are taken, should be reproduced according to the standard Chicago Style rules, discussed in Chapter 8 of the manual, for notes and textual references. [ 3.22 ]

A credit line, which includes a statement about the figure's source, should be included.  [ 3.29 ] This credit line often appears at the end of a caption. [ 3.30 ]

Figure 4. Frontispiece of Christian Prayers and Meditations (London: John Daye, 1569), showing Queen Elizabeth at prayer in her private chapel. Reproduced by permission of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Trustees of the Lambeth Palace Library.

Figure 3. Detailed stratigraphy and geochronology of the Dubawnt Supergroup.

Citing figures found in other works

When citing a figure, such as an illustration included within another text, you can include the abbreviation  fig.  to refer to the figure.

     1. First Name Last Name of creator, Title of Work  (Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication), page number,  figure number.

     1. Kate van Orden, Music, Authorship, and the Book in the First Century of Print (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013), 38, fig. 2.

Images are sometimes referred to as illustrations, artwork, or art in the Chicago Style, and refer to images presented separately from text (as opposed to an embedded chart or figure). Images, or illustrations, can come in a range of forms, including charts, maps, line drawings, paintings, and photographs. [ 3.1 ]

• Information about paintings, photographs, sculptures, or other works of art can usually be presented in the text rather than in a note or bibliography. [ 14.235 ]
• If note or bibliography entry is needed, follow the guidelines below. 

     1. First Name Last Name of creator, Title of Work, date of creation or completion, medium, Name of Institution, location (if applicable), URL.

As illustrated in Three Planets Dance over La Sill [1] ,  the phenomenon of 'syzygy' is when celestial bodies align in the sky. 

     1. Yuri Beletsky, Three Planets Dance over La Silla , June 3, 2013, photograph, European Southern Observatory, https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1322a/ .

Incorporating images into the text of your paper

• If you chose to incorporate images into the text of your paper, the image should appear as soon as possible after the first text reference to it. [ 3.8 ]
• Images should bear numbers, and all text references to them should be by the numbers (eg. “as figure 1 shows…”) The word “figure” should be lowercased and fully spelled out, unless in parenthetical references (where “fig” may be used). [ 3.9 ]
• Below the image, the caption will begin with “Figure” or “Fig.” followed by a number and period. (Eg. Figure 1.) [ 3.23 ]
• A caption may consist of a word or two, an incomplete or a complete sentence, several sentences, or a combination. [ 3.21 ]
• Within a caption, most titles (including those for paintings, drawings, photographs, statues, and books) will be capitalized and italicized. [ 3.22 ]
• A brief statement of the source of an illustration, known as a credit line, is usually appropriate and sometimes required by the owner of the illustration.[ 3.29 ]
• A credit line usually appears at the end of a caption, sometimes in parentheses. [ 3.30 ]
• In addition to author, title, publication details, and (occasionally) copyright date, the credit line should include any page or figure number. If the work being credited is listed in the bibliography or reference list, only a shortened form need appear in the credit line [ 3.32 ]
• Illustrations from works in the public domain may be reproduced without permission. For readers’ information, however, a credit line is appropriate. [ 3.35 ]

Chicago in-text citation example

When celestial bodies are in alignment (see fig. 1) it is called syzygy.

*Note: The above formatting is meant as a guideline only. There is no definitive format for a figure caption. For example, see some examples of captions from the Chicago manual:                        

• Figure 1. Frontispiece of  Christian Prayers and Meditations  (London: John Daye, 1569), showing Queen Elizabeth at prayer in her private chapel. Reproduced by permission of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Trustees of the Lambeth Palace Library.
• Figure 2. Francis Bedford,  Stratford on Avon Church from the Avon, 1860s. Albumen print of collodion negative, 18.8 × 28.0 cm. Rochester, International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House.
• Figure 3. The myth that all children love dinosaurs is contradicted by this nineteenth-century scene of a visit to the monsters at Crystal Palace. (Cartoon by John Leech. “Punch’s Almanack for 1855,”  Punch  28 [1855]: 8. Photo courtesy of the Newberry Library, Chicago.)

Bibliography 

General format.

Last name First name. Title of Work. Date of creation or completion. Medium. Name of Institution. Location (if applicable). URL.

Beletsky, Yuri. Three Planets Dance over La Silla.  June 3, 2013. Photograph. European Southern Observatory. https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1322a/ .

In Chicago Style, a table is defined as list presented as an array with horizontal rows and vertical columns. [ 3.2 ]

When more than one table is included, table numbering is recommended. However, this numbering should be separate from figure/illustration numbering (for example, fig. 1, fig 2., table 1, fig 3.). [ 3.50 ]

References to tables in the text should use the lowercase form of the word table. [ 3.50 ] A numbered table should be included as soon as possible after it is first referenced in the text. [ 3.51 ]

Notes to a table come in several types, and are always included directly below a table. These notes should have a separate numbering scheme from the text notes. [ 3.76 ]

For tables taken from another source, acknowledgement needs to be made in an unnumbered footnotes starting with  Source:  or  Sources:  [ 3.77 ]

Sources: Data from Richard H. Adams Jr., “Remittances, Investment, and Rural Asset Accumulation in Pakistan,” Economic Development and Cultural Change 47, no. 1 (1998): 155–73; David Bevan, Paul Collier, and Jan Gunning, Peasants and Government: An Economic Analysis (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989), 125–28.

Sources: Data from Adams (1998); Bevan, Collier, and Gunning (1989).

Research Guides

Gould library, how to cite your sources.

• Tools and Handbooks

Chicago Quick Guides!

Video examples of chicago manual of style, citing other publication types.

• Citing Government Documents
• Citing Rare Books
• Citing Archival Material
• Image Credits and Captions
• Informal Attribution

Style Guides

What does an Annotated Bibliography look like?

• Chicago Manual of Style: Annotated bibliography example Remember that your annotated bibliographies are not simply lists. They are creative, rhetorical devices that map out the scholarly conversation on a topic.

More Videos on Chicago

• Chicago Style - Books (Video)
• Chicago Style - Journals (Video)
• Chicago Style - Websites & Social Media (Video)
• Notes & Bibliography
• Author-Date

(N) = footnote or endnote style ; (B) = Bibliography style

Your bibliography should be alphabetized by author last name. For works that do not have an author, alphabetize by item title (omitting articles like "a" or "the"). Your bibliography should also be formatted using Hanging Indents .

Newspaper Article/Newspapers

(N) "Shipping News,"  New York Herald , December 4, 1868, Readex America's Historical Newspapers.

(B) The New York Herald, 1868-1878.

(B) The Ohio State Journal (Columbus, Ohio) April 1-20, 1900.

• See:  14.191: Basic citation format for newspaper articles
• Newspapers are more commonly cited in notes or parenthetical references than in bibliographies.
• An example from the Carleton History Department on how to cite a newspaper in a bibliography (if needed)

(N) 1. “Balkan Romani,” Endangered Languages, Alliance for Linguistic Diversity, accessed September 2, 2022, https://web.archive.org/web/20220822122125/https://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/5342.

• See  14.207: Citing web pages and websites for other options : Include a publication date or date of revision or modification if possible; else, access date
• See  14.10: Short forms for URLs for help with long, weird URLs
• You may also choose to cite to the Internet Archive instead of the live website

Images and Art

(N) 1. Michelangelo Buonarroti, The Slave , 1513-15, marble, 2.09 m., Paris, The Louvre.

(B) Buonarroti, Michelangelo. The Slave , 1513-15. Marble, 2.09 m. Paris, The Louvre.

• See:  14.235: Citing paintings, photographs, and sculpture
• See: Best practices for Creative Commons attribution

If citing images found in published works or online collections, cite them similarly to book chapters, articles, or web pages within website, with the artist in the author position and the image title in the chapter title, article title, or webpage title position.

Data Sets & DH Projects

(N) 1. Creator,  Title  (Place: Publisher, Year), link.

(B) Creator. Title.  Place: Publisher, Year. link.

(N) 1. The World Bank. Washington Development Indicators . (Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, 2012). http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators.

(B) The World Bank. World Development Indicators . Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, 2012. http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators.

• See:  Example of how to cite different parts of a digital humanities project

Primary Sources in a Republished Source

When possible, always find and cite the original. If this is absolutely impossible, you may need to cite a primary source that is republished in a secondary source.

Follow whatever citation rules apply to your specific item type; for instance, because this example is a newspaper article, there's only a short bibliography entry. If this were a different item type, the bibliography entry might look different. 

(N) 1. [Complete citation for the older/original item; see Archival Citations  or above for help], quoted in [Complete citation for newer/secondary source; see above for help], page #, URL/doi.

(B) [Complete citation for the older/original item; see Archival Citations or above for help]. Quoted in [Complete citation for newer/secondary source; see above for help]. URL/doi. 

(N) 1. Itthi, "Love Problems of the Third Sex -- Solved by Go Pakhnam" [in Thai], Plaek , July 7, 1976, quoted in Peter A. Jackson, First Queer Voices from Thailand: Uncle Go’s Advice Columns for Gays, Lesbians and Kathoeys (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2016), 196-197,  https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1bj4sqf .

(B) Plaek . July 7, 1976. Quoted in Peter A. Jackson. First Queer Voices from Thailand: Uncle Go’s Advice Columns for Gays, Lesbians and Kathoeys. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2016. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1bj4sqf .

• See:  14.260: Citations taken from secondary sources
• See: Citing Primary Sources Published in Edited Collections  (Trent University)

If citing images or art that stand alone:

Buonarroti, Michelangelo. 1513-15. The Slav e. Marble, 2.09 m. Paris, The Louvre.

Creator. Year. Title . Place: Publisher. link

The World Bank. 2012. World Development Indicators . Washington, D.C.: The World Bank. http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators.

Lastname, Firstname. Year.  Title . Performed by Firstname Lastname. Place: Studio. Format.

Wong, John. 1999. Cool People at the Libe. Directed by Cat Toff. Northfield: Gould Libe. DVD.

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• Citing a Journal Article in Chicago Style | Format & Examples

Citing a Journal Article in Chicago Style | Format & Examples

Published on May 3, 2022 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on April 9, 2024.

Chicago Citation Generator

To cite an online journal article in Chicago notes and bibliography style, list the author’s name, the title of the article, the journal name, volume, issue, and publication date, the page range on which the article appears, and a DOI or URL.

For an article accessed in print, follow the same format and simply omit the DOI or URL. Pay attention to the punctuation (e.g., commas , quotation marks , parentheses ) in your citations and notes.

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Table of contents

Citing an article from a database, journal articles with multiple authors, citing journal articles in chicago author-date style, finding source information for a journal article, frequently asked questions about chicago style citations.

Online articles, including those accessed through databases (e.g., Project MUSE or JSTOR), should generally be cited with a DOI , a link designed to permanently and reliably link to the article. In this case, there’s no need to include the database name.

If no DOI is available, you may include a stable URL or permalink. However, don’t use the URL from your browser’s address bar, as this is usually specific to your login session.

If no DOI or stable URL is available, list the name of the database at the end of your citation instead.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Journal articles often have multiple authors. Author names should be listed in the order they appear at the head of the article (not in alphabetical order).

In your notes, list up to three authors in full. When there are four or more authors, list only the first, followed by “ et al. ” (Latin for “and others”).

In your Chicago style bibliography , list up to 10 authors in full.

If there are 11 or more authors, list the first seven in the bibliography, followed by “et al.”

In Chicago author-date style , an in-text citation consists of the author’s last name, the year of publication, and a page number.

Each Chicago in-text citation must correspond to an entry in your reference list . This is almost identical to a bibliography entry, except the year comes after the author’s name, and only the month appears in brackets.

Author-date journal citation examples

• Online article
• Article from database
• Print article

The information you need for your citations is usually listed above the article in the database where you found it. The image below shows where to find the relevant information on Project MUSE, for example.

With this information, we can construct our bibliography entry.

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The DOI is usually clearly visible when you open a journal article on an academic database. It is often listed near the publication date, and includes “doi.org” or “DOI:”. If the database has a “cite this article” button, this should also produce a citation with the DOI included.

If you can’t find the DOI, you can search on Crossref using information like the author, the article title, and the journal name.

In Chicago notes and bibliography style , the usual standard is to use a full note for the first citation of each source, and short notes for any subsequent citations of the same source.

However, your institution’s guidelines may differ from the standard rule. In some fields, you’re required to use a full note every time, whereas in some other fields you can use short notes every time, as long as all sources are listed in your bibliography . If you’re not sure, check with your instructor.

Page numbers should be included in your Chicago in-text citations when:

• You’re quoting from the text.
• You’re paraphrasing a particular passage.
• You’re referring to information from a specific section.

When you’re referring to the overall argument or general content of a source, it’s unnecessary to include page numbers.

When a source has four or more authors , your in-text citation or Chicago footnote should give only the first author’s name followed by “ et al. ” (Latin for “and others”). This makes your citations more concise.

In your bibliography or reference list , when a source has more than 10 authors, list the first seven followed by “et al.” Otherwise, list every author.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2024, April 09). Citing a Journal Article in Chicago Style | Format & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved August 5, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/chicago-style/journal-articles/

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College-wide Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition

• CHICAGO RESEARCH PAPER
• CITING BOOKS
• CITING ARTICLES
• CITING WEBSITES

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Chicago Manual of Style , 17th Edition, is available at EFSC campus Libraries

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CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE 17TH Ed, Research Paper

The Chicago Style offers two types of citations: bibliography style and reference list style. This guide assists with the bibliography style. Please consider your instructor's assignment requirements.

Your Chicago-style research paper should have the following components:

1. Chicago-style title page

2. The body of the paper with correct margins, in-text citations, etc.

3. Endnotes or footnotes

4. Bibliography 

Paper-Formatting Tip Sheets   (Margins, Title page, Citations, Crafting a paper & more)

Please contact an Eastern Florida State College Librarian if you experience any barriers to accessing these materials or need research help. Cocoa 321-433-7662 Melbourne 321-433-5576 Palm Bay 321-433-5275 Titusville 321-433-5036

"College-wide Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition" by Marian Smith.  CC by 4.0 .

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• Last Updated: May 17, 2024 10:11 AM
• URL: https://libguides.easternflorida.edu/ChicagoStyle

Citation Styles

What is chicago style, chicago style resources, citing your sources in chicago style, microsoft word templates, chicago style manuals in the library.

• Annotated Bibliographies
• Literature Reviews
• Zotero (Citation Management)

• It is a documentation style for writing and formatting research papers, including citing sources.
• Commonly used for humanities, including history, literature, and art
• Commonly used for science and social sciences
• Also known as Turabian Style which was named after Kate Turabian who wrote a research paper manual based on the Chicago Style that is geared towards students
• The Turabian Style contains comprehensive rules and examples for citing
• Excelsior OWL: Chicago Guide Excelsior's Online Writing Lab gives details on how to cite a variety of sources and how to format your research papers.
• Western Oregon University Chicago Style Guide Another detailed step-by-step guide to building both Notes-Bibliography and Author-Date style citations and formatting your paper according to Chicago Style guidelines
• ZoteroBib ZoteroBib is a free service that helps you quickly create a bibliography in any citation style.

Notes-Bibliography System   (Humanities)

Use a footnote or endnote to acknowledge that you are quoting or paraphrasing another author's words or ideas in the text of your research paper.

Place a super-text number at the end of a quote or paraphrased section.* Citation numbers should appear in sequential order.

Create a footnote at the bottom of the page. ( See the Microsoft Word Template section below for directions on how to do this in your paper.)

The first footnote for a source contains the author, title, publication information, and page number(s). The remaining footnotes (shortened notes) for the same source contain only the author, title, and page number(s).

• Here are some examples .

Author-Date System   (Sciences)

Use an in-text citation to acknowledge that you are quoting or paraphrasing another author's words or ideas in the text of your research paper.

The in-text citation appears in parentheses and includes (Author's Last Name(s) Year of Publication, Page Numbers)

Bibliography (Required for both systems above!)

• Include a reference list at the end of your paper. The list should begin on a new page and contain a full citation for each in-text citation referenced within your paper.
• Leave two blank lines between your bibliography title and the first citation.
• Citations should be single-spaced with a hanging indent. Leave one blank line between each citation.
• Each full citation should include the specific publication information required by Chicago rules. This allows your reader to find the sources, if desired.
• Arrange the citations alphabetically by the first word in each entry. This is usually the author's last name but may be the title if the source has no author.
• The way a bibliographic entry is structured will be the same regardless of which in-text citation style you use, with one exception: if you used author-date as your in-text citation style, you will place the publication date immediately after the author section, as opposed to at/near the end. This makes it easier for readers to find the appropriate citation in your reference list.
• Learn more about the Chicago style bibliography .

Microsoft Word Tips for Chicago Style

• When you open a new Microsoft Word document to start your paper, click on the References Tab, go to the Citations and Bibliography box, and in the Style box choose Chicago.
• When you need to insert a Footnote, click on the References Tab, go to the Footnotes box, and click on Insert Footnote.
• When you need to insert an In-text citation click on the Reference Tab, go to the Citations and Bibliography box, and click on Insert Citation.

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We present a dynamic two-country model in which military spending, geopolitical risk, and government bond prices are jointly determined. The model is consistent with three empirical facts: hegemons have a funding advantage, this advantage rises with geopolitical tensions, and war...

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Global Hegemony and Exorbitant Privilege

We present a dynamic two-country model in which military spending, geopolitical risk, and government bond prices are jointly determined. The model is consistent with three empirical facts: hegemons have a funding advantage, this advantage rises with geopolitical tensions, and war losers suffer from higher debt devaluation than victors. Even though higher debt capacity increases the military and financial advantage of the exogenously stronger country, it also gives rise to equilibrium multiplicity and the possibility that the weaker country overwhelms the stronger country with support from financial markets. For intermediate debt capacity, transitional dynamics exhibit geopolitical hysteresis, with dominance determined by initial conditions, unless war is realized and induces a hegemonic transition. For high debt capacity, transitional dynamics exhibit geopolitical fragility, where bond market expectations drive unpredictable transitions in dominance, and hegemonic transitions occur even in the absence of war.

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Resources for Students

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
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables and Figures
• Introduction or Conclusion
• Sections and Subheads
• Chapter Opening Page
• Figure and Figure Caption
• Bibliography
• 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 [email protected] . 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 .

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Admissions Overview

2025-26 admissions theme: environmental humanities.

The Department of English currently has a themed admissions process. This means that the cohort of students admitted each year shares a particular area of research or methodology. Previous themes have included Black studies, Pre-1900 literature, and Poetry and poetics. This year’s theme is described below. Such a themed approach to PhD admissions has pluses and minuses: it allows the department to focus course offerings and programming, but strong applicants may be excluded by the particularity of a given year’s theme. We have nonetheless decided to continue with themed admissions at present. Note that the department anticipates that each theme is broadly salient and will be realized in varied ways. All themes are conceived as inclusive of multiple time periods and subfields.

For the 2025-2026 graduate admissions cycle, the University of Chicago English Department is prioritizing applications focusing on literature and culture in relation to environment, ecology, and space. Possible areas of interest include (but are not limited to) the environmental humanities; built environments and literature; geography and urbanization; the atmosphere and setting of literary and artistic works and circles; ecopoetics; the poetics and politics of space.  We encourage applications from students wishing to work in all historical periods, and on texts from and about any region of the world. We welcome hybrid scholars working in creative and critical modes or across media, or doing public humanities and public-facing work that foregrounds environmental and spatial concerns.   For more information on faculty and current graduate students in this area, please visit the  department website .

You may indicate up to five Areas of Study in which you are interested, in ranked order.  

Admissions Themes

 Year 2 (2025–26): Environmental, ecological, and/or spatial matters, including eco-aesthetics, built environments and literature, geography and urbanization, and environmental e/affects. Prospective students might also consider connections to the Committee on Environment, Geography and Urbanization.

Year 3 (2026–27): Transnational literature, migration, and movement, including decolonial literatures, speculative fictions, the movement of cultural meaning, and translation.

Request More Information Here  

Request More Information

Students applying to the PhD program in English Language and Literature at the University of Chicago must complete an online application and upload the following to that application:

• Scanned transcripts from all college-level, degree-track programs. [Note: For Spring 2020 transcripts, ‘Pass’ grades and letter grades will be regarded as equivalent as we evaluate applications for admission to our PhD program.]
• 3-4 confidential letters of recommendation (recommenders may upload directly or you may use a service like Interfolio).
• A 15-20 page writing sample (double-spaced; page count does not include bibliography)
• A statement of academic purpose, 1-3 pages, single-spaced

The online application for the 2024-25 academic year will open in October. 

The application deadline for Autumn 2024 will be: December 14, 2023  

Learn more here

English Proficiency

Applicants for whom English is not a primary language may be required to submit current scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language ( TOEFL ) or the International English Language Testing System ( IELTS ). Current scores are no more than two years old at the time of application submission. A complete description of the English proficiency policy may be found at  this website , and questions about the English proficiency requirement should be directed to  [email protected] .

For more information on English proficiency requirements refer to the  UChicagoGRAD webpage .

Frequently Asked Questions

Information for applicants impacted by covid-19.

The English Department as well as other Graduate programs at the University of Chicago share a desire to identify the most promising students for admission, and assess a wide variety of factors on a holistic basis. Faculty and admissions committees are aware of the disruptions impacting not just academic coursework and grading systems, but also research, travel, internships, employment, and many other activities. In light of the unprecedented challenges associated with COVID-19 facing individuals, institutions, and organizations, UChicago will evaluate applicants with these significant impacts in mind.

The University fully expects that admissions committees will evaluate all applicants with this in mind during future admissions cycles, including respecting decisions, whether made by institutions or individual students, to grade courses in Spring 2020 on a Pass/No Pass or other basis.

Does the Department of English accept applications by mail? No. The department, with the rest of the Humanities Division graduate programs, only accepts  online applications .

GRE & GPA

Does the Department of English require the GRE exam? No.  The department does not require  any  GRE exam scores.

Does the Department of English Admissions Committee have cutoff levels for GPAs? No. The Admissions Committee does not have specific cutoff levels for GPAs, nor does the Department report average GPAs. Please note that the Admissions Committee generally considers your writing sample, statement of purpose, and recommendation letters to be of most relevance.

Questions about Application Materials

My writing sample is over 20 pages long. Will my application still be considered?

Your application will still be considered if your writing sample is over the recommended upper limit of 20 pages. This recommended limit is not absolutely fixed, but we strongly suggest that applicants try to adhere to it as closely as possible. If you are unable to reduce the paper you want to use as a writing sample in your PhD application to 20 pages, please consider providing an 20-page excerpt from that paper and supplying a brief (one-page or less) abstract that contextualizes the function and place of the excerpted section within the paper as a whole. Place the explanation and writing on one pdf.

What is the deadline for uploading all application materials?  

All application materials  must  be uploaded on the application  by the application deadline  to guarantee inclusion with your application. We cannot guarantee that materials uploaded after the deadline will be included in the review process as your application may have already been reviewed by the committee. We strongly prefer that faculty recommendations be uploaded by the application deadline. If this is impossible, recommenders should contact Humanities Admissions at [email protected] .

Do page counts refer to single- or double-spaced pages?

 The writing sample should be 15-20 pages double-spaced. The statement of academic purpose (also referred to as the Candidate or Personal Statement, or the "Statement of Intent") should be 1-3 pages single-spaced. Additional PhD application information can be found on the  Division of Humanities Admissions  webpage.

Master's Degree

Does the Department of English offer a master's degree? No. The Department of English does not offer a terminal MA degree. We recommend that students interested in master's-level work consider applying to the  Master of Arts Program in the Humanities  (MAPH). MAPH provides students with strong pedagogical support, including writing colloquia, a core course, and master's thesis workshops.

Department of English students can earn an MA while on the PhD track, providing they do not already hold an MA in English.

Does the PhD program have different requirements for students who already hold a master's degree in English? The admissions committee will review the transcripts of students entering the program with an MA in English to evaluate if any of their previous graduate course work will be counted as fulfilling requirements in our program. Typically, students who enter the program with an MA in English must take at least one year of course work, plus an additional two courses in their second year of the program. (By contrast, students who enter the program with a BA degree are required to take two full years of courses.)

• University of Chicago Admissions FAQ
• Division of the Humanities Admissions

Miscellaneous

Should I contact faculty with whom I would like to study before applying?  

It is not necessary or advantageous to contact individual faculty regarding your application. 

Once I've submitted my application, how can I check that my materials were received?  

Once your application is submitted, you can log in to the submission site to track the receipt of your application. As the Admissions Office receives your application materials, they will update your checklist.

Does the Department of English fund all admitted students?

All incoming doctoral students receive a comprehensive funding package to support them in their scholarly and pedagogical training and are eligible to be registered for up to 9 years. The funding package includes:

• An academic year stipend (and teaching remuneration)
• Full tuition aid
• Health insurance premium aid

How many applicants does the PhD program receive per year and how many of these applicants are admitted? In recent years, we have received around 500 applications a year and have admitted anywhere from 2% to 5% of those applicants into our PhD program.

I would like to apply for a joint degree program at the University of Chicago. How can I go about doing this? Please refer to the  Division of the Humanities  page regarding joint degree information. 

I am currently enrolled in a PhD program at another University and would like to transfer to the University of Chicago. How can I do this? The PhD program in English does not accept transfer students. For admission, you must apply as would any other prospective student, regardless of your academic background. The admission committee will assess your academic progress and see what graduate courses, if any, may be counted toward your PhD course work at University of Chicago.

How many times a year do you accept PhD applicants?  We only accept new PhD students in the fall. The application portal opens in early October and closes mid-December. We recommend that you check the Division of the Humanities page . 

I am an international applicant. Where can I find more information about resources available for international students at the University of Chicago? For more information about international student resources at UChicago see the Division of the Humanities Resources for International Students .

How can I fulfill the Foreign Language Requirement? Graduate students must prove they are proficient in one language other than English to meet the Department's requirement. There are a number of ways in which students can fulfill the Foreign Language Requirement:

• For students who want to study a new language: Taking (a) two quarters of classes in a language here (100 level or above) or (b) six weeks in an intensive summer course in a language here (100 level or above) and receiving grades of A or A- in those courses.
• For students who want to continue training in a language they’ve already begun studying: Taking (a) two quarters of classes in that language at the level the placement exam indicates) or (b) six weeks in an intensive summer course in a language here, also at the level where the placement exam indicates) and receiving grades of A or A- in those courses.
• Subject to review by Director of Graduate Studies: Taking (or getting credit for) two years of a language in an undergraduate or another graduate program.
• Receiving at least a B grade in a one-quarter graduate literature course, or a 200-level undergraduate literature course, in the literature of one language, taken at this University. Texts must be read in the language, and the student must have taken classes in this language previously.
• Receiving an A or A- grade in the one-quarter graduate course, German 33300: German for Research Purposes (or similar courses in other languages, should those be developed), providing that the student selects a set of literary and critical texts (as described in no. 4, above) to use as “sources from their own field of study” in fulfilling the course requirements. It is the student’s responsibility to see that the course instructor understands this requirement and communicates to the Director of Graduate Studies that the student has met it.
• Subject to review by Director of Graduate Studies: Taking other intensive summer language courses elsewhere funded by a FLAS grant.
• Taking one of the following course sequences in Computer Sciences (either during the year or in the summer) and receiving at least a B grade in both quarters: (1) CS 10100 and 10200, Introduction to the World Wide Web 1 & 2; (2) CS 10500 and 10600, Fundamentals of Computer Programming 1 & 2; (3) CS 12100 and 12200 Computer Science with Applications 1 & 2; or (4) CS 15100/16100 and 15200/16200 (Honors) Introduction to Computer Science 1 & 2.

Can prospective students schedule campus visits? For information about campus tours, please visit  UChicagoGRAD . The Department of English hosts an Open House each year, solely for prospective students who have  already  been admitted to the PhD program. If other prospective students have questions about the program, they should e-mail department staff at  [email protected] .

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CS students received the Jay Lepreau Best Paper Award

8/7/2024 Bruce Adams

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Illinois CS students and faculty, with their collaborators, received the Jay Lepreau Best Paper Award at the 18th USENIX Symposium on Operating Systems Design and Implementation (OSDI ‘24). OSDI, the premier conference on computer systems research, selects three best papers each year after a double-blind review. The paper presents a framework called Anvil for building formally verified cluster management controllers.

Written by Bruce Adams

Illinois CS students and faculty, together with their collaborators, received the Jay Lepreau Best Paper Award at the 18th USENIX Symposium on Operating Systems Design and Implementation (OSDI ‘24). OSDI, the premier conference on computer systems research, selects three best papers each year after a double-blind review.

The paper, titled “ Anvil: Verifying Liveness of Cluster Management Controllers ,” presents a framework called Anvil for building formally verified cluster management controllers. It is the first tool to apply formal verification to the problem of controller correctness, with a general specification called Eventually Stable Reconciliation (ESR), written as a concise temporal logic liveness property. With Anvil, developers can write controller implementations in Rust and verify that the controllers correctly implement ESR. Anvil also supports the verification of safety properties. The team used Anvil to verify three Kubernetes controllers, which can readily be deployed in Kubernetes platforms and are comparable in terms of features and performance to widely used unverified controllers.

The project is led by Xudong Sun , a fifth-year PhD student at the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science, working with Wenjie Ma (a visiting undergraduate student at Illinois, Jiawei Tyler Gu (CS PhD student), and Zicheng Ma (an undergraduate student from ZJUI participating in CS Summer Research Program ), and CS professor Tianyin Xu , in collaboration with Tej Chajed from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Jon Howell, Andrea Lattuada, Oded Padon and Adriana Szekeres from VMware Research, and Lalith Suresh from Feldera.

Sun presented the paper in July at OSDI in Santa Clara, CA, and the work was very well received. Mooly Sagiv, the Chair of Software Systems at Tel Aviv University and a Fellow of the ACM, called the paper “A major achievement for formal verification.” Dominik Tornow, the author of “Think Distributed Systems,” wrote, “Brilliant work and fantastic paper.” The team has been invited to seminars and workshops at Google, Microsoft, and VMware.

“It is very challenging to build provably correct software systems that are practical and readily deployable in real-world cloud/datacenter infrastructures.” says Xu, “The research is very interdisciplinary across computer systems and formal methods.”

Sun attributes the success to the “dream team” he has been working with and learning from. The team represents people from industrial research and academia, with experts in cluster management, distributed computing theory and practice, programming languages, formal verification theory and practice, testing, and systems reliability.

Suresh, CEO and Co-founder of Feldera, and a core member of the project, said, “Practical systems verification is a lofty goal, and you need a highly interdisciplinary team like this one to push the frontier.”

The paper is the result of Sun’s continuous research on testing and verification of cloud infrastructure systems over the past four years. Before Anvil, he had developed the successful testing tools Sieve and Acto , which found hundreds of serious bugs in critical infrastructure code that led to system outages, data loss, and security vulnerabilities. The recent outages caused by bugs in a CrowdStrike security update affected people worldwide and are as vivid an example as needed to demonstrate how minor errors in coding can have serious consequences.

“We are very successful in finding important bugs by testing, but I hope to go one step further – proving that there are no more bugs in these critical systems.” Sun states, “Our vision is to build provably correct cloud infrastructures through formal verification.”

Anvil is only the first step towards Sun’s ambitious research vision. The team will continue to push the boundaries towards probably correct and practical cloud/data center infrastructures.

Sun is entering his final year as a PhD student at Illinois. He plans to find a faculty job and continue this exciting research. As a  Mavis Future Faculty Fellow , he is well prepared.

“Xudong is exceptional and is among the best junior researchers I have worked with in my career,” says Xu. “He always targets deep, fundamental problems, thinks deeply and critically, and knows how to work with and learn from his colleagues and team members. I have no doubt that he will be a fantastic professor in the near future.”

Lalith Suresh, CEO/Co-founder at Feldera, tweeted that “The star of the show was Xudong Sun, the lead PhD student on the project, who had to work at the intersection of ALL those areas above! He is absolutely *fearless*, one of the key marker traits of a successful systems researcher. Xudong will be on the academic and industrial research job market this year -- if you're on a hiring committee, you'd be foolish not to hire him.”

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This story was published August 7, 2024.

The Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers on Consumption and Household Balance Sheets: Experimental Evidence from Two US States

We provide new evidence on the causal effect of unearned income on consumption, balance sheets, and financial outcomes by exploiting an experiment that randomly assigned 1000 individuals to receive $1000 per month and 2000 individuals to receive $50 per month for three years. The transfer increased measured household expenditures by at least $300 per month. The spending impact is positive in most categories, and is largest for housing, food, and car expenses. The treatment increases housing unit and neighborhood mobility. We find noisily estimated modest positive effects on asset values, driven by financial assets, but these gains are offset by higher debt, resulting in a near-zero effect on net worth. The transfer increased self-reported financial health and credit scores but did not affect credit limits, delinquencies, utilization, bankruptcies, or foreclosures. Adjusting for underreporting, we estimate marginal propensities to consume non-durables between 0.44 and 0.55, durables and semi-durables between 0.21 and 0.26, and marginal propensities to de-lever of near zero. These results suggest that large temporary transfers increase short-term consumption and improve financial health but may not cause persistent improvements in the financial position of young, low-income households.

Many people contributed to the success of this project. The program we study and the associated research were supported by generous private funding sources, and we thank the non-profit organizations that implemented the program. We thank Jill Adona, Isaac Ahuvia, Oscar Alonso, Francisco Brady, Jack Bunge, Jake Cosgrove, Leo Dai, Kevin Didi, Rashad Dixon, Marc-Andrea Fiorina, Joshua Lin, Sabrina Liu, Anthony McCanny, Janna Mangasep, Oliver Scott Pankratz, Alok Ranjan, Mark Rick, Ethan Sansom, Sophia Scaglioni, and Angela Wang-Lin for outstanding research assistance. Tess Cotter, Karina Dotson, Aristia Kinis, Sam Manning, Alex Nawar, and Elizabeth Proehl were invaluable contributors through their work at OpenResearch. The management and staff of the Inclusive Economy Lab at the University of Chicago, including Carmelo Barbaro, Janelle Blackwood, Katie Buitrago, Melinda Croes, Crystal Godina, Kelly Hallberg, Kirsten Jacobson, Timi Koyejo, Misuzu Schexnider, Stephen Stapleton, and many others have provided important support throughout all stages of the project. We received valuable feedback on the study from the OpenResearch Advisory Board and seminar participants at the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This study was approved by the Advarra Institutional Review Board (IRB) and is pre-registered at the American Economic Association RCT registry with a registration ID of AEARCTR-0006750. This research was supported in part by a J-PAL grant titled "The Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers on Consumption: Evidence from the United States." The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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