Citations Matter
In-text citations tell the reader exactly where you found a fact, quotation, or other piece of evidence—whether you quote it directly or paraphrase it in your own words. Depending on the information provided within your sentence, the amount of information you need to cite will vary.
Footnotes and Endnotes
In CMS, in-text citations are footnoted or endnoted. Citations are indicated in the body of the text by superscripted numbers that continue sequentially throughout the document. Footnotes will appear at the bottom of the page in which the citation occurs and are usually in a font size smaller than that of the paper, typically 10 point. Endnotes appear at the end of the paper or chapter in the same size font as the text of the document.
The first line of each footnote or endnote is indented five spaces. Both footnotes and endnotes include the citation number (normal font size, followed by a period) that corresponds to the superscripted number located in the body of the text. Also, both footnotes and endnotes contain the full citation the first time the source is documented.
Elements of In-text Citations (General)
For every quotation, fact, or piece of evidence you provide in your paper, you must footnote the following:
Author
This is the provider of the original evidence.
- Always state the author’s name as First Name I. Last Name.
- Always cite all authors the first time a work is mentioned. If there are many, name the first author followed by “et al.” in all subsequent citations.
- Author can be replaced by editor, compiler, or translator.
Location of the publication
Publisher
Date
Elements of Footnotes/Endnotes for Articles
Author’s name
Article title
Journal name and volume or issue number
Year published
Page number(s) on which the evidence is located
- List page numbers in their entirety—do not truncate repeated digits (e.g., 331-337, not 331-7).
- Do not note page numbers with abbreviations (e.g., pg, pgs, pp, etc.)
Additional Notes
Titles of books and articles
- Book titles should be italicized whereas titles of articles are to be enclosed in quotation marks.
Subsequent mention of source already cited
- In subsequent references to a source that has already been cited, state the author’s last name followed by a shortened form of the title.
Consecutive citations from a source
- If there are two consecutive citations from the same source, use the term “Ibid” (“in the same place”) in the second citation.
- The term “Ibid” can be used alone if the page number is the same.
- If the page number is different in the second footnote, the page number must be included.
Placement of Footnotes
The placement of parenthetical elements for in-text citations depends on where a quotation appears within a sentence and how many words it contains.
Middle of a sentence
- A superscript number is placed after the text to be cited. The number must follow some form of punctuation, such as quotation marks or parentheses, or precede a dash.
End of a sentence
- The number of the footnote is placed after the period.
Block quotation (more than 8 lines or 100 words)
- Indent the text of the entire quotation five spaces from the left margin. When a quotation has been indented and set off from the text, quotation marks are not needed.
- Place the citation after the quoted material, immediately after the final sentence’s period.