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Chicago Footnote Referencing - Theology Students

This guide provides information on how to reference using the Chicago Footnote referencing style. PLEASE NOTE: Counselling and Education students should use APA referencing style.

Style Rules

The Chicago Footnote style is a note-bibliography system used for citing and referencing information in assignments and publications. It consists of footnotes throughout a paper, and a bibliography at the end of the paper listing all works used.

In addition to the information provided in this guide on how to reference particular sources, there are some overall style rules you need to follow, which are detailed below. 

General Citation Formatting

Chicago citations follow some basic principles, which make the formatting easier to understand and apply.

  • Capitalisation: Use headline-style capitalisation for all titles, whether books, journals, articles, chapters, newspapers, or other works, so long as the resource is in English. Use this online tool to check the capitalisation.
  • Italics: Use italics for the titles of books, journals, and other whole/parent works.
  • Quotation marks: Parts of works (e.g. journal/newspaper articles, book chapters) should be in normal text, with quotation marks.
  • Commas vs full stops: Footnote elements are separated with commas; bibliography elements are separated with full stops.
  • Page numbers: In footnotes, only the page number specific to the passage being cited is given; in bibliography entries, the full page range is listed for articles and book chapters.

Direct Quotes

Direct quotes should be used sparingly in your assignments. The ACT stipulates that direct quotes should not exceed 10% of the word limit. 

When using direct quotes in your assignment, enclose them in double quotation marks with the footnote number at the end of the quote.

Example:

De Silva argues that “it is the mysterious, shadowy dimension of Mark that accounts for its ongoing appeal”.¹

 

Block Quotes

If the quote is longer than 30 words start the quote indented on a new line, without double quotation marks.

Example:

When discussing the genre of the book of Genesis Dillard and Longman state that:

 

In spite of the obvious variety within the book, it is useful to reflect on the genre of the book as a whole. After all, it contains a unity of narrative plot that takes the reader from the creation of the world to the sojourn in Egypt. It recounts past events and does so with a chronological structure. This last sentence sounds like a definition of a work of history and indeed such a label makes sense of the generic signals the reader encounters in the book.³

Citing Sources Within Sources

Chicago Manual of Style discourages the use of citing a source from a secondary source ("quoted in..."); wherever possible, it is expected that you have examined the original works cited. However, if an original source is unavailable because it is out of print or only available in another language then both the original and the secondary source must be listed in your footnote and your bibliography. 

Example:

Footnote

¹ Christopher Jones, "Old Testament symbolism," Old Testament Studies 72 (February 1931): 269, quoted in Sarah Higgins, The Role of the Pentateuch in the Old Testament (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2003), 78.

Bibliography

Jones, Christopher. "Old Testament symbolism." Old Testament Studies 72 (February 1931): 254-272. Quoted in Higgins, Sarah. The Role of the Pentateuch in the Old Testament. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2003.

If you need assistance finding an original source, please contact the library on libraryhelpdesk@morling.edu.au.

© 2016 Morling College. Morling College is an affiliated institution with the Australian College of Theology (CRICOS Provider 02650E). Morling College Counselling (CRICOS Provider 03265F).