Chicago Style Paper Format
- Example Paper-Chicago Style FormatThis example paper illustrates how to properly format your paper in accordance to Chicago Style formatting.
How to Style Your Paper the Chicago Way
Title page
A title page isn’t required in Chicago style—often it’s sufficient to just include your title at the top of the first page—but if you’re asked to include one, Turabian provides guidelines for how to present it.
All text on the title page should be center-aligned and double-spaced, and written in the same font as the rest of your text. The title should appear about ⅓ of the way down the page, in headline capitalization and in bold.
If you have a subtitle, the main title ends with a colon and the subtitle appears on the following line, also in bold and the same size as the main title.
About ⅔ of the way down the page, add any information your instructor requests you to include – your name, student code, the course name and code, the date, etc. Each new piece of information appears on a new line.
The title page should not have a page number, but should be included in the page count – in other words, the page numbering starts on page 2.
General formatting
Chicago doesn’t require a specific font or font size, but recommends using something simple and readable (e.g. 12 pt. Times New Roman). Use margins of at least 1 inch on all sides of the page.
The main text should be double-spaced, and each new paragraph should begin with a ½ inch indent. Text should be left-aligned and not “justified” (meaning that the right margin should look ragged).
Page numbers can be placed either in the top right or the bottom center of the page – one or the other, not both.
Finishing you paper
Formatting the bibliography page
The bibliography appears at the end of your text. The heading Bibliography is bolded and centred at the top of the page.
Unlike the rest of a Chicago format paper, the bibliography is not double-spaced. However, add a single line space between entries.
If a bibliography entry extends onto more than one line, subsequent lines should be indented, as seen in the example below. This helps the reader to see at a glance where each new entry begins.
Reference Page
Bibliography vs reference list
A reference list is mandatory in Chicago author-date style, where you cite sources in parentheses in the text. The only differences between a Chicago bibliography and a reference list are the heading and the placement of the date.
The reference list is headed “References.” In reference list entries, the publication date is placed immediately after the author’s name. This allows the reader to easily find a reference on the basis of the corresponding in-text citation.
