Referencing Styles

A guide to the reference styles used at the University of St Andrews

Important:

The pages of this guide related to the guidelines in the Chicago Manual of Style - 17th edition published in 2017, the 18th edition was published in 2024.  The 18th edition of the style is gradually being adopted by the Schools who recommend or require this style for coursework submissions.

During academic year 2024-25 students using the Chicago style are advised to use the following version of the Chicago style:

  • Art History - use the 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style for this academic year, the 18th edition will be adopted in academic year 2025-26
  • Divinity - use either the 17th edition or the 18th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style for this academic year, applying either version consistently (i.e. do no use a combination of both)
  • Other Schools, consult the Student Handbook for your School, or ask in your School for advice.

About Chicago

There are two versions of the Chicago Reference Style.  If you have been advised to use Chicago check with your School to confirm which version you should use.

  • Notes and Bibliography OR
  • Author-Date

Notes and Bibliography is most often used in the humanities (including literature, history and art), while the Author-Date system is often used by the physical, natural, and social sciences.

Notes and Bibliography:

With this version citations are added to footnotes or endnotes, and a superscript number in the text refers to a numbered footnote.  As the full details of a source are given in the bibliography at the end, a short form of the source is given in the footnote.

Footnote citation:

Note number. Surname, Shortened title, page.

e.g.

1. Klein, Interdisciplining, 91.

Bibliography entry:

Surname, First Name. Full title. Place: Publisher, Year.

e.g.

Klein, Julie T. Interdisciplining Digital Humanities: Boundary Work in an Emerging Field. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2015.

Ordering the bibliography:

In Chicago Style the bibliography is organised alphabetically by the surnames of the authors.

Please note that the order of elements given in the bibliography is different for the two versions of the Chicago style. Ensure you follow the correct format for the version you are using.  The main variant is where the date of publication appears:

  • Notes and Bibliography, date of publication appears at the end of the reference, after the place and publisher.
  • Author-Date - date of publication appears after the details of the authors/editors.

In this system, bibliographic citations are provided in notes (footnotes or endnotes), with a bibliography at the end. The notes are numbered and correspond to a superscripted note reference number in text.

Check with your School to confirm if footnotes or endnotes (all notes at the end of your document) are to be used. Footnotes are most commonly used at the University of St Andrews.

Example:

The question of ethnic origin in the Turkish republic has been largely irrelevant until recent times1.

As you provide a full reference in the bibliography, a shortened form of the reference is given in the notes.

Example:

Shortened citation in a note:

Note Number. Surname, Short Title, Page.

1. Pope and Pope, Turkey Unveiled, 19.

Entry in a bibliography:

Surname, First Name. Title. Place: Publisher, Year.

Pope, Nicole and Hugh Pope. Turkey Unveiled: A History of Modern Turkey New York: The Overlook Press, 2011.

Rules are given on how to represent multiple authors, editors etc. in the tab Author Rules.

The Chicago Manual of Style is available online.