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 - 18th edition, published in 2024.  This 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 number in the text refers to a numbered footnote.  Your School may require you to give a full citation in a footnote the first time you cite a source, with a shortened citation for any subsequent citation of the same source, or your School may advise you use shortened citation in your footnotes, examples of both are given in this guide, check your School handbook for specific guidance on the use of full and shortened citations.  A bibliography is included at the end of your document with the full details of the sources cited.

Footnote full citation:

Note number. Author name, Full title (Publisher, Year), page.

e.g.

1. Julie T. Klein, Interdisciplining Digital Humanities: Boundary Work in an Emerging Field (University of Michigan Press, 2015), 91.

Footnote shortened citation:

Note number. Surname, Shortened title, page.

e.g.

1. Klein, Interdisciplining, 91.

Bibliography entry:

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

e.g.

Klein, Julie T. Interdisciplining Digital Humanities: Boundary Work in an Emerging Field. 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 in the bibliography is different for the two version 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 publisher.
  • Author-Date - date of publication appears after the details of the authors/editors.

The Chicago Manual of Style is available online.