The Title of Your Manuscript Here: The Chicago Style Template1
(1/4 page down from top)
Your Name Here
Course Title
Teacher Name
Date of Submission Here
(All double-spaced)
(Insert a Page Break here to maintain a separation between your title page and page one)2
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Adapted from a document published by Vanguard University
Title Page Format: When using a title page, insert a page break at the bottom of the page, and then go to the “Page
Layout” preferences and check the “Different First Page” option this will remove the top page number and header box
from the title page. Learn how to use your word processor’s page layout features.
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Your Last Name
2
Introduction
The main section of your manuscript will begin on page two. Note that your last name
and the page number is in a header, at the upper right corner. There is no page number on
the title page. If you are writing a thesis then your thesis statement should appear in the first paragraph at
this point, and you will use raised Arabic numerals to cite your sources in footnotes3 at the bottom of the
page. This is the Chicago Style.
There are more than fifteen styles for various disciplines, but the MLA, the APA, and the
Chicago Style are the most widely used. Most of the English-speaking world uses a variant of the
Chicago style because it maintains cleaner text and allows more flexible access to sources, thus promoting
a more critical and interactive reading of the text.4
Please use Times New Roman and 11 pt. font. It makes it easier to read footnotes if they are in
size 9 or 10. Make sure that the font you use throughout the entire paper is the same (Google Docs
sometimes changes things up between the footnotes and header).
All of your margins should be 1” (or 2.54cm), and your indent should be ½” for first lines of
paragraphs and hanging indents for bibliography, and an additional ½” for block quotes.
For AP Seminar, include the word count at the bottom of the final page of the manuscript
body. You must include a Bibliography page that is a separate page at the end of your paper and includes
the pagination continued.
Use the abbreviation “Ibid.” in your footnotes when you are referring to the same source as the
previous citation, and add the page number if different. This, too, is optional, but can be a short cut. You
should use a short form of the citation when referring to it after the first time.
A solid, thorough handbook such as the Chicago Manual of Style Online is a very useful tool.
Shorter versions are incomplete and while you may choose any handbook to your liking, when in doubt,
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4
These footnotes indicate citations of direct quotes, paraphrases, and indirect references. Note the space between entries.
For AP Seminar, it is a way to show that you have made critical decisions about what perspectives to include in your
paper.
Your Last Name
consult a full edition in the library or online. When using NoodleTools, include as much information as
you’re able to for a full citation.
Here are some of the tips you compiled about writing in the Chicago guidelines.
Cover page
elements
1) Title of essay should be about ¼ from the top of the page. Text should be
centered.
2) Your name should be about halfway down the page, centered too.
3) The title of the course, instructor’s name, and date should be at the very
bottom of the page, all centered, and on separate lines.
Headers
1) Each page should be numbered consecutively with its page number, starting on
the first page with Arabic number 1.
2) Descriptive headers can also be added to the page number, such as
“Introduction: 1” or “Introduction: 2”.
Headings
There are 5 different levels for Chicago Style. In our class we will most likely only use
the first two levels.
1. Level 1: Headings Centered, Boldface or Italic Type, Headline-style
2. Level 2: Capitalization Centered, Regular Type, Headline-style Capitalization
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Your Last Name
Numerals
versus words
1. Spell out whole numbers from zero through one hundred and certain round multiples of those
numbers.
2. Hyphenate twenty-one through ninety-nine; others open.
3. Use numerals for percentages unless at the beginning of a sentence. In scientific and
statistical contexts, use the symbol %, and in nontechnical context, the word percent is used.
4. In contexts where decimal quantities must be 1.00 or less, a zero is typically omitted before
the decimal point.
BE CONSISTENT!
Block quotes
A prose quotation of five or more lines should be “blocked.” The block quotation is
singled-spaced and takes no quotation marks, but you should leave an extra line space
immediately before and after. Indent the entire quotation .5” (the same as you would
the start of a new paragraph).
Try to avoid using block quotes!
Ellipses
Use ellipsis to show that a quotation has words that have been omitted.
Do NOT use an ellipsis in these situations:
1. Before the first word of a quotation, even if the beginning of the sentence has
been omitted.
2. You also cannot end a quote with an ellipsis, unless the sentence you quote
specifically ends with an ellipses.
Eg. “...begin quote...”
Brackets
Use brackets to show you have changed a word or added a word to improve the clarity
of the sentence.

Changing a word to make a quote fit
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Your Last Name
Original sentence: “He feared he would begin to drop steeply in the
polls.”
o Integrated: It was quite obvious that his popularity was waning as he
was “[dropping] steeply in the polls.”
Adding a word to clarify a vague reference
o Original sentence: “Being stuck here was his greatest fear.”
o Integrated: It was a harsh reality that “being stuck [in NYC] was his
greatest fear.”
o

Footnotes
Placement of number






numbers set as superscripts (above baseline of sentence)
place the number at the end of the sentence containing the reference
after punctuation
outside parentheses
if you are citing the source of material that comes before an em dash (two hyphens), the note
number should precede the dash
example of number placement:
o AP Capstone is demanding.3
Footnote


Put a space between footnotes
Use shortened form
Put the URL in the Bibliography but not the Footnote
All questions about bibliographic entries should be directed to the resources we have at hand (and I am
not one of those unless you can’t find it anywhere else).
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