wia1elp_ch51

51a Understand Chicago citation style.

51a

Understand Chicago citation style.

Why does academic work call for very careful citation practices when writing for the general public may not? The answer is that readers of your academic work will expect source citations for several reasons:

Source citations demonstrate that you’ve done your homework on your topic and that you are a part of the conversation surrounding it.
Source citations show that you understand the need to give credit when you make use of someone else’s intellectual property. (See Chapter 15.)
Source citations give explicit directions to guide readers who want to look for themselves at the works you’re using.

Guidelines from The Chicago Manual of Style will tell you exactly what information to include in your citation and how to format that information.