Title page
Include the full title of your paper, your name, the course title, the instructor’s name, and the date. Do not number the title page but count it in the manuscript numbering; that is, the first page of the text will be numbered 2.
Sample Chicago title page
Pagination
Using arabic numerals, number all pages except the title page in the upper right corner. Depending on your instructor’s preference, you may also use a short title or your last name before the page numbers to help identify pages in case they come loose from your manuscript.
Margins and line spacing
Leave margins of at least one inch at the top, bottom, and sides of the page. Left-align the text.
Double-space the text portion of the entire manuscript, including long quotations that have been set off from the text.
Single-space each note and each bibliography entry, and double-space between notes and between bibliography entries. But check with your instructor because preferences can vary.
Capitalization
In titles of works, capitalize all words except articles (a, an, the), prepositions (to, from, between, and so on), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet), and to and as—unless one of these words is first or last in the title or subtitle. Follow these guidelines in your paper even if the title is styled differently in the source.
In the text of a Chicago (CMS) paper, lowercase the first word following a colon even if the word begins a complete sentence. When the colon introduces a series of sentences or questions, capitalize all sentences in the series, including the first.
Italics
Italicize the titles of books and other long works. (Some instructors may prefer underlining for the titles of long works. Be consistent throughout your paper.) Use quotation marks around the titles of periodical articles, short stories, poems, and other short works. Do not italicize the title of a Web site unless the site is an online book or periodical. Italicize the title of a blog.
Long quotations
Chicago does not have strict guidelines for determining when to indent a long quotation. For emphasis you may want to set off a quotation of more than four or five lines of text; almost certainly you should set off quotations of ten lines or more.
To set off a quotation, indent it one-half inch from the left margin and use the normal right margin. Double-space the indented quotation. Do not use quotation marks when a quotation has been set off from the text.
Visuals
The Chicago Manual classifies visuals as tables and illustrations (illustrations, or figures, include drawings, photographs, maps, and charts). Keep visuals as simple as possible.
Label each table with an arabic numeral (Table 1, Table 2, and so on) and provide a clear title that identifies the subject. The label and title should appear on separate lines above the table, flush left. Below the table, give its source in a note like this one:
Source: Edna Bonacich and Richard P. Appelbaum, Behind the Label (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000), 145.
For each figure, place a label and a caption below the figure, flush left. The label and caption need not appear on separate lines.
The word “Figure” may be abbreviated to “Fig.” In the text of your paper, discuss the most significant features of each visual. Place visuals as close as possible to the sentences that relate to them unless your instructor prefers them in an appendix.
Chicago guidelines, footnotes and endnotes
Chicago guidelines, bibliography
Directory to Chicago (CMS) model papers