Theories of Culture

What is a style guide?

A style guide (or manual of style) is a set of standards for the design and writing of documents, often for a specific publication, organization, or field. The purpose of a style guide is to establish and enforce formatting style to improve communication. One particularly important portion of a style guide is how it describes how sources are cited (documented). There are hundreds of publication style guides, including APA, MLA, and Chicago. There is even a Laurier Style Guide for web content.

What is citing, and why should I do it?

• Because. And because.
• For more details view our short video tutorials
  • Understanding Plagiarism (6:03)
  • When to Cite (2:01)
  • How to Cite (4:45)
  • How to Cite in Chicago Style (5:40)

What is Chicago?

The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS, CMOS, Chicago) is a style guide published by the University of Chicago Press that describes aspects of editorial practice used for document preparation, including how to cite other sources. Turabian is a style that is based on Chicago, but is aimed specifically at the academic community. The Laurier Library subscribes to the entire manual online (v17 and v16). Use it Part 3: Documentation, to determine the rules and examples of citing.

Note that Chicago offers two formats for citation:

• Author-Date (in text citations, with a bibiography -- suggested for this class)
• Notes-Bibliography (numbered footnotes/endnotes, with a bibliography)

What does Chicago (Author-Date) look like?

Article (Duclos 2017, 23)

Dipio, Dominica. 2019. "Telenovelas in Uganda: mediating transcultural conversations." Journal of African Cultural Studies 31, no. 2: 164-179. https://doi.org/10.1080/13696815.2018.1503079.

Book (Holton 2017, 55)

Holton, M. Jan. 2017. Longing for Home: Forced Displacement and Postures of Hospitality. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press.

Book Chapter (Scheid 2016)

Scheid, Anna Floerke. 2016. "Human Bodies, Human Rights." In Public Theology and the Global Common Good: the Contribution of David Hollenbach, 39-50. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2016.

Streaming Video (Her Story, 2016)

Her Story: The Female Revolution—The Personal Story. 2016. Accessed September 19, 2017. https://fod-infobase-com.libproxy.wlu.ca/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=98462….

Where can I get citation information?

Many online databases offer the ability to generate citations from the record. NOTE that these are automatically generated, and will generate mistakes if mistakes exist in the record -- and the often do. In the end, you are responsible for your bibliography.

• Cite This For Me
• Omni (opens to short video tutorial)
• Google Scholar (look for the quotation mark image)
• Research Databases (look for the word "Cite")
• Videos (and other online content) - look for the "Cite" icon

The OWL Purdue web site has a wealth of information and examples of the Chicago Style. See this sample paper.

Should I use citation management software?

It depends on how much time you want to invest in learning the software. Check out the details.

FYI: Citation styles by discipline

• Anthropology - Chicago
• Art History - Chicago or Turabian
• Biology - CSE
• Business - APA, Chicago or Harvard
• Chemistry - ACS
• Communications - MLA
• Computing Science - Chicago
• Criminology - APA or Chicago
• Education - APA
• History - Chicago or Turabian
• International Studies - APA, APSA, or Chicago
• Journalism - CP or APA
• Law & Legal Studies - Bluebook, Maroonbook or ALWD
• Linguistics - use APA, MLA or LSA
• Literature - use MLA
• Mathematics - AMS
• Medicine - AMA or NLM
• Music - Turabian or Chicago
• Philosophy - MLA or Chicago
• Physics - AIP
• Political Science - APSA
• Psychology - APA
• Religion - MLA or Chicago
• Sociology - ASA