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POLI 1119: Canadian Politics and Government (Phillips)

Citing your sources in Chicago style

When you incorporate another person's thoughts or words into your assignments, it is important to acknowledge their work. We do this by citing. Citations:

  • Give the original author the credit they deserve

  • Strengthen your assignments, by supporting ideas with research

  • Point your reader to the original work, in case they would like to consult it personally


Langara's Department of History, Latin, & Political Science follows the Chicago Manual of Style for citing. There are two parts to a Chicago style citation:

  1. The footnote (or endnote) that appears in the body of your assignment;
  2. The full bibliography (list of sources) that appears at the end of your assignment.

The guides below provide helpful examples of Chicago style citations for different types of works (e.g. books, e-books, journal articles, websites).

Research tip: Automatically generated citations

Many of the library's databases and e-book collections will generate a Chicago style citation that you can then copy and paste into your Biblopgraphy (references list). Look for a "Cite" feature. In the database Academic Search Complete, you will find this on the information page for an article: 

cite feature in the database Academic Search Complete


Note: Sometimes automatically generated citations include mistakes, such as punctuation errors. Be sure to double-check these citations against a reliable Chicago style guide before submitting your assignment. 

More about Chicago Style