The Chicago Manual of Style (abbreviated as CMOS , TCM , or CMS , or sometimes as Chicago ) is a style guide for American English published since 1906 by the University of Chicago Press . Its 18 editions (the most recent in 2024) have prescribed writing and citation styles widely used in publishing.
30-914: The MHRA Style Guide: A Handbook for Authors, Editors, and Writers of Theses —formerly the MHRA Style Book —is an academic style guide published by the Modern Humanities Research Association . It is most widely used in the arts and humanities in the United Kingdom , where the MHRA is based. Initially, the Book and Guide were only available for sale in the UK and in the United States . As of 2015, 50,000 copies of all editions, published between 1971 and 2013, have been sold worldwide. The 4th edition of
60-408: A stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Style guide A style guide is a set of standards for the writing, formatting , and design of documents . A book-length style guide is often called a style manual or a manual of style ( MoS or MOS ). A short style guide, typically ranging from several to several dozen pages, is often called a style sheet . The standards documented in
90-719: A chapter on American English grammar and use, and a revised treatment of mathematical copy. In August 2010, the 16th edition was published simultaneously in the hardcover and online editions for the first time in the manual's history. In a departure from the earlier red-orange cover, the 16th edition features a robin's-egg blue dust jacket (a nod to older editions with blue jackets, such as the 11th and 12th). The 16th edition featured "music, foreign languages, and computer topics (such as Unicode characters and URLs )". It also expands recommendations for producing electronic publications, including web-based content and e-books . An updated appendix on production and digital technology demystified
120-459: A citation guide summary, and searchable access to a Q&A, where University of Chicago Press editors answer readers' style questions. The Chicago Manual of Style also discusses the parts of a book and the editing process. An annual subscription is required for access to the online content of the manual (access to the Q&;A, however, is free, as are various editing tools). Many publishers throughout
150-460: A comprehensive reference style guide of 1,146 pages in its 17th edition. It was one of the first editorial style guides published in the United States, and it is largely responsible for research methodology standardization, notably citation style . The most significant revision to the manual was made for the 12th edition, published in 1969. Its first printing of 20,000 copies sold out before it
180-412: A full bibliography at the end. Two types of citation styles are provided. In both cases, two parts are needed: first, notation in the text, which indicates that the information immediately preceding was from another source; and second, the full citation, which is placed at another location. Using author-date style, the sourced text is indicated parenthetically with the last name(s) of the author(s) and
210-429: A full citation either at the bottom of the page (as a footnote) or at the end of a main body of text (as an endnote). In both instances, the citation is also placed in a bibliography entry at the end of the material, listed in alphabetical order of the author's last name. The two formats differ: notes use commas where bibliography entries use periods. The following is an example of a journal article citation provided as
240-439: A guide may also enforce the best practice in ethics (such as authorship , research ethics , and disclosure) and compliance ( technical and regulatory ). For translations, a style guide may even be used to enforce consistent grammar, tones, and localization decisions such as units of measure . Style guides may be categorized into three types: comprehensive style for general use; discipline style for specialized use, which
270-515: A note and its bibliography entry. In order of appearance, the elements of a bibliography entry are: What now is known as The Chicago Manual of Style was first published in 1906 under the title Manual of Style: Being a compilation of the typographical rules in force at the University of Chicago Press, to which are appended specimens of type in use . From its first 203-page edition, the CMOS evolved into
300-408: A short style sheet that cascades over the larger style guide of an organization such as a publishing company, whose specific content is usually called house style . Most house styles, in turn, cascade over an industry-wide or profession-wide style manual that is even more comprehensive. Examples of industry style guides include: Finally, these reference works cascade over the orthographic norms of
330-638: A style guide are applicable for either general use, or prescribed use in an individual publication, particular organization, or specific field. A style guide establishes standard style requirements to improve communication by ensuring consistency within and across documents. They may require certain best practices in writing style , usage , language composition , visual composition , orthography , and typography by setting standards of usage in areas such as punctuation , capitalization , citing sources , formatting of numbers and dates, table appearance and other areas. For academic and technical documents,
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#1732858127691360-440: Is available in print as a hardcover book, and by subscription as a searchable website as The Chicago Manual of Style Online. The online version provides some free resources, primarily aimed at teachers, students, and libraries. The Chicago Manual of Style is published in hardcover and online. The online edition includes the searchable text of the 16th through 18th—its most recent—editions with features such as tools for editors,
390-439: Is for block quotations , where the citation is placed outside the punctuation. The full citation for the source is then included in a references section at the end of the material. As publication dates are prominent in this style, the reference entry places the publication date following the author(s) name. Using notes and bibliography style, the sourced text is indicated by a superscripted note number that corresponds to
420-430: Is often specific to academic disciplines , medicine , journalism , law , government , business, and other industries; and house or corporate style , created and used by a particular publisher or organization. Style guides vary widely in scope and size. Writers working in large industries or professional sectors may reference a specific style guide, written for usage in specialized documents within their fields. For
450-426: Is used widely by academic and some trade publishers, as well as editors and authors who are required by those publishers to follow it. Kate L. Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations also reflects Chicago style. Chicago style offers writers a choice of several different formats. It allows the mixing of formats, provided that the result is clear and consistent. For instance,
480-733: The revision control are determined by the subject. For style manuals in reference-work format, new editions typically appear every 1 to 20 years. For example, the AP Stylebook is revised annually, and the Chicago, APA, and ASA manuals are in their 17th, 7th, and 6th editions, respectively, as of 2023. Many house styles and individual project styles change more frequently, especially for new projects. The Chicago Manual of Style The guide specifically focuses on American English and deals with aspects of editorial practice, including grammar and usage, as well as document preparation and formatting. It
510-402: The 15th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style permits the use of both in-text citation systems and/or footnotes or endnotes , including use of "content notes"; it gives information about in-text citation by page number (such as MLA style ) or by year of publication (like APA style ); it even provides for variations in styles of footnotes and endnotes, depending on whether the paper includes
540-505: The Style Guide (published in February 2024) can be downloaded free of charge, as a PDF formatted document, from the MHRA's official website. Since 2017, an online version is available, in full and in a condensed Quick Guide format. Both online versions are also free of charge. Print versions of the most current edition continue to be offered. This article about a reference book is
570-495: The United States' The Chicago Manual of Style from the University of Chicago Press . Australia has a style guide, available online, created by its government. The variety in scope and length is enabled by the cascading of one style over another, analogous to how styles cascade in web development and in desktop cascade over CSS styles. In many cases, a project such as a book , journal , or monograph series typically has
600-907: The language in use (for example, English orthography for English-language publications). This, of course, may be subject to national variety, such as British, American, Canadian, and Australian English . Some style guides focus on specific topic areas such as graphic design , including typography . Website style guides cover a publication's visual and technical aspects as well as text. Guides in specific scientific and technical fields may cover nomenclature to specify names or classifying labels that are clear, standardized, and ontologically sound (e.g., taxonomy , chemical nomenclature , and gene nomenclature ). Style guides that cover usage may suggest descriptive terms for people which avoid racism , sexism , homophobia , etc. Style guides increasingly incorporate accessibility conventions for audience members with visual, mobility, or other disabilities. Since
630-405: The latest publishing practices and electronic workflows and self-publishing. Citation recommendations, the glossary of problematic words and phrases, and the bibliography have all been updated and expanded. In the 17th edition, email lost its hyphen, internet became lowercase, the singular "they" and "their" are now acceptable in certain circumstances, a major new section on syntax has been added, and
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#1732858127691660-412: The long-standing recommendation to use "ibid" has changed due to electronic publishing. The 18th edition was the first to recommend omitting publication locations from citations. It added citation styles for A.I. generated text and images, increased the scope of usage of singular and non-binary "they," and abandoned its efforts (since 1969) of writing "Roman" in "Roman numerals" in lowercase. It removed
690-482: The many questions that arise when documenting online and digital sources, from the use of DOIs to citing social networking sites . Figures and tables are updated throughout the book, including a return to manual's popular hyphenation table and new, selective listings of Unicode numbers for special characters. In 2013, an adapted Spanish version was published by the University of Deusto in Bilbao , Spain. In April 2016,
720-523: The most part, these guides are relevant and useful for peer-to-peer specialist documentation or to help writers working in specific industries or sectors communicate highly technical information in scholarly articles or industry white papers . Professional style guides of different countries can be referenced for authoritative advice on their respective language(s), such as the United Kingdom's New Oxford Style Manual from Oxford University Press ; and
750-437: The process of electronic workflow and offered a primer on the use of XML markup. It also includes a revised glossary, including a host of terms associated with electronic and print publishing. The Chicago system of documentation is streamlined to achieve greater consistency between the author-date and notes-bibliography systems of citation, making both systems easier to use. In addition, updated and expanded examples address
780-506: The publisher released The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation , Bryan A. Garner 's expansion of his Chicago Manual of Style chapter on the topic, and coinciding with the release of the new edition of Garner's Modern American Usage . The 17th edition was published in September 2017. It offers new and expanded style guidelines in response to advancing technology and social change. It also includes new and revised content reflecting
810-577: The rise of the digital age, websites have allowed for an expansion of style guide conventions that account for digital behavior such as screen reading . Screen reading requires web style guides to focus more intently on a user experience subjected to multichannel surfing. Though web style guides can also vary widely, they tend to prioritize similar values concerning brevity, terminology, syntax, tone, structure, typography, graphics, and errors. Most style guides are revised periodically to accommodate changes in conventions and usage. The frequency of updating and
840-747: The world adopt "Chicago" as their style. It is used in some social science publications, most North American historical journals, and remains the basis for the Style Guide of the American Anthropological Association , the Style Sheet for the Organization of American Historians , and corporate style guides, including the Apple Style Guide . The Chicago Manual of Style includes chapters relevant to publishers of books and journals. It
870-433: The year of publication with no intervening punctuation. When page numbers are used, they are placed along with the author's last name and date of publication after an interposed comma. If the author's name is used in the text, only the date of publication need be cited parenthetically (with or without the page number). In-text citations are usually placed just inside a mark of punctuation. An exception to this rule
900-454: Was printed. In 1982, with the publication of the 13th edition, it was officially retitled The Chicago Manual of Style , adopting the informal name already in widespread use. More recently, the publishers have released a new edition about every seven to ten years. The 15th edition (2003) was revised to reflect the emergence of computer technology and the internet in publishing, offering guidance for citing electronic works. Other changes include
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