Chicago Style

Designing a document in Chicago style requires you to adhere to a specific set of formatting guidelines. Following these rules is important because it allows readers to locate essential information, such as your name and class, in an established order. Maintaining design consistency throughout the document helps to strengthen your credibility as a writer in this field.

For every Chicago Style document:

• Use one-inch margins
• Double-space the main text
• Single-space the table of contents (if required), block quotations, footnotes, endnotes, and bibliographies
• Use 12-point Times New Roman font or another clear font
• Leave one space after periods or other punctuation marks
• Indent the first line of each paragraph ½ inch
• Italicize titles of longer works (books, periodicals, films)
• Put titles of shorter works in quotation marks (articles, chapters)

The first page of the document is the title page. To format the title page:

• Center the paper title 1/3 of the way down the page. The font size can be two or three points larger for the title. The title should be bold and have a main title followed by a colon and then a subtitle. Capitalize all the words in the title except prepositions and articles. For example:

Castles and Cottages: An Architectural Study of Life in the Middle Ages

• After the title, move another 1/3 of the way down the page and include the following information on three separate lines:
  • Name
  • Class
  • Date Assignment is due

• Do not include a page number on the title page.

The second page of the paper features the main text of your essay. Insert a page number in the upper right with the numeral 1.

To format the second page to start at 1 in Microsoft Word:

• Click on Page Number under the Insert tab, select Format Page Numbers, click Start at and use the down arrow to set it to 0.
• Next, click on Page Number again on the Insert tab, choose Top of Page, and select Plain Number 3.
• To remove the 0 on the title page, click Different First Page on the Design tab.

To format the second page to start at 1 in Google Docs:

• Click Insert and select #Page Numbers.
• Click More Options, and then under Start at, use the down arrow to set it to 0.
• Click Apply.
• To remove the 0 on the title page, click Different First page in the header.

Sources consulted: The Chicago Manual of Style, Purdue Owl Website

Guide created by: C. Jones 2/6/2024

The RVC Writing Center offers many resources to help you with these topics and all of your writing concerns. Titles of available resources can be found in the navigation bars along the left side of this page and/or by using the search bar. The Writing Center’s Resource Library can be accessed by using the following link:

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