Instagram Combined Shape quotation Created with Sketch. 69

Citation Style for Music History

There are different styles of citing sources, and writers should always follow the guidelines set by individual professors or publishers. The following examples use the Chicago, Documentary-Note Style, which has been adopted by the Music History faculty. You are also encouraged to refer to reference works, such as The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2003) for additional style information.

If you are listing sources in a bibliography, order them alphabetically by last name and use hanging indentation: the first line is on the left margin, and successive lines are indented (in Word do not use any Tabs, but highlight the entire bibliography, choose Format, Paragraph, Indents & Spacing, Special, Hanging). Use a double space only between each separate bibliographic entry.

Notice that for publishers you do not include the words for company, publisher, or incorporated (Ex.: W.W. Norton and Company is simply W.W. Norton). University Press, however, is written out.

All book, journal, dictionary and encyclopedia titles are italicized. Series titles are not italicized. Underlining is no longer used in research papers or published materials.

View Sample Bibliography Page (PDF)

Return to Music History Resource Guide