History Research Paper Chicago Style Text

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A citation is the part of your paper that tells your reader where your source information came from. In order to evaluate your argument, your reader must be able to consult the same sources you used. Proper citing is crucial to making a credible and persuasive argument, and to conforming to professional standards of proof. use the note format. citations in history papers can take the form of footnotes or endnotes. History papers should not use the parenthetic citation style common to literature and social science papers. These do not perform the other function of footnotes and endnotes, which is to provide space to clarify your use of complex data or arguments, expand on points you believe do not merit lengthy consideration in the body of your text, and to directly address the arguments of other historians. how footnotes work. each time you quote a work by another author, or use the ideas of another author, you should indicate the source with a footnote.

A footnote is indicated in the text of your paper by a small arabic numeral written in superscript. Each new footnote gets a new number increment by one do not repeat a footnote number you've already used, even if the earlier reference is to the same work. The number refers to a note number at the bottom of the page or following the text of the paper, if you are using endnotes.

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This note contains the citation information for the materials you are referencing. For examples of footnotes in action, consult rampolla quoting and documenting sources . what must be cited? you must acknowledge the sources of quotations, paraphrases, arguments, and specific references you may use. You need not cite sources to what most would generally consider common knowledge, like the fact that lincoln won the presidential election of 1860. But you must cite your source for any claim that appears to contradict common knowledge, like that lincoln won the southern states in that election since he wasn't even on the ballot in most southern states, this claim is controversial and must be supported. And you must cite matters of interpretation, such as an author's ideas in why lincoln appealed to so many voters.

If you are in doubt about citing common knowledge information, err on the side of citing even unintended failure to cite sources constitutes technical plagiarism. Most history books are now produced using endnotes, which are commonly thought to provide cleaner looking pages. Most history professors, however, prefer footnotes, so they can quickly check sources. Especially if you have a computer word processor, which makes the task easy, you should try to use footnotes. what should i cite? the easiest and most important rule to remember is: when in doubt, it is better to cite a source than to not cite a source.

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In avoiding plagiarism, it is always wiser to choose more rather than less information. Common knowledge may be considered any information readily available in any encyclopedia. Common knowledge may be comprised of basic historical facts, such as dates of events and place names. For example, everyone knows that the battle of gettysburg occurred from july 1 3, 1863, in gettysburg, pennsylvania. No one knows when exactly jesus christ lived, so if you include set dates for his birth and death, you need to cite the author who claims to know these things.

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As this suggests, you must cite all information that constitutes another author's interpretations or arguments. Remember, the point of citation is to acknowledge the sources of ideas that are not your own, and to provide a path back through your research so other scholars can check your work. If you do not include citations, your reader cannot know where your ideas came from, and cannot check controversial statements you might make. The date and place of the battle are common knowledge no one would think to dispute. But what about the argument that the confederacy lost the battle primarily because general longstreet failed to flank the union forces on the left? or that confederate cavalry general j.e.b. Stuart was the primary cause of defeat because he failed to stay close to the confederate army? or that union colonel joshua lawrence chamberlain saved the union by protecting the union's left flank at little round top? all such claims are debatable points of interpretation. If you incorporate such claims by other authors in your paper, you must cite your sources.

how much to cite? remember to include a source citation every time you use the ideas or words of another author, either directly through quotation or indirectly through paraphrase. The only exception is common factual knowledge of the variety found in encyclopedia. Some papers, particularly those that require less argumentation and analysis on your part, are drawn almost wholly from other sources. In such instances, you might find yourself citing a source for virtually every sentence.

In these cases, it is acceptable to include one footnote for the entire paragraph. Make sure, however, that every page of the source used is referenced in the footnote. You may not do this if your information comes from several sources, or if the paragraph is interrupted by a quotation.

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Ͽ� kate turabian, a manual for writers of term papers, theses, and dissertations. Martin's press lt guides for citing standard electronic sources � a brief citation guide for internet sources in history and the humanities lt grace has worked with students for many years as an academic advisor and college enrollment counselor. She currently works as a student success coordinator at a university in georgia, where she teaches courses to help students improve academic performance, enhance research skills, and expand information literacy.

The chicago style of writing is often required for history papers, although this style is also called turabian style when referring to research papers. Paper margins: students fall into a trap when trying to adjust margins to adhere to an instructor 39 s requirements. That 39 s close to the pre set margin in your word processor, which is probably 1.25 inches. The best idea is simply don 39 t mess with the pre set margins in your word processor if you can help it! once you go outside the default margins, you can get into a nightmare of inconsistency. You may have noticed that some articles and papers are written with no indentations at the beginning of new paragraphs. You will notice that it is impossible to tell when a new paragraph begins in a double spaced paper if the first line of a new paragraph is not indented.

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