Chicago & Turabian: The Footnote Styles Explained (A Guide for History & Islamic Studies)

If you are a student at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) or the Academy of Islamic Studies at UM, you are likely familiar with the “little number” at the top of a sentence.

While Science and Business students use brackets like (Ali, 2023), historians and legal scholars use Footnotes¹.

This is the domain of the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) and its student-friendly cousin, Turabian.

Why do we use it? Because in History and Religion, the source is often a conversation. You don’t just want to cite the book; you want to comment on it, argue with it, or translate a specific Arabic term—all without breaking the flow of the main text.

However, Chicago style is notoriously difficult to format in Microsoft Word. Here is your guide to mastering the “Notes and Bibliography” system.

More on Citations/References.

1. The Core Difference: Notes vs. Author-Date

First, a warning. Chicago actually has two systems.

1. Author-Date System: Looks like APA. Used in social sciences. (Rarely used in Malaysia).
2. Notes-Bibliography System: Uses superscript numbers¹. This is what 99% of History/Islamic Studies students need.

How it works:

• In the Text: You place a superscript number at the end of the sentence.” The treaty was signed in 1957, effectively ending the conflict.¹”
• At the Bottom of the Page (Footnote):¹ Ali Ahmad, The History of Malaya (Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2020), 45.
• At the End of the Thesis (Bibliography):Ahmad, Ali. The History of Malaya. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2020.

Notice the difference?

• Footnote: First Name Last Name, (Parentheses around publication info), Page Number. Comma separators.
• Bibliography: Last Name, First Name. No parentheses. Period separators.

2. “Full Note” vs. “Short Note” (The Death of Ibid.)

In the old days, if you cited the same book twice in a row, you used the Latin word Ibid. (meaning “in the same place”).

Update for 2026: The Chicago Manual (17th & 18th Editions) now discourages Ibid. because if you move paragraphs around, Ibid. refers to the wrong book.

Instead, use Short Notes.

• First Citation (Full Note):¹ Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Islam and Secularism (Kuala Lumpur: ABIM, 1978), 12.
• Second Citation (Short Note):² al-Attas, Islam and Secularism, 45.

The Rule: The first time you cite a source, give the full details. Every time after that, just use Author + Title + Page.

3. Chicago vs. Turabian: What is the Difference?

You will often see thesis manuals say “Follow Turabian Style.”

• Chicago: The massive, 1,000-page manual for professional publishers.
• Turabian: A smaller manual written by Kate L. Turabian specifically for students writing theses.

Verdict: They are 99% identical. If your university says “Turabian,” you can select “Chicago 17th Edition” in your reference software (EndNote/Mendeley), and it will be correct.

4. How to Cite the Quran and Hadith (Malaysian Context)

For students at IIUM or USIM, citing religious texts is a daily requirement. Chicago has specific rules for this.

A. The Quran

You do not list the Quran in your Bibliography. You only cite it in the footnotes or text.

• Format: Chapter Name (Surah Number):Verse Number.
• Example (Footnote):³ Al-Baqarah (2):255.
• Note: You should mention which translation you are using in the first citation.⁴ Al-Baqarah (2):255 (Abdullah Yusuf Ali trans.).

B. Hadith

Like the Quran, well-known Hadith collections are often cited in notes only.

• Example:⁵ Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Knowledge, hadith 123.

5. The Bibliography Formatting

The Bibliography appears at the very end of your thesis. It must be:

1. Alphabetical: By author’s last name.
2. Hanging Indent: The first line is flush left; the second line is indented.
   • Why? This makes it easy to scan for names.

Example:

al-Attas, Syed Muhammad Naquib. Islam and Secularism. Kuala Lumpur: ABIM, 1978.

Hooker, M. B. Islamic Law in South-East Asia. Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1984.

6. Microsoft Word “Footnote” Disaster

The Trap: Do not type the little “1” manually and then type at the bottom of the page. If you add a sentence later, your numbers will be wrong.

The Fix:

1. Go to the References tab in Word.
2. Click “Insert Footnote” (large button).
3. Word will automatically create the number and jump to the bottom.
4. Even better: Use the EndNote/Mendeley plugin. It handles the “Full Note” to “Short Note” conversion automatically.

7. Summary Checklist for History/Law Students

1. Check the Position: Is the number ¹ at the end of the sentence (after the period)?
2. Check the Indent: Does your Bibliography have a hanging indent?
3. Check the Names: In Footnotes: First Last. In Bibliography: Last, First.
4. Check the “Ibid”: Did you use Short Notes instead of Ibid? (Unless your supervisor is old-fashioned—always ask!).

Tired of formatting footnotes manually? One wrong move in Word can mess up 300 footnotes.

• [Citations & References Adjustment] – We ensure every comma, parenthesis, and italicized title meets strict Chicago/Turabian standards.
• [Manuscript Style Formatting] – We fix the “Hanging Indents” and ensure your margins are correct for binding.