Chicago Style Quick Guide

Here is some basic information for all tables:

• A table should appear in your paper as soon as possible after your first reference to it.


• Label each table with a number, example:  Table 1, Table 2. Number tables separately from other illustrations.


• Add a source note at the bottom of the table, if the data for the table is not your own.  The note should begin with the word Source or Sources in italics and cited using the same formatting as a footnote or endnote. Separate multiple sources with a semicolon. Example:

Sources: Data from Richard H. Adams Jr., "Remittances, Investment, and Rural Asset Accumulation in Pakistan," Economic Development and Cultural Change 47, no. 1 (1998): 155-73; David Bevan, Paul Collier, and Jan Gunning, Peasants and Government: An Economic Analysis (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989), 125-28. 

See Chicago Manual 3.50-3.88

Graphs and charts are used synonymously in the Chicago Manual.  Here are some tips for using charts: 

• Label charts as figures (fig. 1, fig. 2, etc.) 


• Only use charts when they summarize data more effectively than words


• Always label the x- and y-axis

See Chicago Manual 3.41-3.46