Citations (Evidence Style)

Citation style guides can help you capture all the information about a source that is necessary for you and others to evaluate the quality of the source, to relocate your source, and sometimes to find the source from which your source was derived. Practically speaking, users of the latest genealogy software may feel no need for citation guides because the software prompts users to enter specific source information into forms. The program then formats citations according to its interpretation of the chosen citation style. Conversely, style guides are necessary when using software that does not have forms for the many different types of sources used by genealogists, or when you need a better understanding of the materials you are using.

= The Basics =

One citation style used by genealogical and historical researchers in the United States is Evidence Style, developed by Elizabeth Shown Mills. It is an extension of Chicago Style, as set forth in the classic writer's guide to style issues, Chicago Manual of Style. Chicago Style is adequate for citing most published sources. Evidence Style follows Chicago's general framework but adapts and extends it to cover historical documents and artifacts in many variant forms, a significant issue for those who work with original records. Evidence Style is detailed in the book Evidence Explained and in a companion series of QuickSheets.

Contrary to the terminology used by Personal Ancestral File (PAF) and some other genealogy programs, both Evidence and Chicago Styles, define a source as a document, register, publication, film, artifact, website, or person that supplies information. A citation is the entire textual reference to the source.

In the Evidence and Chicago Styles, there are four types of citations:


 * 1) Source list. (Chicago calls this a bibliography.) Each citation—called a source list entry—is punctuated as if it were a paragraph and each citation element were a sentence. Published works are sorted by the last name of the author. To effectively organize the source list, Evidence Style allows considerable latitude in the arrangement of unpublished works. Examples in this article illustrate ordering unpublished works geographically. However, elements of the source list entry can be reordered to reflect other organization schemes when appropriate. One source list entry will often underpin multiple reference notes. Therefore, the source list entry excludes the more detailed citation elements present in the notes. For example, page numbers for books and manuscript volumes would be present in notes but not the source list entry.
 * 2) First reference note. Both Evidence and Chicago allows either footnotes or endnotes and use the term reference notes, or simply notes to speak of both. Each note is punctuated as if it were a sentence containing a list of citation elements. As with any list, commas are the basic punctuation used to separate the elements. If commas within elements make the list ambiguous, then semicolons are used to separate the elements. Parentheses typically surround publication data (place, publisher and date). In Evidence Style, this convention is applied to both print works and online works.
 * 3) Subsequent note. In the final draft of a narrative, after the first reference to a source, it is not necessary to duplicate a complete citation in subsequent notes. In fact, abbreviating subsequent citations in a published work makes notes more understandable and signals source reuse. The abbreviated style of subsequent notes should be applied only at the time of publication, because the order of notes can change as a manuscript is revised. You should always enter complete citations in genealogical records. If you never develop a manuscript for publication, then you can safely ignore the "subsequent note" format.
 * 4) Source label. This is the citation that should appear in the margin, on the front of all photocopies and prints of original records; it should also accompany all transcriptions and abstracts. Evidence Style does not dictate whether the researcher format a label as a Source List Entry or a Reference Note. Suffice it to say, the citation should be complete in case the page is shared independently of other documents.

= Examples =

Some examples are shown with each citation element labeled. Don't forget to include the punctuation at the end of each element. Some examples are shown as they normally appear, except for indenting. The numbers 1 and 11 are illustrative only and are used for the first reference note and subsequent reference note, respectively.

Journal article
This example is online. For a paper source, leave off the elements starting with "online archives." No change is required for the short note.

New FamilySearch (Common Pedigree)
insert example here

Record Search Collection
insert example here

= Citation Principles =

It can be difficult to construct a citation when no matching example is given unless you know the underlying citation principles. Users of Evidence Style can find, in Evidence Explained, a synopsis of all principles common to historical research and writing as well as guidance on issues peculiar to specific types of records.

= Differences from Chicago Manual of Style =

Differences between Evidence Style and Chicago Style may be considered acceptable alternatives, improved practice, or minor deviations.The major difference in the two guides is this:

Evidence Style is designed for researchers to use at input stage; therefore, it helps users capture all information about a source that may be needed to subsequently identify it and to evaluate the reliability of that source. Chicago Style reflect parameters designed by a publishing house for editors and writers seeking publication; therefore, it focuses upon the output stage at which citations are pared to the minimum required to relocate a source.

Other minor differences include the following:


 * Evidence Style italicizes series titles if, in common usage, it "is considered a formal title for [the] set of materials." (Example: the series Pennsylvania Archives, which is composed of many different volumes carrying widely different titles. Chicago, which never italicizes a series title, does not address this issue.
 * "Evidence Style identifies [periodical] issues by their dates rather than issue numbers, because unrecognized typing errors are more common with numbers than with words." Chicago allows either, but recognizes that "although not all these elements may be required to locate an article, furnishing them all provides a hedge against possible error in one or another of them."
 * Evidence Style is more cautious in the use of abbreviations. Because historical researchers use records across wide time frames in which place-name abbreviations change, because family historians use records for many countries whose proper abbreviations may not be widely known, and because "abbreviations rarely save a significant amount of space, the thoughtful writer avoids all but the truly obvious ones." In general, Evidence Style spells out the names of states and references to political jurisdictions ("county," "parish," etc.) in the first citation to a source, but allows abbreviations in shortened subsequent citations to the same source. Both Evidence and Chicago agree that (in Chicago's words), "If the city of publication may be unknown to readers or may be confused with another city of the same name, ... the state, province, or (sometimes) country is added." However, Chicago recommends that the state, province, or country name be abbreviated.
 * Evidence Style allows an optional space after the colon separating volume and page numbers. CMS, on the other hand, specifies that no space be present. "But when parenthetical information intervenes," such as "12 (Winter): 345" then a space after the colon is required for clarity.

= Notes =