Introduction

This article will guide you through the most popular footnoting styles used in long-form content. You’ll learn about different citation methods, their strengths, and why Chicago style is our recommended approach.

What You’ll Learn

• The five major footnoting styles (Chicago, APA, MLA, Harvard, and Vancouver) and when to use each one
• How different organizations and publications choose their citation styles
• Why Chicago style offers the most flexibility for modern content needs
• Practical ways to implement Chicago-style footnotes in Markdown, WordPress, and React
• How to maintain proper citations when using AI writing tools

Why Citations Matter in the AI Era

With AI tools like GPT, Claude, and Gemini now helping create content, good citation practices are more important than ever. When using AI assistance, writers need clear guidelines for giving proper credit and maintaining accuracy. This article will show you how to navigate these challenges while keeping your content credible and transparent.

The Chicago Manual of Style offers particularly useful guidance for today’s digital content landscape, with comprehensive rules for citing everything from traditional sources to the newest digital formats.^[1]

In addition to our preference of Chicago style, we also recognize that, when using AI tools for assistance, the citations themselves are often subject to hallucination and must be diligently checked. For this reason, we ask our models to supply editors’ notes to each footnote reference that describes the content that was referenced. This helps ensure the accuracy of the citations and the credibility of the content.

Major Footnoting Styles

Let’s explore five major citation styles used in professional and academic writing today. Each has its own strengths and ideal use cases.

1. Chicago Style
2. APA Style
3. MLA Style
4. Harvard Style
5. Vacounver Style

Chicago Style

The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) offers two distinct documentation systems, each serving different purposes:

1. Notes-Bibliography System: This is what most people think of as “Chicago Style” and is our recommended approach for long-form content. It uses numbered footnotes or endnotes paired with a comprehensive bibliography.
2. Author-Date System: Similar to APA, this system uses parenthetical references (Smith 2023) in the text with a corresponding reference list. This is more common in sciences and social sciences.

How Chicago Notes-Bibliography Works in Practice

When you need to cite a source in your text, you place a numbered reference mark at the end of the relevant sentence or quotation. In Markdown, you would use the footnote syntax like this:

According to recent studies, proper citation practices enhance reader trust and improve content credibility.^[2]

Anatomy of a Chicago-Style Citation

Let’s break down the structure of the journal article citation above:

Sarah Johnson, “Building Credibility Through Citations,” *Journal of Content Strategy* 42, no. 3 (2024): 128, https://www.journalofcontentstrategy.org/article/42-3-128.

Each element serves a specific purpose:

1. Author’s Name: Listed as first name followed by last name in footnotes (unlike in bibliography where it’s inverted)
2. Article Title: In quotation marks, using headline-style capitalization
3. Journal Title: Italicized (in markdown, surrounded by asterisks)
4. Publication Details: Volume, issue number, year, and page number(s)
5. URL: The web location where the source can be accessed

Why Chicago Style Excels for Long-Form Content

• Uninterrupted Reading Flow: Unlike parenthetical citations that break up the text, footnotes preserve the natural flow of your content
• Dual-Purpose Notes: Footnotes can contain both citations AND additional commentary, explanations, or tangential information
• Comprehensive Source Information: Provides complete publication details without cluttering the main text
• Flexibility with Digital Content: Easily adapts to citing websites, social media, and other digital sources
• Industry Standard: Widely recognized in publishing, journalism, and professional writing

Best For: Any long-form content where reading experience matters, including humanities writing, journalism, blogs, and professional publications where preserving the flow of your main text is important while still providing thorough source documentation.

APA Style

Developed by the American Psychological Association, APA style uses parenthetical in-text citations and a reference list.

Key Features:

• Author-date citations in parentheses within the text (Smith, 2023)
• Reference list organized alphabetically by author’s last name
• Emphasis on publication date to highlight currency of research
• Standardized formatting for different source types

Best For: Social sciences, scientific writing, and academic papers where the recency of sources is important.

Example (APA Style):

The typing test phrase “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” was developed as a pangram in the late 19th century and contains every letter of the English alphabet (Millington, 2022).

// In the References section at the end of the document: References Millington, R. (2022). The history of typing test phrases. Journal of Typography, 28(4), 112-115. https://journaloftypography.edu/typing-tests

In APA style, the citation appears directly within the text using the author-date format, with full details in the alphabetically organized reference list at the end of the document.

MLA Style

The Modern Language Association style also uses parenthetical citations but with different formatting requirements than APA.

Key Features:

• Author-page citations in parentheses (Smith 42)
• Works Cited list instead of a bibliography
• Less emphasis on publication dates
• Standardized formatting for literary and humanities sources

Best For: Literary criticism, language studies, and other humanities disciplines where the specific text and page number are more important than the publication date.

Example (MLA Style):

The typing test phrase “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” was developed as a pangram in the late 19th century and contains every letter of the English alphabet (Millington 113).

// In the Works Cited section at the end of the document: Works Cited Millington, Richard. “The History of Typing Test Phrases.” Journal of Typography, vol. 28, no. 4, 2022, pp. 112-115, https://journaloftypography.edu/typing-tests. Accessed 10 June 2025.

MLA style emphasizes the specific page number where information can be found rather than the publication date, making it easier for readers to locate the exact quoted material.

Harvard Style

Harvard style is similar to APA in its use of author-date citations but with some formatting differences.

Key Features:

• Author-date citations in parentheses (Smith, 2023)
• Reference list organized alphabetically
• Variations exist across different institutions
• Clear distinction between types of sources

Best For: Business documents, social sciences, and institutions that have adopted Harvard as their standard style.

Example (Harvard Style):

The typing test phrase “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” was developed as a pangram in the late 19th century and contains every letter of the English alphabet (Millington, 2022, p. 113).

// In the References section at the end of the document: References Millington, R. (2022) ‘The History of Typing Test Phrases’, Journal of Typography, 28(4), pp. 112-115. Available at: https://journaloftypography.edu/typing-tests (Accessed: 10 June 2025).

Harvard style is similar to APA but includes the page number in the in-text citation and has slightly different formatting for the reference list.

Vancouver Style

Vancouver style uses a numbered reference system, making it distinct from the author-date systems above.

Key Features:

• Sequential numbers in brackets or superscript [1] or ¹ in the text
• Reference list ordered numerically, not alphabetically
• Concise citation format
• Standardized abbreviations for journal titles

Best For: Medical and scientific publications, especially journals, where concise citations are preferred and sources are referenced multiple times.

Example (Vancouver Style):

The typing test phrase “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” was developed as a pangram in the late 19th century and contains every letter of the English alphabet [1].

// In the References section at the end of the document: References

1. Millington R. The History of Typing Test Phrases. J Typography. 2022;28(4):112-15. Available from: https://journaloftypography.edu/typing-tests [Accessed 10th June 2025].

Vancouver style uses numbered citations that correspond to a numerically ordered reference list, making it extremely efficient when citing the same source multiple times throughout a document.

Comparative Analysis of Citation Methods

Now that we’ve examined the major citation styles, let’s analyze how they compare across several important dimensions that matter to writers and content creators.

Readability and Flow Considerations

How citations affect your readers’ experience can be as important as the accuracy of the citations themselves. Different citation styles have varying impacts on reading flow.^[3]

Impact on Reader Experience

Citation styles fall into two broad categories in terms of how they affect reading flow:

1. Inline citation systems (APA, MLA, Harvard) insert the author and other identifying information directly into the text. While this provides immediate source context, it can disrupt the reading experience – especially when multiple citations appear in a single paragraph or when the cited authors’ names are lengthy.
2. Numbered citation systems (Chicago, Vancouver) use a simple number that directs readers to detailed information elsewhere. This approach maintains better reading flow but requires readers to navigate between text and notes to verify sources.

Consider this comparison of the same passage with different citation styles:

With Chicago footnotes:

The digital transformation of citation practices has accelerated in recent years, with significant implications for content creators.¹ This shift coincides with broader changes in how readers consume information.

With APA parenthetical citations:

The digital transformation of citation practices has accelerated in recent years, with significant implications for content creators (Johnson, 2023; Martinez & Wong, 2024; Abernathy et al., 2022). This shift coincides with broader changes in how readers consume information.

The Chicago style maintains a cleaner reading experience, particularly when citing multiple sources for a single point.

Visual Interruption vs. Supplementary Information

The design implications of different citation systems extend beyond just readability:

• Chicago footnotes provide a clear visual separation between main content and supporting documentation, allowing for a cleaner main text while still providing detailed source information
• Parenthetical citations create visual “speed bumps” throughout the text, potentially distracting readers but offering immediate source context
• Vancouver numbers offer minimal visual disruption but provide the least immediate context about sources

For long-form digital content, the visual interruption factor becomes increasingly important. Studies show that online readers are particularly sensitive to text flow disruptions, making Chicago-style footnotes an excellent choice for digital content strategies that prioritize engagement.^[4]

Academic Integrity Perspectives

Throughout higher education and professional publishing, citation practices are fundamentally linked to academic integrity and intellectual honesty. Different citation styles offer varying approaches to these ethical considerations.

Accuracy in Attribution

All citation styles aim to accurately attribute ideas to their original authors, but they differ in how they prioritize certain information:

• Chicago style emphasizes comprehensive documentation with detailed publication information, making it particularly useful for verifying historical or archival sources
• APA style highlights the currency of research by prominently featuring publication dates, reflecting science’s emphasis on recent findings
• MLA style prioritizes precise location (page numbers) within sources, particularly valuable for literary analysis where exact quotation location matters
• Vancouver style focuses on brevity and consistency, suited for fields where methodological precision is valued over source analysis

In the era of AI content assistance, academic integrity requires even greater attention to citation accuracy. When using AI tools like GPT, Claude, or Gemini to help draft content, writers must independently verify all source attributions, as AI tools can occasionally “hallucinate” citations—creating plausible but fictional references.^[5] This makes the Chicago style’s detailed documentation particularly valuable, as its comprehensive format makes verification more straightforward.

Verification Capabilities

The most robust citation styles facilitate easy verification by readers and editors:

• Chicago and Harvard styles provide the most complete information for locating sources
• APA and MLA offer standardized formats that make verification relatively straightforward
• Vancouver style can make verification more challenging due to its abbreviated format

In the digital environment, citation styles that accommodate URLs, DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers), and access dates have clear advantages for verification. Chicago style has adapted particularly well to digital citation needs, with clear guidelines for citing everything from social media posts to database content.

Flexibility for Different Content Types

Content creation today spans traditional print media, digital publications, social media, and emerging formats. Citation styles vary significantly in their adaptability to these diverse content types.

Books, Journals, Digital Media, and Beyond

When comparing how different citation styles handle various source types:

• Chicago style offers the most comprehensive guidance for almost any source type imaginable. The Chicago Manual of Style provides specific formats for books, journal articles, websites, social media posts, podcasts, videos, databases, personal communications, and even unpublished materials like manuscripts and archives.^[6]
• APA and MLA have good coverage for common academic sources but may have less detailed guidance for specialized or emerging formats.
• Harvard style varies by institution but generally offers solid flexibility across source types.
• Vancouver style is optimized for scientific literature but can be less adaptable to humanities sources or non-traditional media.

This comparative flexibility becomes particularly important when writing content that references diverse source types. For a blog post that might reference scientific studies, news articles, social media posts, and videos all in the same piece, Chicago style offers the most consistent approach.

Handling Non-Traditional Sources

The digital age continually introduces new content formats that challenge traditional citation frameworks. Consider these challenging scenarios and how citation styles address them:

Social media content: Chicago style provides clear guidance with options for in-text mention (“In a tweet on May 4, CEO Jane Smith announced…”) or formal citation with all relevant details.

Interactive or dynamic content: Chicago style allows for descriptive citations that can include access dates to acknowledge potential changes over time.

Ease of Implementation

Practical considerations about implementation can be just as important as theoretical citation principles, especially for content teams managing large projects.

Writer Experience and Learning Curve

The learning curve varies significantly across citation styles:

• Chicago style has a steeper initial learning curve due to its comprehensive nature, but it becomes more intuitive with practice. Its logical structure and clear examples make it accessible despite its complexity.
• APA and MLA have moderate learning curves, with numerous online resources available to assist writers.
• Harvard style varies by institution, which can create confusion for writers working across multiple organizations.
• Vancouver style has a straightforward numbered system but requires careful management of citations when documents undergo revision.

Organizations and Their Style Preferences

Different sectors and institutions have developed distinct citation style preferences based on their particular needs and traditions. Understanding these patterns can help content creators choose the most appropriate style for their audience and context.

Academic Institutions and Their Citation Requirements

Academic citation preferences typically follow disciplinary boundaries rather than institutional ones, though some universities do have specific style requirements for institutional publications.

Humanities Departments (Typically Chicago/MLA)

Humanities disciplines generally favor styles that accommodate detailed footnotes and nuanced commentary:

• History departments overwhelmingly prefer Chicago Notes-Bibliography style for its ability to handle historical sources and provide contextual notes
• English and literature departments frequently use MLA style, with its emphasis on page numbers for textual analysis
• Philosophy departments often use Chicago style but may also employ specialized formats for classical texts

These preferences reflect the humanities’ focus on textual analysis, contextual information, and the ongoing conversation between scholars across time.

Scientific Fields (Typically APA/Vancouver)

Scientific disciplines prioritize citation styles that emphasize recency and concision:

• Psychology and social sciences strongly prefer APA style, with its emphasis on publication dates
• Medical research almost universally uses Vancouver style for its brevity and standardized journal abbreviations
• Hard sciences (physics, chemistry, biology) often use field-specific variants similar to APA or Vancouver

These preferences reflect the scientific emphasis on recent research, methodological precision, and the progressive building of knowledge.

Media and Publishing Organizations

Professional media outlets typically develop internal style guides that address citation needs specific to their audience and medium.

Major News Organizations

• The New York Times follows a modified Chicago style for its digital footnotes and source attributions
• The Associated Press (AP) uses its own AP Stylebook guidelines for attribution, avoiding formal citations in favor of in-text attribution
• The Atlantic employs footnote-style citations for its long-form articles, similar to Chicago style but with house-specific modifications
• The Economist typically embeds attribution within the text but uses endnotes for supplementary information

Digital Media Companies

• Medium recommends hyperlink citations for online articles with optional footnotes for additional context
• Substack publications often use a mix of hyperlinks and informal footnotes
• WordPress blogs commonly use footnote plugins that implement Chicago-style citations

What’s notable across digital publishing is the increasing hybridization of citation styles, often combining traditional footnotes with modern hyperlinks for optimal reader experience and source verification.^[7]

Corporate and Government Organizations

Formal institutions typically have established citation preferences that reflect their operational needs:

Corporate Style Preferences

• Legal departments typically use Bluebook citation style for legal references
• Technical documentation often follows IEEE or APA format
• Marketing content typically minimizes formal citations, favoring embedded hyperlinks

Government and NGO Documentation

• U.S. Government publications often follow a modified Chicago or APA style
• United Nations documents use a specialized system similar to Chicago but with organization-specific elements
• Scientific agencies (like NASA, NIH) typically follow field-standard citation practices (APA or Vancouver)

Many large organizations maintain comprehensive internal style guides that include citation protocols, often adapting mainstream styles like Chicago to suit their specific communication needs and audiences.^[8]

Advanced Chicago Style Features and Special Cases

Commentary Footnotes

One of Chicago style’s most powerful features is the ability to include both citation information and substantive commentary in the same footnote. This allows writers to add context, clarification, or tangential information without disrupting the main text flow.

For example, in a typical Chicago-style article, you might see:

The emergence of large language models has fundamentally changed how researchers approach natural language processing tasks.^[N]

In the corresponding footnote, you could have both citation and additional commentary:

N. Emily M. Bender et al., "On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big?," Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency, March 2021: 610-623. Bender's work is particularly significant as it challenges the prevailing assumption that bigger models automatically produce better results. Her team's early critiques have become increasingly relevant as AI systems continue to scale in size and capability.
Code language: Markdown (markdown)

This approach offers several advantages:

• Readers can follow the main narrative without interruption
• Subject matter experts can include valuable technical details for interested readers
• Writers can acknowledge alternative viewpoints without derailing their main argument
• Important contextual information can be preserved without diluting the core content

The ability to combine citation with extended commentary is particularly valuable in digital long-form content where additional context might enhance the reader experience without cluttering the main narrative.

Conclusion: Making an Informed Choice

As we’ve explored throughout this comprehensive guide, citation style choices significantly impact both the reader experience and the credibility of long-form content. While each style has its merits, Chicago style’s footnote-based approach offers compelling advantages for digital-first, long-form content creators:

Why Chicago Style Leads for Long-Form Content

• Superior Reading Experience: By moving citations out of the main text, Chicago style creates an uninterrupted narrative flow that today’s readers appreciate
• Flexible Commentary: The ability to include both citations and substantive commentary in footnotes provides greater depth without disrupting the main text
• Digital Adaptability: Chicago style has successfully evolved to accommodate digital-only sources, social media, and even AI-generated content
• Implementation Options: From simple Markdown to sophisticated CMS plugins, implementation tools make Chicago style accessible across platforms

While the specific citation style you choose ultimately depends on your audience, subject matter, and platform constraints, Chicago style’s footnote-based approach offers the best balance of scholarly rigor and reader experience for most long-form content scenarios.^[9]

Additional Resources

To deepen your understanding of citation practices or implement them more effectively, explore these valuable resources:

Style Guides and Official Documentation

• The Chicago Manual of Style Online – The definitive resource for Chicago style with searchable database
• Harvard Referencing Style Guide – Comprehensive guide to Harvard citation style from Melbourne University
• Vancouver Style Guide – Detailed reference for Vancouver citation style used in medical and scientific fields
• Citation Style Language – Open repository of machine-readable citation style definitions

1. [Editor’s note: This citation supports the statement about Chicago Manual of Style offering guidance for digital content] “Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide,” The Chicago Manual of Style Online, The University of Chicago, accessed June 10, 2025, https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. ↩︎
2. [Editor’s note: This citation directly addresses citation practices for AI-generated content] “Citation and Attribution – Generative Artificial Intelligence,” Brown University Library, accessed June 10, 2025, https://libguides.brown.edu/c.php?g=1338928&p=9868287. ↩︎ ↩︎
3. [Editor’s note: This footnote references research on how citation styles affect reading flow] Rebecca Heisman, “The Citation Style Language: Open-Source Tools for Digital Publishing,” Publishing Research Quarterly 38, no. 2 (2022): 320-331, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12109-022-09885-2. ↩︎
4. [Editor’s note: This footnote references studies on reader sensitivity to text flow disruptions online] Jakob Nielsen, “How Users Read on the Web,” Nielsen Norman Group, September 30, 1997, updated 2020, https://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-users-read-on-the-web/. ↩︎
5. [Editor’s note: This footnote addresses AI hallucination in citations] Emily M. Bender et al., “On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big?,” Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency, March 2021: 610-623, https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3442188.3445922. ↩︎
6. [Editor’s note: This footnote addresses guidelines for citing AI tools] “How do I cite generative AI in MLA style?,” Modern Language Association, accessed June 10, 2025, https://style.mla.org/citing-generative-ai/. ↩︎ ↩︎
7. [Editor’s note: This footnote addresses digital publishing citation trends] Rebecca Bliquez, “Citations in Digital Spaces: Implementing Best Practices in Digital Publishing,” Digital Scholarship in the Humanities 37, no. 1 (2022): 217-234, https://academic.oup.com/dsh/article/37/1/217/6294245. ↩︎
8. [Editor’s note: This footnote provides examples of organizational style guides] “U.S. Government Publishing Office Style Manual,” 2016, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-STYLEMANUAL-2016/pdf/GPO-STYLEMANUAL-2016.pdf. ↩︎ ↩︎
9. [Editor’s note: This footnote summarizes research on citation style impact on readability] Kate L. Turabian, “A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations,” 9th ed., University of Chicago Press, 2018, available as overview at https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/turabian/turabian-notes-and-bibliography-citation-quick-guide.html. ↩︎