: Mention name in paraphrased text? I'm a newbie writer and I would like to properly make references in my book (I'm thinking of using Chicago style, but am not married to it). Currently, I'm

@Gonzalez219

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I'm a newbie writer and I would like to properly make references in my book (I'm thinking of using Chicago style, but am not married to it). Currently, I'm leaning toward using the notes-and-bibliography system rather than the author-date system.

However, I'm unclear on something in the notes-and-bibliography system when it comes to avoiding plagiarism. Let's say I'm paraphrasing something somebody else wrote and then I just put an endnote. Then the reader won't know it's somebody else's idea unless they make the effort to check the corresponding endnote. Worse, if I also use endnotes for other purposes (such as additional details and explanatory content), the reader may feel encouraged to skip endnotes and will never know with whom the idea I'm paraphrasing originated.

For example, let's say I write:

...paraphrase of somebody else's idea here (without mentioning their name)... [1]

And then my endnote says:

[1] ...author and source information here according to style guide...

Then, unless I include the other person's name in my paraphrase (that is, in the main text), the reader may miss the fact that it's not my idea.

So, my question is: using the notes-and-bibliography system, do I have to mention the name of the other person in my paraphrase, or only in the endnote and in the bibliography?

I could just use the author-date system to be extra sure the reader knows with whom some of the ideas in my book originated, but I mention others' ideas frequently and it could become quite cumbersome if not repetitive mentioning the authors' names every time. That's why I'd rather use the notes-and-bibliography system without names in the main text - unless this could lead to plagiarism.

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