Chicago author-date: journal article (with DOI)
- List up to ten authors in the reference list; for more than ten, list the first seven followed by “et al.”
- Article titles use headline-style capitalisation in quotation marks; the journal name is italic.
- End with the DOI as a https://doi.org/ link.
Chicago author-date: book
- The 17th edition includes the place of publication before the publisher.
- Book titles are italic and in headline-style capitalisation.
Chicago author-date: chapter in an edited book
- Editors' names run first name first after “edited by”.
- The chapter's page range comes after the editors' names.
Chicago author-date: web page
- The page title goes in quotation marks; the website's name is in roman type.
- Add an access date only when the page has no publication or revision date.
Chicago author-date: report
- When an organisation is both author and publisher, it may be listed in both positions.
Chicago author-date: thesis or dissertation
- Thesis titles go in quotation marks, not italics.
Chicago author-date in-text citations
Give the author's surname and the year, with no comma between them; add a page after a comma.
| Parenthetical | (Jergas and Baethge 2015) |
| With a page | (Doe 2021, 14) |
| Narrative | Doe (2021, 14) argues that… |
| Four or more authors | (Surname et al. 2020) |
- One to three authors: give every surname. Four or more: the first surname and “et al.”
- No comma between author and year; a comma before the page.
Common Chicago author-date mistakes
- A comma between author and year in the text. Chicago writes (Doe 2021), not (Doe, 2021).
- Placing the year at the end of the reference, as in notes-bibliography. In author-date, the year follows the author.
- Mixing author-date and footnote citations in the same paper.
Format a reference in Chicago author-date
Fill in a journal article once and our free in-browser formatter gives it to you in Chicago author-date, ready to copy, with the author-list rules applied. It opens with Chicago author-date highlighted.
Chicago author-date questions
What's the difference between Chicago author-date and notes-bibliography?
Author-date puts short (Author Year) citations in the text and is common in the sciences and social sciences. Notes-bibliography uses numbered footnotes or endnotes and is common in history and the humanities. The two systems share most formatting rules.
Is there a newer edition of Chicago?
Yes. The 18th edition was published in 2024. These examples follow the 17th edition, which many courses still specify; check your course's requirements.
How many authors do I list?
In the reference list, up to ten; for more, the first seven and “et al.” In the text, up to three; for four or more, the first author and “et al.”
Do I need the place of publication?
In the 17th edition, yes, for books: Place: Publisher.
About the examples
Every style guide on this site formats the same six sources, so you can compare styles side by side. The journal article is real; the others are fictional, with placeholder names.
- Journal article (with DOI) (real): Hannah Jergas and Christopher Baethge, “Quotation accuracy in medical journal articles—a systematic review and meta-analysis,” PeerJ, volume 3, article e1364, published 27 October 2015, DOI 10.7717/peerj.1364.
- Book: Jane A. Doe, Evidence and argument in student research, Example University Press, London, 2021.
- Chapter in an edited book: Richard B. Roe, “Reading statistics critically,” pages 45–67 of A handbook of research methods, edited by Maria C. Sample and Lee D. Example, Example University Press, London, 2020.
- Web page: Pat Q. Public, “How to check that a source exists,” Example Research Hub (London), published 12 March 2024, https://www.example.org/guides/check-a-source, accessed 15 October 2026.
- Report: Example Institute for Education (author and publisher, London), Student research practices in higher education, 2023, https://www.example.org/reports/student-research-2023, accessed 15 October 2026.
- Thesis or dissertation: Alex B. Placeholder, Peer feedback and revision in first-year writing, unpublished PhD thesis, Department of Education, Example University, London, 2022.
Based on the The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, chapter 15. Last reviewed 2026-11. Your instructor's or journal's own guidelines take precedence. Spotted an error? Email support@moremind.ai.