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Chicago Citation Style Guide

A quick guide to Chicago-style citations

About Chicago's Author-Date System

The two major differences between Chicago's Author-Date (AD) and Note-Bibliography style is that in AD style, "sources are cited in the text, usually in parentheses, by the author’s last (family) name, the publication date of the work cited, and a page number if needed." In addition, in the full reference list (called "References" or "Works Cited"), the year of the work's publication is the second element in the entry, directly following the author’s name.

Text Citation:

(Last-name Year)

Example:

(Woodward 1987)

Reference Entry:

Last-name, First-name. Year. Title of Work. Place of Publication: Publisher.

Example:

Woodward, David, ed. 1987. Art and Cartography: Six Historical Essays. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Notes on A-D Formatting

Text Citations

  • Citations in the text usually appear in parentheses and include only the author and the year of publication with no intervening punctuation
  • A page number or other locator may be added, following a comma
  • Except at the end of block quotations, author-date citations are usually placed just before a mark of punctuation

Reference List Entries

  • In a reference list entry, the year of publication is the second element, following the author’s name
  • Elements are separated by periods
  • First-listed author’s name, according to which the entry is alphabetized in the reference list, is usually inverted (last name first)
  • Titles are capitalized headline-style
  • Titles of larger works such as books and journals are italicized
  • Titles of smaller works such as journal articles are presented enclosed in quotation marks