Chicago Style Author-Date System

• What is Chicago Style Author-Date System?
• Citing Different Types of Sources using Author-Date System
  • Book with one author
  • Book with multiple authors
  • Book with four or more authors
  • Article or chapter in an edited book
  • Journal article
  • Web page
  • Find more examples on Chicago Manual of Style website

What is Chicago Style Author-Date System?

Some professors will require you to use an author-date system in the Chicago Style. Rather than footnotes or endnotes, you use a parenthetical citation to cite your evidence. Do not use both systems in the same paper.

In-text citations

A parenthetical citation includes the author name and year of publication. Note that there is no punctuation between the name and date. A page number or range is included to reference a particular section of the text; in this case, a comma separates the date and page number.

(Patel 2012)

(Nelson and Reidstra 2010, 87)

Reference or Works Cited list

All works cited in the paper must be listed alphabetically in a list titled “References” or “Works Cited.” This list is double-spaced and entries are formatted with a hanging indent.

Citing Different Types of Sources using Author-Date System

The major difference between footnote citations and Author-Date citations is that the date appears immediately next to the author's name. These examples give templates but you can modify other citation formats with that change.

Book With One Author

In-text citation

(Dunaway 2005) or (Dunaway 2005, 42)

Reference entry

LastName, FirstName. Year of Publication. Title of Book. Publisher.

Example

Dunaway, Finis. 2005. Natural Visions: The Power of Images in American Environmental Reform.  University of Chicago Press.

Book With Multiple Authors

If the book has two or three authors or editors, list all names in the order that they appear on the title page. Separate the names with commas and write "and" before the last name.

In-text citation

(Sadker and Sadker 1995)

Reference entry

Authors' Names: Last Name First for First Author Only. Year of Publication. Title of Book. Publisher.

Example

Sadker, Myra, and David Sadker. 1995. Failing at Fairness: How America's Schools Cheat Girls. Touchstone.

Book With Four or More Authors

In the in-text citation, list only the first author followed by "et al." In the reference list, you should list all of the authors. If a source has six or more authors, the reference list should only list three authors and then "et al."

In-text citation

(Boyer et al. 2007, 18)

Reference entry

Authors' names: Last Name First for First Author Only. Year of Publication. Title of Book. Publisher.

Example

Boyer, Paul, Clifford Clark, Joseph Kett, Neil Salisbury, and Harvard Sitkoff. 2005. The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Article or Chapter in an Edited Book

When citing a chapter or article in a book that contains works by many different authors, list the author and title of the chapter or article that you are using first. The editor/editors of the book as a whole are listed after the title of the book.

In-text citation

(Andriewsky 2003, 255)

Reference entry

Author's Name: Last Name First. Year of Publication. "Article or Chapter Title." In Title of Book, edited by Editor's Names. Publisher.

Example

Andriewsky, Olga. 2003. "The Paradoxes of Reform: Higher Education in Post Soviet Ukraine." In Society in Transition: Social Change Ukraine in Western Perspectives, edited by Wsevolod Isajiw. Canadian Scholars' Press.

NOTE: It is no longer necessary to record the page range for a chapter. 

Article in Scholarly Journal

Where available, include a DOI for an article you access online. If a DOI is not available, include a URL.

In-text citation

(Shuger 2012, 142).

Reference entry

Author's Name: Last Name First. Year of Publication. "Article Title." Title of Journal Volume (Issue Number): Page Range. DOI Information (or URL).

Example with DOI

Shuger, Debora. 2012. "Milton's Religion: The Early Years." Milton Quarterly 46 (3): 137-153. doi:10.1111/milt.12000.

Example with URL

Sangster, Joan. 2008."‘Queen of the Picket Line:’ Beauty Contests in the Post–World War II Canadian Labor Movement, 1945–1970,” Labor 5 (4): 83-106. http://labor.dukejournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/5/4/83.

Web Page

Include the date that you accessed the materials if it is a time sensitive issue or you are advised to do so by your professor.

In-text citation

(Government of Ontario 2014)

Reference entry

Author/Agency. Year of Publication. “Title of Page.” Title of site. Date material modified/accessed if required. URL.

Example

Government of Ontario. 2014. “About Ontario.” Ontario. Last modified July 8. https://www.ontario.ca/page/about-ontario.

NOTE: Use n.d. as the date if there is no publication date. The in-text citation will have n.d. after a common.