Author not mentioned in the sentence
Use parentheses to include both the author’s last name and the year.
Design guidelines for mobile touch targets continue to evolve (Nielsen Norman Group 2022).
Chicago Author-Date Journal Citation
Generate Chicago Author-Date citations from DOIs, titles, or URLs
Journal article
Example result
Chicago Format for Journal Articles
17th (Author-Date)
Author, Firstname M., Firstname M. Author, and Firstname M. Author. Year. “Title of Article.” Journal Title volume (issue): page range. DOI or URL. Author
- List authors in the order given in the source.
- Invert only the first author’s name; later authors appear in normal order.
- Separate authors with commas and use “and” before the final author.
- For works with up to ten authors, list all authors in the reference list.
- For works with eleven or more authors, list the first seven authors followed by “et al.”
- Use full given names when available.
Year
- Give the year of publication immediately after the author name(s), followed by a period, for example: 2023.
- Use the year shown by the journal. If no publication date is available, use n.d. in place of the year and supply an access date according to Chicago’s general guidance for undated sources.
Title of the Article
- Write the article title in double quotation marks.
- Use headline-style capitalization (capitalize all major words).
- Do not italicize the article title.
- Place a period inside the closing quotation mark, for example: “Temporal Variation in Selection Influences Microgeographic Local Adaptation.”
Journal Title
- Give the full title of the journal as it appears in the publication.
- Italicize the journal title.
- Use headline-style capitalization for the journal title.
- Do not add “journal of” or other words that are not part of the official title.
Volume and Issue
- After the journal title, give the volume number, followed by a space and the issue number in parentheses.
- Do not add “vol.” or “no.” in the standard author–date journal format.
- If the journal does not use issue numbers, give only the volume.
Page Range or Article Identifier
- Include the full page range for the entire article in the reference list, not only the pages cited in the text.
- Use an en dash and Chicago’s page-range conventions (for example, 471–85, 1818–59).
- For articles that use an article identifier instead of page numbers, give the identifier in the place of the page range, for example: 17 (2): e0263069.
DOI, URL, or Database
- For articles consulted online, Chicago recommends giving a URL, preferably one based on a DOI. Place it at the end of the reference entry.
- If the article has no DOI but was accessed through the open web, give a stable URL.
- If the article was accessed through a subscription database and no DOI or stable URL is available or appropriate, you may list the database name instead of a URL, for example: EBSCOhost.
Chicago Author-Date Journal Examples
One author
List the author’s name as surname first, followed by the year of publication, the article title in quotation marks, and the journal details.
Example:
Ribner, Andrew D. 2020. “Executive Function Facilitates Learning from Math Instruction in Kindergarten: Evidence from the ECLS-K.” Learning and Instruction 65 (February): 101251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2019.101251. Two authors
List both authors in the order given in the article; invert only the first author’s name and use “and” before the second author.
Example:
Siau, Keng, and Min Ling. 2017. “Mobile Collaboration Support for Virtual Teams.” Journal of Database Management 28 (3): 48–69. https://doi.org/10.4018/jdm.2017070103. Three to ten authors
List all authors in the order given in the article; invert only the first author’s name and separate authors with commas, using “and” before the final author.
Example:
Mezzanotti, Filippo, and Timothy Simcoe. 2019. “Patent Policy and American Innovation after eBay: An Empirical Examination.” Research Policy 48 (5): 1271–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2019.01.004. Eleven or more authors
For Chicago Author–Date references, when a journal article has eleven or more authors, list the first seven authors in the reference entry, followed by et al. Do not list all authors in the reference list.
Example:
Pettersen, Eric F., Thomas D. Goddard, Conrad C. Huang, Gregory S. Couch, Daniel M. Greenblatt, Elaine C. Meng, and Thomas E. Ferrin, et al. 2004. “UCSF Chimera—A Visualization System for Exploratory Research and Analysis.” Journal of Computational Chemistry 25 (13): 1605–12. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcc.20084. Article without an issue number
If a journal does not use issue numbers, omit the issue and give the volume number followed directly by the page range.
Example:
Gu, Mingyu, Qiang Liu, and Shigeki Watanabe. 2013. “AP2 Hemicomplexes Contribute Independently to Synaptic Vesicle Endocytosis.” eLife 2 (March). https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.00190. Article without a DOI
If no DOI is available, include a stable URL that reliably leads to the article.
Example:
Jstor.Org. n.d. “Transcending General Linear Reality on JSTOR.” Accessed December 12, 2025. https://www.jstor.org/stable/202114. In-Text Citations
Chicago Author–Date in-text citations identify sources using the author’s last name and the year of publication. The citation form depends on whether the author’s name appears in the sentence.
Basic citation styles
Author mentioned in the sentence
When the author appears in the text, place only the year in parentheses immediately after the name.
Nielsen Norman Group (2022) notes that mobile touch targets require generous spacing for usability.
Page numbers
Author not mentioned in the sentence
When quoting directly or referring to a specific section, add the page number after the year, separated by a comma.
The concept is defined more precisely in later editions (Walker 2020, 145).
Author mentioned in the sentence
Place the page number after the year in parentheses immediately following the author’s name.
Walker (2020, 145–47) discusses this issue in greater detail.
Two or three authors
Author not mentioned in the sentence
List all author surnames in the order they appear in the reference list.
This pattern has been observed in multiple studies (Smith and Lee 2019).
Later research supports the same conclusion (Garcia, Patel, and Wong 2021).
Author mentioned in the sentence
List all author surnames in the sentence and place the year in parentheses after the names.
Smith and Lee (2019) report similar findings.
Garcia, Patel, and Wong (2021) reach the same conclusion.
Four or more authors
Author not mentioned in the sentence
Use the first author’s last name followed by et al.
The framework has since been widely adopted (Johnson et al. 2018).
Author mentioned in the sentence
Use the first author’s last name followed by et al., with the year in parentheses.
Johnson et al. (2018) describe the model’s later development.
Multiple sources in one citation
Author not mentioned in the sentence
When citing multiple sources in the same parentheses, separate them with semicolons and list them alphabetically by author.
Similar conclusions have been reported elsewhere (Garcia 2017; Smith and Lee 2019; Walker 2020).
Author mentioned in the sentence
Mention the relevant authors in the sentence and include the year for each source in parentheses.
Garcia (2017), Smith and Lee (2019), and Walker (2020) report comparable results.
No personal author
Author not mentioned in the sentence
If no personal author is identified, use the organization name in parentheses.
The guidelines were updated following usability testing (World Health Organization 2022).
Author mentioned in the sentence
Use the organization name in the sentence and place the year in parentheses after it.
World Health Organization (2022) updated the guidelines following usability testing.
Placement
Author not mentioned in the sentence
In-text citations normally appear before the final punctuation of the sentence.
This finding has been replicated across multiple samples (Walker 2020).
Author mentioned in the sentence
When the author appears in the sentence, the year in parentheses follows the author’s name.
Walker (2020) reports consistent results across multiple samples.
Quick Checklist
Common Mistakes & How to Fix Them
Mistake 1
Using title case for the article title
Chicago Author–Date uses headline-style capitalization for journal article titles. Capitalize all major words.
Wrong
✕The effects of memory training on older adults
Correct
✓The Effects of Memory Training on Older Adults
Mistake 2
Italicizing the article title
In Chicago Author–Date, article titles are never italicized. Only the journal title is italicized.
Wrong
✕ Executive function facilitates learning from math instruction in kindergarten
Correct
✓ Executive function facilitates learning from math instruction in kindergarten
Mistake 3
Placing the year in the wrong position
The year must appear immediately after the author name(s) and before the article title.
Wrong
✕ Ribner, Andrew D. “Executive Function Facilitates Learning…” 2020. Learning and Instruction 65: 101251.
Correct
✓Ribner, Andrew D. 2020. “Executive Function Facilitates Learning…” Learning and Instruction 65: 101251.
Mistake 4
Using initials instead of full first names
Chicago Author–Date uses full given names whenever available, not initials.
Wrong
✕Ribner, A. D. 2020. “Executive Function Facilitates Learning…”
Correct
✓Ribner, Andrew D. 2020. “Executive Function Facilitates Learning…”
Mistake 5
Adding an issue number when the journal does not use one
Issue numbers are included only if the journal provides them. If no issue number is used, give the volume alone.
Wrong
✕ Learning and Instruction 65 (1): 101251.
Correct
✓ Learning and Instruction 65: 101251.
Mistake 6
Using a comma instead of a colon before page numbers or article identifiers
Chicago uses a colon, not a comma, before the page range or article identifier.
Wrong
✕ Learning and Instruction 65, 101251.
Correct
✓ Learning and Instruction 65: 101251.
Mistake 7
Omitting the page range or article identifier
The reference list must include the full page range or the article identifier used by the journal.
Wrong
✕ Learning and Instruction 65.
Correct
✓ Learning and Instruction 65: 101251.
Mistake 8
Adding a database name when a DOI is provided
When a DOI is available, no database name is needed.
Wrong
✕https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2019.101251 . JSTOR.
Correct
✓https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2019.101251 .
Mistake 9
Adding an access date to a dated journal article
Access dates are not required when a publication year is available.
Wrong
✕Accessed March 12, 2024.
Correct
✓(No access date included)
Mistake 10
Mixing APA-style punctuation into Chicago references
Chicago Author–Date does not use parentheses around the year in reference entries.
Wrong
✕Ribner, Andrew D. (2020). “Executive Function Facilitates Learning…”
Correct
✓Ribner, Andrew D. 2020. “Executive Function Facilitates Learning…”
Chicago Author-Date Journal Citation FAQ
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