Chicago Format & Citation Style: Author-Date, 17th Edition

In-text citations should follow these general guidelines:

• An in-text citation lists the author's surname and the year of publication, enclosed in parentheses
• If the author's name is mentioned in the text, only the year of publication appears in the citation
• The date should immediately follow the author’s name, even if the name is used in the possessive
• Citation of direct quotations must include the page number where the quotation appeared
• Page numbers are also required when paraphrasing specific information or citing secondary citations
• Page numbers included in a parenthetical citation should follow the year and be separated by a comma
• When citing 2 or 3 authors, use 'and' to separate surnames
• When citing 4 or more authors, use the first author's surname followed by 'et al.'
• If no author is provided, use a shortened version of the title
• If no date is provided, use n.d. following the author's surname and a comma
• When citing multiple works by the same author(s) in the same year, add a, b, c, and so on after the year to differentiate the references
• For different authors with the same surname, include initials before the surname
• For multiple in-text citations within one set of parentheses, alphabetize citations by first author and use a semicolon to separate citations
• If citing a secondary source, include both the original and secondary sources
• An in-text citation may appear anywhere in a sentence, provided that it follows a direct quote or paraphrase
• When including an in-text citation at the end of a sentence, the ending punctuation should follow the parentheses

References should follow these general rules and guidelines:

• A list of references is located at the end of your paper
• Title your page References
• Sources cited in text must appear in the reference list and vice versa
• Citations are single-spaced, with a double space between entries
• The first line of a reference list entry is left justified (flush left), and all subsequent lines are indented five spaces (this is called a "hanging indent")
• A reference list entry lists the author, year, title, and facts of publication, in that order
• Elements are separated by periods; facts of publication are not enclosed in parentheses
• Entries are arranged in alphabetical order by author's last name (unless your instructor provides different instructions.
• Authors’ full names are used with the first author's name inverted
• List all authors in a reference list entry, no matter how many
• If there is no author provided, alphabetize using the next element in the citation (generally the title)
• If there is no date provided, use 'n.d." in place of the year
• Titles are capitalized headline-style
• Titles of books and journals appear in italics; article titles and titles of book chapters, essays, and short stories appear in "quotes"
• Page numbers are only given when the item is a part of a whole work, such as a chapter in a book or an article in a journal
• Noun forms such as editor, translator, and edition are abbreviated, but verb forms such as 'edited by' and 'translated by' are spelled out
• If there are two or more works by the same author(s), arrange those citations chronologically by year of publication in ascending order
• If there are two or more works by the same author(s) in the same year, differentiate by adding a, b, c, and so on after the year
• Always include an electronic source's DOI, if available
• If an online item does not have a DOI, cite the URL or name of library database
• Access dates for electronic sources are not required unless no date of publication or last revision can be determined