The Chicago Author-Date style is used by students and scholars in the physical and social sciences.
American Sociological Association style guide
Information desk: HM 569.A54 2010
(see WorldCat record)
Chicago Author-Date requires that you document your sources with parenthetical references in the text of your paper. Full bibliographic details should also be included in a list of references at the end of the paper.
Special note: The APSA (American Political Science Association) Style is based on the Chicago Author-Date style.
The general format for in-text references is author's last name and date, followed by the specific page number. Punctuation follows the in-text citation. Editors and translators are treated as authors in in-text references.
Single author | Note |
(Rigger 1999, 55-56) | Include the author's last name, publication date, and the page number referenced. In Chicago Author-Date, you put a "," between the date and page numbers referenced. |
2 or 3 authors | |
(Hess and Ross 1993, 34) | |
(Foley, Smith, and Ross 2000, 44) | |
4+ authors | Note |
(Martin et al. 2000, 44) |
Use only the first author and "et al.", but list all authors in the bibliography. |
Editor | Note |
(Ortmayer 1975, 45) | If you're citing an editor, you do not need to put the "ed." in the text citation. Treat the editor just as you would an author in text. You will provide the full details in the list of references. |
Corporate author | |
(United Nations 2010, 16) | |
Anonymous/no known author | Note |
(Anonymous Work 1641, 151) | Books: Include a shortened form of the title in italics, followed by the page reference. |
("Genre and Gender" 1981, 12) | Articles: Include a shortened form of the article title in quotes, followed by the page reference. |
Multiple sources, same author | Note |
(Weinstein 2001a, 123) (Weinstein 2001b, 324) |
Differentiate works by the same author in the same year by adding 'a', 'b', 'c', etc. Use 'a' for the first entry in the References list, 'b' for the second, etc. |
Multiple text references | Note |
(Johnston 2010, 23; Smith 2009, 254) | Use a ";" to separate more than one source in a parenthetical reference. List the authors alphabetically. |
Indirect references | Note |
(quoted in Nelson 2010, 45) | It is best practice to consult the original source for references, but use this formatting for situations when you cannot track down original source. |
Core elements: Author/s, date, Title of Source (in italics), publication information (publisher name, location), and URL or doi (digital object identifier), if online.
Book with a single author |
Online |
Rigger, Shelley. 1999. Politics in Taiwan: Voting for Democracy. London: |
Routledge. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10054562. |
Ortmayer, Louis L. 1975. Conflict, Compromise, and Conciliation: West German- |
Polish Normalization, 1966-1976. Denver, CO: University of Denver, Graduate School of International Studies. |
Book with 2+ authors |
Online |
Appleyard, Dennis R., Alfred J. Field, and Steven L. Cobb. 2008. International |
Economics. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/148732161.html. |
Hess, Peter N., and Clark G. Ross. 1993. Principles of Economics: An Analytical |
Approach. Minneapolis: West. |
Edited book |
Online |
Plummer, Marjorie Elizabeth, Robin Barnes, and H. C. Erik Midelfort, eds. |
2009. Ideas and Cultural Margins in Early Modern Germany: Essays in Honor of H.C. Erik Midelfort. Farnham, England: Ashgate. doi:123/23456789.0101. |
Crandall, Russell, Guadalupe Paz, and Riordan Roett, eds. 2005. Mexico's |
Democracy at Work: Political and Economic Dynamics. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers. |
Book chapter |
Online |
Martin, David. 2007. "The Preanalytic Visions of Environmental Economics in |
Investigating Biodiversity Preservation." In Essays in Ecocriticism, edited by Nirmal Selvamony, Nirmaldassan, and Rayson K. Alex, 67-81. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons. http://books.google.com/books?id=z-tEW8gU-wsC. |
Schousen, Matthew M., David T. Canon, and Patrick J. Sellers. 1998. |
"Representation and Ambition in the New African-American Congressional Districts: The Supply-Side Effects." In Race and Redistricting in the 1990s, edited by Bernard Grofman, 39-50. New York: Agathon Press. |
Core elements: Author/s, date, "Article Title", Source/Journal Title (in italics), Volume, Issue, and URL or doi (digital object identifier), if online.
Journal article with a single author |
Online |
Perry, David L. 2010. "Some Unsettling Ethical Reflections on |
Interrogation." International Journal of Intelligence Ethics 1 (1): 47-75. doi:1234567-89029. |
Shaw, Brian J. 2005. "Rawls, Kant's Doctrine of Right, and Global Distributive |
Justice." Journal of Politics 67: 220-249. |
Journal article with 2+ authors |
Online |
Foley, Mark, and Fred Smith. 2007. "Consumer Discrimination in Professional |
Sports: New Evidence from Major League Baseball." Applied Economics Letters 14 (13): 951-955. doi:10.1080/13504850600705935. |
Foley, Mark, and Will Pyle. 2003. "Formal Socialist Economies and the |
Undergraduate Curriculum." Comparative Economic Studies 45 (4): 537-553. |
Newspaper article |
Online |
Flanagan, Brenda. 2010. "How Haiti Survives." Los Angeles Sentinel. June 17. |
http://www.lasentinel.net/How-Haiti-Survives.html. |
Hodge, Cannon. 2004. "Finally, He is a Dog: a Day in the Life of Fred." |
Davidsonian [Davidson, NC], April 7. |
Magazine article |
Online |
Kolbert, Elizabeth. 2011. "Age of Man." National Geographic, March 2. |
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/03/age-of-man/kolbert-text. |
Same as above without the access date and URL. |
Article in a reference source |
Online |
Martin, David. 2007. "Balance of Trade." In International Encyclopedia of the Social |
Sciences, edited by William Darity. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA. doi:123456789/19. |
Menkhaus, Kenneth J. 1992. "Siyad Barre." In Political Leaders of Contemporary |
Africa South of the Sahara: A Biographical Dictionary, edited by Harvey Glickman, 28-33. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. |
Chapter in book |
Online |
Martin, David. 2007. "The Preanalytic Visions of Environmental Economics in |
Investigating Biodiversity Preservation." In Essays in Ecocriticism, edited by Nirmal Selvamony, Nirmaldassan, and Rayson K. Alex, 67-81. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons. doi:123/jir02910301/0345. |
Schousen, Matthew M., David T. Canon, and Patrick J. Sellers. 1998. |
"Representation and Ambition in the New African-American Congressional Districts: The Supply-Side Effects." In Race and Redistricting in the 1990s, edited by Bernard Grofman, 39-50. New York: Agathon Press. |
Book review |
Online |
Ahrensdorf, Peter. 1996. Review of Plato's Statesman: The Web of Politics, by |
Stanley Rosen. Journal of Politics 58: 1241-43. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2960172. |
Roberts, Susan L. 1985. Review of Both Ends of the Avenue: The Presidency, the |
Executive Branch, and Congress in the 1980s, by Anthony King. Journal of Politics 47: 1008-1010. |
Note: The Chicago Manual of Style requires that you include a doi (digital object identifier) or URL for sources that you find online. If neither a doi or URL is available, list the database where you found the source (ex. LexisNexis). Access dates are no longer required for online sources.
Webpage |
University of Chicago Press. 2010. "Chicago Manual of Style." |
Accessed February 10. http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org. |
Journal article online |
Online, with doi |
Foley, Mark, and Fred Smith. 2007. "Consumer Discrimination in |
Professional Sports: New Evidence from Major League Baseball." Applied Economics Letters 14 (13): 951-955. doi:10.1080/13504850600705935. |
Online, with URL |
Crandall, Russell. 2001. Explicit Narcotization: U.S. Policy Toward Columbia |
During the Samper Administration. Latin American Politics and Society 43 (3): 95-120. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3177145. |
Online, no doi or URL |
Mahony, William K. 1988. "The Artist as Yogi, the Yogi as Artist." Parabola 13, |
(March 1, 1988): 68-79. ATLA Religion Database, EBSCOhost (accessed May 1, 2011). |
eBook |
Pegelow, Thomas. 2009. The Language of Nazi Genocide: Linguistic |
Violence and the Struggle of Germans of Jewish Ancestry. New York: Cambridge University Press. http://www.ebrary.com/id/19876. |
Note: For ebooks, include a doi or URL. Access dates are not required. |
Magazine - News article online |
Online, news |
Menkhaus, Ken, and Karin von Hippel. 2008. "Somalia, Republic of |
Blowback."New York Times, September 4. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/opinion/04iht-edvonhippel.1.15898127.html. |
Online, magazine |
Crandall, Russell. 2011. "The Post-American Hemisphere: Power and |
Politics in an Autonomous Latin America." Foreign Affairs, May/June. http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67731/russell-crandall/the-post-american-hemisphere. |
Note: For additional examples of audio-visual materials, refer to 15.53 of The Chicago Manual of Style.
Film |
DVD |
Yates, David, Steven Kloves, David Heyman, David Barron, J.K. Rowling, Lionel |
Wigram, et al. 2010. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. Widescreen Edition. Warner Brothers, DVD. |
Audio recording |
CD |
Bieber, Justin, and Sean Kingston. 2010. "Eenie Meenie." On My World 2.0, Island, compact disc. |
Art - image |
Online |
Gormley, Antony. 2005. You (sculpture). Photograph in JPEG format from |
Davidson College, Davidson, NC. http://www.davidsoncollegeartgalleries.org/antony-gormley/. |
Government documents are commonly used in political science and economics research. Refer to the Chicago and APSA Manual (available at the information desk) for additional examples.
Interviews |
Online |
Menkhaus, Ken. 2007. "What's Behind the U.S. Strike in Somalia." By Steve |
Inskeep. NPR Morning Edition, January 9. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6759436. |
Letter |
Online |
Lincoln, Abraham. 1863. Letter to Joseph Hooker. Alfred Whital Stern Collection of |
Lincolniana, Library of Congress, Washington, DC. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/stern-lincoln/letters.html. |
Government document |
U.S. Congress. Senate. 2009. Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act of |
2009.111th Cong., 1st sess., S. Rept. 1435. Note: If retrieved online, include the URL. |
Conference presentation |
Adelman, Rachel. 2009. " 'Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On': God's Footstool in |
the Aramaic Targumim and Midrashic Tradition." Paper presented at the annual meeting for the Society of Biblical Literature, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 21-24. |