Skip to Main Content

Chicago 17th edition author-date

Author-date for the Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition

Citing author names

Authors’ names are normally given as they appear with the source itself. In reference lists, this includes the use of initials. When periods are used, space appears between them (Wells, H. G.). When periods are omitted, as in some journals’ styles, no comma intervenes between last name and initials, and no space appears between the initials (Wells HG). If the author, editor, or translator for the work is unknown, the reference list entry should normally begin with the title. Invert the name in the reference list (e.g. Blanshard, Alastair). In the text, include only the last name. For books with multiple authors only invert the first name. For more information see the specific reference type that you wish to cite.

If a publication issued by an organization, association, or corporation carries no personal author’s name on the title page, the organization may be listed as author in the reference list.

In Endnote, when entering the name of a corporate author, that is, an entity such as a government body or a company, you must place a comma at the end of the name. Commas in the names themselves must be duplicated in Endnote. 

Citing titles

Titles and subtitles in reference lists should be treated according to the rules set forth in 14.85–99. Some of these rules include:

Italics are used for the titles of books, journals, newspapers and blogs, movies, video games, and paintings.

Quotation marks are generally reserved for the titles of subsections of larger works including chapter and article titles and the titles of poems in a collection.

For English-language works, titles are capitalized headline-style in source citations. In headline style, the first and last words of title and subtitle and all other major words are capitalized.

A colon is used to separate the main title from the subtitle even if no colon appears in the source itself.

Some journals in the natural sciences prefer sentence-style capitalization for titles (see 8.158), tend not to use quotation marks or italics, and abbreviate journal titles (see 15.46). Please check to ensure that the correct style in being used.

Dates

Where a full day/month/year date for access dates for websites, dates for conferences etc is required, Chicago 17th ed recommends using in U.S. format e.g. May 13, 2010. However, check with your School to see if dates should be in Australian order e.g. 13 May, 2010.

When citing a reprint or modern edition, it is sometimes desirable to include the original date of publication. The original date is listed first, in parentheses.

When the publication date of a printed work cannot be ascertained, the abbreviation n.d. takes the place of the year in the reference list entry and text citations.

Chicago requires an access date in citations of websites and other sources consulted online only if no date of publication or revision can be determined from the source. 

Be careful where you input information into fields in the reference types in Endnote as the same information may need to be placed in different fields for different styles. This is particularly relevant to inputting of dates.