Research Guides: VCSU Library Citation Guide: Chicago: Author/Date

Title Page

Class papers should begin with a title page (but some put the title on the first page - consult with your instructor).

Place the title of the paper a third of the way down the page (centered)

Several lines below the title, place your name, and other relevant information (such as date, instructor's name, etc.)

Bibliography

Label the page, Bibliography

Leave two lines between title and first entry with one blank line between entries

Entries should be single spaced

Arrange entries alphabetically

Chicago (Author/Date) Basics

All citations should be single spaced
Indent after the first line of each entry
Entries are not numbered
If an element is not present, omit it
Alphabetize by the first word of the entry
Enter author's last name followed by full first name for first author - additional authors will be ordered normally (FirstName LastName).
Capitalize all words of the title (aside from transitional words like a, and, or, etc.).

Elements of a Citation

Author	The creator of the source. Usually a person (or people) - can also be an organization, company, government body, etc.
Date of Publication	The date the source was created
Article Title	An article is a written composition on a topic of interest, which forms a separate part of a book, magazine or newspaper.
Journal Title	Journal is a type of magazine which contains articles and other descriptions on a particular discipline or professional activities.
Volume	volume typically refers to the number of years the publication has been circulated
Issue	issue refers to how many times that periodical has been published during that year
Page Range	Page range of the entire article should be included in bibliography, not just the page you used for information
DOI or URL	DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is a string of characters used to permanently identify an article or document and link to it on the web. If citing an electronic source a DOI or URL should be included.
Publisher	The company that published the source, often a university press

Basic Format

Last Name, First Name. Date of Publication. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher.

Chapter in an Edited Book

Last Name, First Name. Date of Publication. “Title of Chapter” In Title of Book, edited by First Name Last Name, ##–##. Place of Publication: Publisher.

eBook

Last Name, First Name. Date of Publication. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher. Database.

Translated Book

Last Name, First Name. Date of Publication. Title of Book. Translated by First Name Last Name. Place of Publication: Publisher.

Basic Format

Last Name, First Name. Date of Publication. “Title of Article.” Name of Journal volume (issue): page range. URL/Database/DOI

General Format

Name of Government. Date of Publication. Title of Document. Report number. Page numbers. URL.

US Congress, House of Representatives, Select Committee on Homeland Security. 2002. Homeland Security Act of 2002. 107th Cong., 2nd sess. HR Rep. 107-609, pt. 1.

For more information and specifics consult the Turabian guide (pages 281-289)

General Format

Creator Name. Date of Release/Publication. “Title of Source.” Other creators. Specific Date. Type of Source, time stamp. URL.

Beyoncé. 2016. “Sorry.” Directed by Kahlil Joseph and Beyoncé Knowles. June 22, 2016. Music video, 4:25. https://youtu.be/QxsmWxxouIM.

Stamper, Kory. 2017. “From ‘F-Bomb’ to ‘Photobomb,’ How the Dictionary Keeps Up with English.” Interview by Terry Gross. Fresh Air, NPR, April 19, 2017. Audio, 35:25. http://www.npr.org/2017/04/19/524618639/from-f-bomb-to-photobomb-how-the-dictionary-keeps-up-with-english.

Basic Format

Last Name, First Name. Date of Publication. “Title of Source.” Type of Source, Institution Name, Place of Publication. Database Name.

General Format

Last Name, First Name (@username). Date. “In place of a title, quote up to the first 160 characters of the post.” Source Type, Post Date. URL.

Chicago Manual of Style. 2015. “Is the world ready for singular they? We thought so back in 1993.” Facebook, April 17, 2015. https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoManual/posts/10152906193679151.

Souza, Pete (@petesouza). 2016. “President Obama bids farewell to President Xi of China at the conclusion of the Nuclear Security Summit.” Instagram photo, April 1, 2016. https://www.instagram.com/p/BDrmfXTtNCt/.

Website (with author)

Author/Organization. Date of Publication. “Title of Page/Article.” Website Name. Last modified [date]. URL.

Web pages and other website content can be cited as shown here. For a source that does not list a date of publication, posting, or revision, use n.d. (for “no date”) in place of the year and include an access date.

Basic Format

Last Name, First Name. Date of Publication. “Title of Article.” Name of Magazine/Newspaper, Specific Date/Volume Issue. URL (if available).

Personal interviews, correspondence, and other types of personal communications—including email and text messages and direct messages sent through social media—are usually cited in the text only; they are rarely included in a reference list.

In Text:

(Sam Gomez, Facebook message to author, August 1, 2017)

(Interview with home health aide, July 31, 2017)

Authors & In-Text Citations in Chicago (A/D)

- When listing author in bibliography use last name and full first name; only use last name in the in-text citation.

- If you name the author in the sentence, omit the author name in the in-text citation.

- If you have multiple sources by the same author in the same year, use lower-case letters (a, b, c) with the year to order the entries in the reference list. Use the lower-case letters with the year in the in-text citation: (Smith 2021a, 29) / (Smith 2021b, 43).

	In-Text	Bibliography
Single Author	(Smith 2021, 38)	Smith, John.
Two - Three Authors	(Smith and Thompson 2021, 35).	Smith, John, and Edward Thompson.
Four or more Authors	(Smith et al. 2021, 24).	List first 10 authors followed by et al.