fountain pen and laurel leaves icon

Chicago Manual of Style Author-Date

Print | PDF

Chicago-style (CMS) citations follow two formats:

  • the notes and bibliography system and
  • the author-date system.

It is important to check your assignment guidelines to determine which form of Chicago-style citations your professor wishes you to use. This guide covers the author-date system.

A complete Chicago Author-Date Citation has two parts:

  • In-text citation: a parenthetical citation integrated into the sentence or paragraph when quoting, summarizing, and paraphrasing. Whether you are quoting, summarizing, or paraphrasing, a page number (when available) is required.
  • Reference Entry: a complete bibliographic citation listed alphabetically at the end of the paper in the reference list.

In-text Citations

Basic Parenthetical Citation: (name, publication date, page)

“Thinking is a mental activity that is used to resolve doubt about what to do, what to believe, or what to desire or seek” (Baron 1993, 193).

or

According to Baron (1993), “Thinking is a mental activity that is used to resolve doubt about what to do, what to believe, or what to desire or seek” (193).

Citing the Use of AI Tools

(Correspondent's Full Name, medium if relevant, Month Day, Year), Example: Finding your voice isn't a one-time event. It's a journey. It evolves as you grow, experiment, and write more (Copilot, response to question from author, October 16, 2025)

Directly quoting with no page numbers (paragraph #)

If there are no page numbers, use the most specific aspect of the text that a reader could use to find the information, which could include a chapter (chap.), volume (vol.), or section heading (under “Title of Section”).

According to Hughes-Warrington (2007), “the figuration of time is an essential, inseparable feature of writing history” (under “Images and Words”).

With two authors

Participants in the study spent more time analyzing arguments that they disagreed with compared to those that they agreed with (Edwards and Smith 1996, 45).

With three or more authors

Only the first author is included with the “et al.” notation.

Although human thinking is not always rational, it can be improved through training (Lilienfeld et al. 2009, 37).

When making a claim that multiple sources support

Consistently list the sources in order of importance, alphabetically, or chronologically.

Numerous researchers have inquired into the different dispositions of critical thinking (Perkins et al. 1993; Ennis 1996; Facione et al. 1994).

Block Quotes

Quotations that are more than 100 words long still include author name, date, and page, but the formatting is slightly different:

  • There are no quotation marks around the quotation.
  • The period comes before the parenthetical citation.
  • The entire quotation is indented from the left margin.

In Chicago, block quotes can also be used for clarity in specific cases. 

Example: 

Researchers have described another way we learn,

one that does not think of learning as the acquisition of something that already exists, but instead sees learning as responding, as a response to a ‘question’.[…] Here learning becomes a creation or an invention, a process of bringing something new into the world: one’s own, unique response. (Biesta 2006, 68)

Reference List

Online journal article

Prince, Stephen. 1996. “True Lies: Perceptual Realism, Digital Images, and Film Theory.” Film Quarterly 49, no. 3 (Spring): 27–37. https://doi.org/10.2307/1213468.

Book with a single author

Shailor, Barbara A. 1991. The Medieval Book. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 

Last name, First name Middle initial. Year. Title of Book in Title Case and Italics. City it was published in: Publisher. 

Book with multiple authors

Christie, Nancy, and Michael Gauvreau. 2010. Christian Churches and their Peoples, 1840–1965: A Social History of Religion in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 

Last name, First name, and First name Last name. Year. Title of Book in Title Case and Italics. City it was published in: Publisher. 

Chapter in an edited book

Dodd, Lindsey. 2013. “Small Fish, Big Pond: Using a Single Oral Narrative to Reveal Broader Social Change.” In Understanding Memory as Source and Subject, edited by Joan 
Tumblety, 34–49. New York: Routledge. 

Author’s last name, Author’s first name. Year. “Title of chapter using title case and quotation marks.” In Title of Book in Title Case and Italics, edited by Editor’s first name Editor’s last name, page range. City it was published in: Publisher. 

Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Holders

Cardinal, Delores. 2004. Goodfish Lake Cree Nation. Treaty 6, Lives in Edmonton. Oral teaching. Interview, April 4, 2004. 

Last name, First name (Traditional names if applicable). Year. Nation/Community, Treaty Territory if applicable. City/Community they live in if applicable. Topic/subject of communication if applicable. Interview, Month Day, Year.  

Citing the Use of AI Tools 

Put information not included in the body of the text in a parenthetical in-text citation. 

Finding your voice isn't a one-time event. It's a journey. It evolves as you grow, experiment, and write more (Copilot, response to “Create a podcast script,” October 16, 2025). 

(Gen AI tool, response to “prompt from author,” Month Day, Year) 

Class Lecture:

McDougall, Harvey. 2023. "Union Organizing and Bad Bosses in Postwar Ontario." History 204: The Social History of Canada. Class lecture at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON. 

Lecturer’s last name, Lecturer’s first name. Year. “Title of lecture using title case and quotation marks.” Title of course using title case. Description [Class lecture at Wilfrid Laurier University], City, Province. 

Film

Spielberg, Steven, director. 1998. Saving Private Ryan. Paramount Pictures. 
https://www.netflix.com/watch/218785642001.  

Director’s last name, Director’s first name, director. Year. Title of Film in Title Case and Italics. Production company. URL if available. 

News article 

Jeffrey Jones, “Digital Carbon-Offset Platform Patch Attracts Support from Venture 
Capitalists,” The Globe and Mail, February 23, 2021, 
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-digital-carbon-offset-platform-patch- 
attracts-support-from-venture/. 

First name Last name, “Title of article using title case and quotation marks,” Title of Publisher in Italics, month day, year, URL. 

Online journal article

Prince, Stephen. 1996. “True Lies: Perceptual Realism, Digital Images, and Film Theory.” Film Quarterly 49, no. 3 (Spring): 27–37. https://doi.org/10.2307/1213468. 

Last name, First name. Year. “Title of article using title case and quotation marks.” Title of Journal in Title Case and Italics Volume number, issue number: page range. DOI URL. 

Page on a Website

Goldfarb, Laura. 2019. “Clear Speech, Clear Mind.” Laurier Writing Centre (blog). Last modified April 26, 2019. https://laurierwriting.wordpress.com/2019/04/26/clear-speech-clear-mind/. 

Last name, First name. Year. “Title of page using title case and quotation marks.” Publisher. Month day, year. URL. 

Work by an organization

World Health Organization. 2013. Guideline: Nutritional Care and Support for Patients with 
Tuberculosis. Geneva: World Health Organization. 

Name of organization. Year. Title of Work in Title Case and Italics. City it was published in: Publisher. 

YouTube Video:

Dylan, Bob. 2021. “Bob Dylan – Summer Days (Official Audio).” YouTube Video, 4:54. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdVSMof6kCU. 

Last name, First name. Year. “Title of video using title case and quotation marks.” YouTube Video, length of video hh:mm:ss. URL. 

 

For more information, consult the CMS website. 

 

creative-commons-stamp.jpg

Writing Services, Wilfrid Laurier University, CC By-NC 2023