In-text citations in Chicago Style (author-date) (17th ed.)

Create a spot-on reference in Chicago 18, 17 and 16

Select a source type:

Book Website Journal article Video (online)

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General form of in-text citations

According to the rules of Chicago Style – author-date, in-text citations have the same general structure for all types of sources (books, articles, dissertations, webpages, etc.):

(Last Name of the author year of publication)

When citing a particular page, section, or paragraph, include them in the in-text citation as well:

(Last Name of the author year, number of page (section, etc.))

The page numbers are given in their numeric form, without the preceding abbreviation 'p.' / 'pp.' In contrast, explanatory inscriptions should precede cited fragments other than pages.

An in-text citation of one source may include the names of up to 4 authors. For a source with more than 4 authors, give only the first author's name followed by 'et al.'

Examples of in-text citations:

1 author

(Rowling 2012, 101)

2 to 4 authors

Insert the conjunction 'and' before the last author's name:

(Jenkins, Orenstein, and Spira 2019, 58)

More than 4 authors

(Mohri et al. 2007, 47)

Additional notes

• If the author of a source is an organisation and not an individual, indicate its name in the in-text citation just as you would indicate an individual's name:

(UNICEF 1990, 24)

• For works without a credited author, indicate their editors, compilers, or translators in the in-text citations; omit such contributors' role (ed(s)., comp(s)., etc.):

(Peate and Gormley-Fleming 2015, 66)

• For a source that has no credited contributors or organisations, include the source title in the in-text citation. Keep the formatting of the title (italics, quotation marks, etc.) the same as in the bibliography.
• Sometimes, the general form of in-text citations fails to provide enough data to differentiate several sources from the list of references. In this case, additional data is given in the in-text citation: depending on each particular case, this can be the initials or full names of the authors, a Latin minuscule added to the year value, or the title of the work. The web service Grafiati takes into account these and other specifics and generates correct bibliographic references and in-text citations.
• If needed, multiple in-text citations can be merged and written at once in the same parentheses. In this case, separate the citations of different works by a semicolon. Also, you may introduce a brief comment separated by a semicolon.