PSCI 226: Politics of Intervention in Africa: Chicago: Author-Date

An in-text citation provides your reader with two pieces of information:

1. The the last name of the author(s) used in the corresponding reference list entry
2. The year the work was published

Standard Formatting of the In-Text Citation

For more detailed information see Chicago Manual of Style, 15.20-15.30.

• Enclose the author's last name and the year of publication in parentheses with no intervening punctuation.
  (Smith 2016)
• For no author, see the "How do I deal with ____?" section.
• For two to three authors, include the last names of authors using commas and and
  (Smith, Lee, and Alvarez 2016)
• For four or more authors, include the last name of the first author and et al.
  (Smith et al. 2016)
• When editors, translators, or compilers are used as the author, do not include their role (trans., ed., comp.) in the in-text citation.
• When the reference list has works by authors with same last name, include their first initial in the in-text citation
  (B. Smith 2016)
  (J. Smith 2009)
• If an author has published multiple works in the same year, alphabetize the titles in the reference list and then add a, b,c, etc. to the year
  (Lee 2015a)
  (Lee 2015b)
• To cite specific page(s), add a comma and the page number(s)
  (Smith 2016, 21-23)
• If the author's name appears in the sentence, do not include the name again in the parentheses
  Smith (2016) indicates that good citation practices are important.
• To cite more than one reference in a single in-text citation, separate the references by semicolons. If the works are by the same author, use just the year and separate with a comma. See CMOS 15.29 for details.
  (Smith 2016; Lee 2015)
  (Smith 2016, 2013; Lee 2015)

General Formatting of the Reference List

For more detailed information see Chicago Manual of Style, 15.10-15.19

The reference list provides the full details of the items you have cited in your paper. Here are some general features of the reference list:

• Usually titled References or Works Cited
   
• Entries begin with author(s) and date of work; other required elements depend on the type of source. See examples in the left navigation.
   
• Entries are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the first author
  • alphabetize using the letter-by-letter system, in which an entry for “Fernández, Angelines” would come before the entry for “Fernán Gómez, Fernando” (d in "Fernández" comes before G in "Gómez")
     
• If there is no author, use the first word of the title of the work (excluding The, A, An).
   
• Multiple works by the same author(s) are arranged chronologically, and the 3-em dash replaces the name for the second and subsequent entries.

  Du Bois, W. E. B. 1898. "The Study of the Negro Problems." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 11 (January): 1-23. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1009474.

  ———. 1903. The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches. Chicago: A. C. McClurg.

  ———. 1947. The World and Africa: An Inquiry into the Part Which Africa Has Played in World History. New York: Viking.
   

• Multiple works by same author in same year are arranged alphabetically by title, and then a, b, c, etc. is added to the year to help make each entry unique for the in-text citation.

  Olney, William W. 2015a. "Impact of Corruption on Firm-Level Export Decisions." Economic Inquiry 54 (2): 1105–27.

  Olney, William W. 2015b. "Remittances and the Wage Impact of Immigration." Journal of Human Resources 50 (3): 694-727.

Missing citation elements

• Author:
  • If no personal author is listed, determine whether an organization is responsible for the content. If so, use that organization's name as the author in the reference list and in-text citation. (CMOS, 15.36)

    (World Bank 2011)

    World Bank. 2011. Poverty and Social Exclusion in India. Washington, DC: World Bank.
  • If the author is unknown, start the reference list entry with the title. For the in-text citation, use the title, which can be shortened as long as the first word matches the reference list entry (CMOS, 15.32)

    ("The Titanic Sails To-Day" 1912)

    "The Titanic Sails To-Day." 1912. New York Times, April 10.
• Date: For web pages with no last modified date, use the date you accessed it. (CMOS, 15.51) For printed works for which the date cannot be determine, use n.d. (CMOS, 15.41)

  (Human Rights Campaign 2016)

  Human Rights Campaign. 2016. "Maps of State Laws and Policies." Accessed July 27. http://www.hrc.org/state_maps.
• Page numbers: For unpaginated works, such as online resources, include a descriptive phrase using one of the divisions used in the work (chapter, paragraph number, section heading, etc.) in the in-text citation. If the work is short, such locators may not be necessary. (CMOS, 15.08)

  (Yetman 2001, under "Slave Narratives during Slavery and After")

  Yetman, Norman R. 2001. "An Introduction to the WPA Slave Narratives" Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938. Last modified March 23. https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snintro00.html.
• Place: Use n.p. if it is unknown. If it can be surmised, put in brackets with a question mark. (CMOS, 14.138)
   
• Publisher: If unknown, just use place and date. (CMOS, 14.143)
   

More than one author

• List authors in order they appear on title page
• In the reference list, invert the first author's name only and place a comma before and after the first name
• Use the word "and," not an ampersand (&)
• For works with 4-10 authors, list all names in the reference list, but only use the first author's name followed by et al. in the in-text citation.
• For works with more than 10 authors, only include the first 7 authors and et al. in the reference list
  (CMOS, 15.9, 14.76)

Examples

In-text Citations:

Reference List:

Using a source quoted in a secondary source

It is always better to consult the original source, but if it cannot be obtained, give information about the original source in the running text and include "quoted in" in your in-text citation for the secondary source. Include only the secondary source in your reference list. (CMOS, 15.52):

Book

For more information see: Chicago Manual of Style, 15.9, 15.32-15.42

For e-books, include the provider of the book or the URL at the end of the citation. (CMOS,14.166-14.169)

Edited Book

For more information see: Chicago Manual of Style, 15.9, 15.35

Chapter or Essay in Book

For more information see: Chicago Manual of Style, 15.9, 14.111-14.117

Entry in a Reference Book

For more information see: Chicago Manual of Style, 14.247, 14.248

Well-known encyclopedias and dictionaries are usually cited in the running text only. For other reference works, cite as a book or book chapter.

Journal Article

For more information see: Chicago Manual of Style, 15.9, 15.46

For electronic journal articles, if a DOI is not available, replace the DOI portion of the reference with the URL.

Magazine Article

For more information see: Chicago Manual of Style, 15.47

Magazine articles can be cited in the running text (e.g., As Scott Spencer mentions in his May 1979 Harper's article "Childhood's End," ....) and not included in the reference list. However, if a formal citation is needed, follow the example below, separating the year and month/day.

Inclusive page numbers are not included in the reference list entry because magazine articles tend to appear on non-consecutive pages. If citing an online magazine, end the citation with the URL.

Newspaper Article

For more information see: Chicago Manual of Style, 15.47

Newspaper articles can be cited in the running text (e.g., As John Eligon mentioned in his November 18, 2015 New York Times article ....) and not included in the reference list. However, if a formal citation is needed, follow the examples below, separating the year and month/day.

Page numbers are not included because articles can appear on different pages in different editions. For regularly occurring columns, cite with both the column name and headline or just the column name. If citing an online newspaper, include the URL at the end. If citing from a library database, include the database name.

Web Page

For more information see: Chicago Manual of Style, 15.51

Website content can often be mentioned in the running text only. (CMOS,14.245) If a reference list entry is needed, use the format below.

If there is no personal author, start with the page title or site sponsor. If there is no last modified date, use an access date. 

Blog Posts and Comments

For more information see: Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide

Blog posts and comments are generally cited in the running text and omitted from the reference list. If a reference list entry is needed follow the example below.

If the blog has the word "blog" as part of its name, "(blog)" should not be included in the citation. If the blog is a part of a larger publication, include that title, too.

Social Media

It is nearly impossible for the Chicago Manual of Style to provide examples for citing every new social media platform, but you may find advice or examples on their Chicago Style Q&A or CMOS Shop Talk. When there is no specific example, look for similar types of sources and use your best judgment to provide enough information to your reader about the source. Some elements to consider:

• Who created the information? (could be a real name, pseudonym, or handle)
• What kind of information is it? (e.g., Twitter post, Instagram photo, Facebook comment, etc.)
• When did they post it?
• Can your reader find it online?

The answers to these questions can be incorporated into a sentence in your text.

For an example of Twitter see: Chicago Style Q& A, FAQ 164.

Music Score

Published music scores are cited like books and book chapters. For more information see: Chicago Manual of Style, 14.269

Music Recording

For more information see: Chicago Manual of Style, 14.276

Film

For more information see: Chicago Manual of Style, 14.279

Online Video

For more information see: Chicago Manual of Style, 14.280

The format of citations depends on the information available. Generally, include details about the original published source (if applicable) and details related to the digitized copy such as source type, length, and where it is posted. See the two examples of format below.

Television

For more information see: Chicago Style Q & A

Image

For more information see: CMOS Shop Talk

Images are usually not included in the reference list. In the running text or caption indicate the artist, year the work was created, title of the work, and where it is located.

Works making extensive use of legal or government documents should use the footnote style, not the author-date style. For author-date style papers using just a few such documents, cite them in the text using the legal citation form recommended in The Chicago Manual of Style, 14.281–317. (CMOS, 15.54 and 15.55)

Interview/Discussion

For more information see: Chicago Manual of Style, 15.48

Unpublished interviews are cited as an in-text citation only; they do not appear in the reference list.

• In the parenthetical citation, put "personal communication" after the name of the person being interviewed.
  (Adam Falk, personal communication)
• For class discussions, put the course number, "class discussion," and the date of the class.
  (ECON 203 class discussion, September 19, 2016)

Manuscript/Archival Material

For more information see: Chicago Manual of Style, 15.49

Manuscript materials are cited in the text using the name of the manuscript collection, not the individual item.

The reference list gives information about the manuscript collection only, not the individual items. If only one item from a collection is cited, the details of that item can be included in the reference list and the author used in the in-text citation.

If the item was accessed online, include the URL at the end of the citation.