Chicago In-Text Citation: Footnotes and Author-Date Guide
Your bibliography
0 sourcesChicago In Text Citation uses one of two systems: numbered footnotes (Notes-Bibliography) or parenthetical author-date tags like (Smith 2016, 315). Notes-Bibliography suits history and the humanities; author-date suits the sciences and social sciences.
Which Chicago in-text system should you use?
Chicago offers two documentation systems, and you pick one for the whole paper. Notes-Bibliography uses superscript numbers tied to footnotes or endnotes, plus a bibliography. Author-date uses parenthetical tags tied to a reference list. Ask your instructor which one your discipline expects.
| System | In-text marker | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Notes-Bibliography | Superscript number + footnote | History, literature, arts, humanities |
| Author-Date | Parenthetical (Author Year, Page) |
Sciences, social sciences |
How do you format a Chicago author-date citation?
A Chicago author-date citation places the author’s last name, the year, and a page number in parentheses, with no comma between name and year but a comma before the page. The tag points to a full entry in your reference list.
Parenthetical(Smith 2016, 315)
NarrativeSmith (2016, 315) traces the dancer’s early ambition.
When the author’s name appears in your sentence, keep only the year and page in parentheses. Separate multiple works with a semicolon: (Smith 2016, 315; Jones 2018, 44). List them alphabetically by author.
How do you format Chicago footnotes?
In Notes-Bibliography style, a superscript number follows the quotation or paraphrase, and a matching numbered note gives the full source details. The first note for a source is full; every later note is shortened to author surname, short title, and page.
First note1. Zadie Smith, Swing Time (Penguin Press, 2016), 315.
Shortened note2. Smith, Swing Time, 320.
The superscript number sits after punctuation, like this.¹ Note numbers run consecutively through the paper. A matching bibliography entry inverts the author’s name and ends each element with a period rather than commas.
What are the parts of a Chicago footnote?
- Author — first name then last name, not inverted, followed by a comma
- Title — book title in italics, headline capitalization
- Publication — place and publisher inside parentheses
- Year — year of publication, closing the parentheses
- Page — specific page cited, ending with a period
How do you cite multiple authors in Chicago?
Chicago names up to three authors in full within a citation. For four or more authors, name only the first author followed by et al. in both footnotes and author-date tags. The full bibliography or reference-list entry may list more names.
| Authors | Author-date tag | Short note |
|---|---|---|
| One | (Smith 2016, 315) | Smith, Swing Time, 315. |
| Two | (Grazer and Fishman 2015, 12) | Grazer and Fishman, Curious Mind, 12. |
| Three | (Ward, Cole, and Diaz 2019, 88) | Ward, Cole, and Diaz, Field Notes, 88. |
| Four or more | (Bennett et al. 2020, 45) | Bennett et al., Climate Data, 45. |
How do you cite with no page number or no date?
When a source has no page numbers, cite by author and year alone, or add a chapter, section, or paragraph label. For web sources with no date, use n.d. in place of the year. Give the fullest locator the source provides.
- No page:
(Ramirez 2021)or(Ramirez 2021, chap. 4) - No date:
(Okafor n.d.) - Timestamped media:
(NASA 2022, 3:14)for video or audio
Chicago in-text citation examples
These copy-ready examples show common source types in both systems. Match the surname and year in your in-text tag to the first element of the full entry so readers can find it quickly.
Book, author-date(Kendi 2019, 23)
Journal, author-date(Watanabe and Cruz 2020, 512)
Website, author-date(World Health Organization 2023)
Book, first note3. Ibram X. Kendi, How to Be an Antiracist (One World, 2019), 23.
Journal, first note4. Aiko Watanabe and Luis Cruz, “Coastal Erosion Trends,” Journal of Marine Science 48, no. 3 (2020): 512.
Website, first note5. World Health Organization, “Air Quality Guidelines,” accessed March 2, 2023, https://www.who.int/.
How accurate is this guide, and what are its limits?
These rules reflect the 17th and 18th editions of The Chicago Manual of Style, which agree on the core in-text patterns above. The 18th edition, released in 2024, refined guidance on digital sources and access dates but left footnote and author-date structure essentially unchanged.
Limits apply. Chicago is deliberately flexible, so publishers and instructors often set house rules that override defaults. Unusual sources such as archival manuscripts, legal cases, and social media posts follow specialized patterns not shown here. Always check your assignment sheet, confirm one system across the whole paper, and verify any generated citation against a real example before submitting.
Chicago in-text citation FAQ
What is a Chicago in-text citation?
It is the brief marker that credits a source at the point of use, either a superscript number tied to a footnote or a parenthetical author-date tag like (Smith 2016, 315).
Does Chicago use footnotes or parenthetical citations?
Both. Notes-Bibliography style uses footnotes or endnotes, while author-date style uses parenthetical tags. You choose one system and use it consistently throughout the paper.
How do you format a Chicago author-date citation?
Put the author’s last name, a space, the year, a comma, and the page number in parentheses: (Smith 2016, 315). There is no comma between the name and the year.
How do you cite a source with no page number?
Cite by author and year alone, such as (Ramirez 2021), or add a chapter, section, paragraph, or timestamp locator when one is available.
How do you cite four or more authors?
Name only the first author followed by et al., for example (Bennett et al. 2020, 45), in both footnotes and author-date tags.
What is the difference between a footnote and a bibliography entry?
A footnote uses the author’s normal name order and commas, while a bibliography entry inverts the first author’s name and separates elements with periods. The bibliography is alphabetized.
Which edition of Chicago is current?
The 18th edition, published in 2024, is the newest, though the 17th edition remains widely used. Both share the same core in-text citation patterns.