The essentials
How Chicago works
Sciences and social sciences using Chicago; some publishers and multidisciplinary programmes.
Use author and year: (Patel 2025). Add a page after a comma: (Patel 2025, 42).
References
Alphabetical by author; same-author entries are commonly ordered by year.
Add the relevant page or range after the year for a direct quotation or a precise passage.
Copy the pattern, verify the facts
Chicago reference examples
Patel, Syed Imran, and Aisha Khan. 2025. “Digital Research Habits among University Students.” Journal of Learning Practice 18 (2): 44–59. https://doi.org/10.1234/jlp.2025.018.
Rahman, Laila. 2024. Research Skills for Modern Learners. London: Horizon Academic.
National Research Council. 2026. “Evaluating Online Evidence.” March 12, 2026. https://example.org/evidence.
These examples use invented publication details to demonstrate structure. Replace every element with information from your actual source.
Review before submission
Common mistakes
- Using footnotes while claiming to follow author–date.
- Putting the year in the wrong position.
- Omitting page numbers for direct quotations.
- Mixing Chicago with APA sentence-case rules.
- Failing to follow a publisher’s Chicago variation.
Final review
Chicago checklist
- Confirm author–date, not notes and bibliography.
- Place year immediately after the author in references.
- Use page locators for quotations.
- Alphabetise the reference list.
- Check publisher or department variations.
Course, institution and publisher rules can override general examples.