VCSU Library Citation Guide

About Author-Date Style

The Author-Date style of Chicago is less commonly used than the Notes- Bibliography style. The biggest difference between the two styles is the format of in-text citations. Author-Date style uses parentheses in the text of the paper, much like APA style, while the Notes-Bibliography style uses footnotes. 

The basic format for an in-text citation in Author-Date style is (Author last name, year, page number). 

Author-Date style calls the list of sources the Reference Page or Works Cited instead of the Bibliography.

Most of the Bibliography citations in the Notes-Bibliography example list can be easily adapted to Author-Date Reference Page citations, by moving the publication date to be directly after the author's name.

Notes-Bibliography basic book format: Author Last name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year. 

Author-Date basic book format: Author Last name, First Name. Year. Title of Book. Publisher.

Visit the Chicago Manual of Style Quick Guide for Author-Date Citations to see more examples of Author-Date citations.

Author Format in Author-Date Style

In-text citations in Author-Date style only use last names. Reference page citations use first and last names. 

In-Text Citations

Single Author: Lastname

Two Authors: Lastname and Lastname

Three or More Authors: Lastname et al. 

Reference Page Citations

One Author

Last Name, First Name. 

Two Authors

For sources with two authors, include both authors' names in the bibliography. Use the word "and" between the names, do not use "&" (an ampersand or and sign).

Last Name, First Name and First Name Last Name. 

Three to Six Authors

For sources with three to six authors, you should still list the names of all the source's authors. Put commas between each name, then put the word "and" before the last author's name. 

Last Name, First Name, First Name Last Name, and First Name Last Name.

Seven or More Authors

For sources with more than six authors, list the first three authors' names, then use the abbreviation "et al." to signal that there are more authors of the source. Put commas between the names. 

Last Name, First Name, First Name Last Name, First Name Last Name, et al.