Cite a book in Chicago (author-date)
Books are the simplest source type to cite, but they still trip people up on edition numbers, editor vs author roles, and where the publisher city goes. Chicago (author-date) (17th ed.) has clear rules, and once you know them a book reference takes under a minute to format by hand.
Chicago (author-date) rules for a book
- Author last name comes first, with initials or first name depending on the style.
- Year of publication goes right after the author block, in parentheses for author-date styles.
- Book title is italicized, sentence case for APA, title case for MLA/Chicago/Harvard.
- Publisher name appears after the title; no need for the publisher city in APA 7.
- Include the edition number in parentheses after the title if it is not the first edition.
- Chicago author-date keeps the publisher city: 'City: Publisher, Year'.
Worked example
Chicago (author-date) · bookA real book formatted using the Chicago (author-date) rules above.
Sagan, Carl. 1995. *The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark*. New York: Ballantine Books.
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