Free Chicago citation generator
Chicago citation generator (18th edition)
The isGenAI Chicago citation generator formats journal articles, books and websites in Chicago Manual of Style author-date format, with the matching in-text citation for each source. Free, no account, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
Chicago (author-date) citation
Add a title to see the citation.
Check the result against your instructor’s requirements. Formatting happens in your browser; nothing you type is sent anywhere.
Chicago author-date rules the generator applies
- Authors: the first author inverted (Surname, First name), the others first name first, joined with “and”. Up to six authors are listed; with seven or more, the first three then “et al.”
- Year: straight after the authors, so readers can match the in-text citation.
- Titles: article and web page titles in quotation marks with the period inside; book and journal titles in italics.
- Journal details: volume, “no.” and the issue, then a colon and the page range, then the DOI as https://doi.org/….
- In-text: (Surname Year), with “and” for two authors and “et al.” for three or more.
Chicago examples
Journal article
Keng, Shao-Hsun, Chun-Hung Lin, and Peter F. Orazem. 2017. “Expanding College Access in Taiwan, 1978–2014: Effects on Graduate Quality and Income Inequality.” Journal of Human Capital 11, no. 1: 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1086/690235.
In-text: (Keng et al. 2017)
Book
Grazer, Brian, and Charles Fishman. 2015. A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life. Simon & Schuster.
In-text: (Grazer and Fishman 2015)
Website
Bologna, Caroline. 2019. “Why some people with anxiety love watching horror movies.” HuffPost. October 31, 2019. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anxiety-love-watching-horror-movies_l_5d277587e4b02a5a5d57b59e.
In-text: (Bologna 2019)
Need another style? The citation generator also formats APA 7, MLA 9, AMA and ACS, with dedicated pages for AMA and ACS.
Chicago citation questions
How do I cite a journal article in Chicago style?
In author-date style: Surname, First name, then the year, the article title in quotation marks, the journal in italics, volume, issue as “no.”, the pages after a colon, and the DOI as a URL. Example: Keng, Shao-Hsun, Chun-Hung Lin, and Peter F. Orazem. 2017. “Expanding College Access in Taiwan, 1978–2014.” Journal of Human Capital 11, no. 1: 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1086/690235.
What does a Chicago in-text citation look like?
Author-date in-text citations put the surname and year in parentheses with no comma: (Grazer and Fishman 2015). Three or more authors become the first surname plus “et al.”: (Keng et al. 2017). Add a page after a comma when you quote: (Keng et al. 2017, 12).
Does this generator do Chicago notes and bibliography?
It formats the author-date reference list and in-text citations. A notes-bibliography bibliography entry uses the same author and title order but puts the year near the end (after the publisher for books, after the volume for articles), and footnotes use first-name-first order. Check which system your instructor or journal asks for.
How many authors do I list in Chicago?
The 18th edition lists up to six authors in the reference list. With seven or more, list the first three followed by “et al.”
How do I cite a website in Chicago style?
Author (or organization). Year. “Title of the page.” Name of the website. Publication date. URL. If the page has no date, use n.d. for the year and add the date you accessed it.
How do I cite ChatGPT in Chicago style?
Chicago recommends citing AI output in a note or in the text rather than in the reference list, because the conversation cannot be retrieved by readers. For a reference-list format, use the APA or MLA option on the AI tab of the generator.