Everything You Need to Know about Citing a Journal in Chicago Style

Chicago referencing style is one of the popular referencing formats in the field of academics. If you are a student of History, humanities or social sciences, there is a higher chance that you will have to do assignments in Chicago style.

A lot of students prefer to use a Chicago citation maker to prepare the citations in Chicago style. However, you can cite a journal in this citation format quite easily. Here are some citation guidelines that you will have to abide by.

The Basics of Citing a Journal in Chicago Style

Generally, the entry for a journal article includes the following details –

• Name(s) of the author(s)

• Article title

• Journal name

• Volume number

• Year of publication

• Page numbers

Here is the template that you can follow while preparing the citation entry of a journal in Chicago style.

Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Article Title.” Journal Name Volume Number (Year Published): Page Numbers.

Example: Bennington, Chris. "Studies in History of Indian Tribes." XYZ Manual 17 (2015): 75-81

Things You Must Remember while Citing a Journal in Chicago Style

1. While preparing the citation entry of a journal in Chicago style, the first author’s name should be written reversed, with a comma after the last name and a period after the first name (or any middle name in case the author has one).

2. Do not use the abbreviated version of the name. Write it in the way it appears in the newspaper. Omit the titles and affiliations associated with the author.

3. If two or more authors write the article, you should list them in the order they appear in the journal. Also, only the first author’s name will be written reversed. The name of the other authors should be written in normal order. Separate the author names with a comma. E.g., Bennington, Chris, and James Callaghan. "Studies in History of Indian Tribes." XYZ Manual 17 (2015): 75-81

4. The article title needs to be placed within the quotation marks. Also, place the period at the end of the article title within the quotation marks. The Chicago style generally uses the headline style of capitalising in the title. However, the sentence style is also acceptable.

5. The name of the journal needs to be italicised. Omit any introductory article from the journal name.

6. If the article was published online, you should include the web address of the article and use the word “accessed”, along with the date on which you accessed the website. The format of the date needs to be – (month day, year).E.g., Bennington, Chris. "Studies in History of Indian Tribes." XYZ Manual 17 (2015): 75-81. http://www.xyzmanual.com/articles/id=2015 (accessed May 12, 2020).

Hopefully, now you have a better understanding of how to cite a journal in Chicago style. If you want to learn more about the Chicago style of referencing, refer to the manual available online.