Chicago 18 author-date: cite a book

The book pattern in author-date

For a whole book in the author-date system, the entry gives the author, the year, the italicized title, the edition if it is not the first, and the publisher. The baseline on this page follows the 18th edition and leaves out the place of publication, which is why the page lists no city for this book.

For A Small Book, that gives this reviewed author-date entry: Stone, Maya. 2024. A Small Book. 2nd ed. Example Press. The words 2nd ed. sit between the title and the publisher as a separate sentence.

Leave the city field empty

The workbench prints whatever place you supply. If you type London into Publication or institution city/place, the Chicago book entry becomes London: Example Press instead of Example Press. The same happens when you press Load a fictional example for this source kind, because that example fills London as the place. To reproduce the baseline here, clear the city before you press Create reference. The Citelle app behaves the same way: a value in its City field appears before the publisher in Chicago entries.

Building the entry

Each person goes in a separate author row, in the order printed on the title page. The workbench lists up to six names in a Chicago entry; with seven or more it keeps the first three and adds et al. Compare that with the author-date examples linked below before relying on it.

• Choose Chicago 18 author-date reference, Authored book and Print version.
• Enter Maya Stone, then A small book in Source title and A Small Book in Reviewed title-case title.
• Type 2 in Numbered edition. A first edition is not printed.
• Add Example Press as Publisher and 2024 as Publication year.
• Press Create reference and compare the output with the example above, word for word.

Scanning A Small Book into Citelle

Scan the ISBN with Scan barcode, or type the ISBN into Add a source and tap Find; the app looks the edition up at Open Library first. On the Edit source screen, check Edition, Publisher and City. Copy in-text gives (Stone 2024) for author-date, and you add the page you cite. The app sets the title in title case for Chicago on its own, so look over proper nouns afterwards.

Book mistakes in author-date

• Putting the year at the end, as in a notes-and-bibliography entry.
• Naming the ebook store or the app you read it in as publisher.
• Recording a reprint date as if it were a new edition.
• Keeping a city in the entry because the fictional example filled one in.

Gather the source details

• Check the exact author or editor role.
• Record the complete book title and the edition used.
• Verify the publication year and publisher.
• Keep the publication place only when the selected convention requires it.

Author

Maya Stone

Title as supplied

A small book

Publication year

2024

Publisher

Example Press

Edition

2

Tools

• Open the reference workbench

Sources

• Chicago18: Author-date examples

Next guide: Chicago 18 bibliography: cite a book