How to Cite a Journal Article in Chicago Style

To cite a journal article in Chicago style, you need to know two things first: which of Chicago's two systems your paper uses, and whether you're building a note, a bibliography entry, an in-text citation, or a reference-list entry. This guide gives you every form for a journal article in both systems, with worked examples, so you can find the exact one you need. It covers the notes-bibliography system (footnotes plus a bibliography, used in history and the humanities) and the author-date system (parenthetical citations plus a reference list, used in the sciences and social sciences when Chicago applies).

If you're not yet sure which system your paper uses, the complete Chicago Style guide explains how to choose. For the mechanics that sit underneath the journal-specific forms here, see the guides to Chicago footnotes and endnotes and the Chicago bibliography. This article stays focused on the one source type that gives writers the most trouble: the journal article.

First, Which System Are You Using?

Chicago has two citation systems, and a journal article looks different in each. You have to know which one your paper uses before you format anything, because the pieces don't mix. The choice is made by discipline, not preference.

Notes-bibliography uses superscript numbers in the text tied to footnotes or endnotes, plus a bibliography at the end. It's the system in history, art history, religious studies, theology, and the humanities. If your paper uses footnotes, you're in this system, and you'll need the note forms and the bibliography-entry form below.

Author-date uses parenthetical citations with the author's last name and year, plus a reference list at the end. It's the system in economics, anthropology, and the sciences when they use Chicago. If your paper uses parenthetical citations like (Renshaw 2022), you're in this system, and you'll need the in-text and reference-list forms below.

The rest of this guide is organized by system. Work in the section that matches your paper, and ignore the other one. Mixing forms from the two systems is one of the fastest ways to have a manuscript flagged.

Journal Articles in Notes-Bibliography Style

In the notes-bibliography system, a journal article appears in up to three places: a full note the first time you cite it, a shortened note every time after that, and a bibliography entry at the end. Here is each one.

The full note (first citation)

The first time you cite a journal article, use a full note. It runs: author in normal order, article title in quotation marks, journal title in italics, volume, issue number, year in parentheses, and the specific page you're citing after a colon. If the article has a DOI or stable URL, it goes at the end.

1. James Renshaw, "The Cartographer's Dilemma," Journal of Historical Geography 48, no. 3 (2022): 215, https://doi.org/10.1000/example.

The page number after the colon is the specific page you're referencing, not the article's full range. Note the comma before the DOI, because a note reads like a sentence. The full mechanics of how notes are built, punctuated, and numbered are covered in the guide to Chicago footnotes and endnotes; this section shows the journal-specific shape of that note.

The shortened note (later citations)

Every citation of the same article after the first uses a shortened note: author's last name, a short form of the article title in quotation marks, and the page.

12. Renshaw, "Cartographer's Dilemma," 218.

In Chicago 18th, this shortened note is what you use for repeat citations, including two in a row. It replaced the older "ibid." that earlier editions used for consecutive references to the same source.

The bibliography entry

At the end of the paper, the article gets a bibliography entry. It differs from the note in three ways: the author's name is inverted for alphabetizing, the elements are separated by periods rather than commas, and the page reference is the article's full page range, not a single page.

Renshaw, James. "The Cartographer's Dilemma." Journal of Historical Geography 48, no. 3 (2022): 210–28. https://doi.org/10.1000/example.

For the formatting rules that apply to the bibliography as a whole (hanging indent, alphabetical order, spacing), and for every other source type's bibliography entry, see the Chicago bibliography guide. The entry above shows the journal-specific shape.

Journal Articles in Author-Date Style

In the author-date system, a journal article appears in two places: a brief parenthetical citation in the text, and a full entry in the reference list at the end. There are no footnotes.

The in-text citation

In the text, cite the article in parentheses with the author's last name and the year, no comma between them. When you're citing a specific page, add it after the year, separated by a comma.

(Renshaw 2022, 215)

If you name the author in your sentence, put just the year and page in parentheses: Renshaw (2022, 215) argues that the map concealed as much as it revealed.

The reference-list entry

In the reference list, the year moves up to sit right after the author's name, which is the signature feature of author-date. Otherwise the entry carries the same elements as the notes-bibliography version, with the full page range.

Renshaw, James. 2022. "The Cartographer's Dilemma." Journal of Historical Geography 48, no. 3: 210–28. https://doi.org/10.1000/example.

Note that the year does not repeat in parentheses later in the entry, because it already appears after the author's name. The reference list includes only sources you actually cited, unlike a notes-bibliography bibliography, which also includes background reading.

Every Form Side by Side

This table collects all five forms for the same journal article, so you can see how one source shifts across systems and positions. Use the row that matches where you're placing the citation.

Journal Articles with Multiple Authors

The number of authors changes how you list them, and the rule differs slightly between the note, the in-text citation, and the bibliography or reference list.

• Two or three authors. Name all of them. In a note or reference entry, join the last two with "and." In an author-date in-text citation, do the same: (Hollis and Renshaw 2022).
• Four to six authors. Name all of them in the bibliography or reference-list entry, but in the note and the in-text citation use only the first author followed by "et al.": (Ruiz et al. 2023).
• Seven or more authors. In the bibliography or reference list, list the first several and then "et al." (the manual sets the exact count); in the note and in-text citation, use the first author plus "et al."

Because journal articles in the sciences often carry long author lists, this is where writers most often get the count wrong. The full rules for how many names to list in each position, across Chicago, APA, and MLA, are in the guide to how to use et al. in citations.

DOIs, URLs, and Online Access

Most journal articles today are accessed online, and Chicago 18th wants a stable link so readers can find the source. The order of preference is clear.

• Use a DOI when one exists. A DOI (digital object identifier) is a permanent link, so it's preferred over a URL. Format it as a full https link: https://doi.org/ followed by the DOI.
• Use a stable URL if there's no DOI. When the article has no DOI, use the URL, ideally a permanent or stable one from the journal or database rather than the address in your browser bar.
• Name the database for articles behind a login. For articles read through a subscription database with no public DOI or URL, you can name the database (for example, JSTOR) instead of a link.
• No access date is needed for formally published articles. Chicago requires an access date only when a source has no publication or revision date, which is rare for a journal article.

Whichever you use, the link goes at the end of the citation. In a note, the link follows a comma and the note closes with a period; in a bibliography or reference-list entry, the link follows a period and the entry closes with a period after it.

Special Cases

Articles with an article ID instead of page numbers

Many online-only journals, especially in the sciences, assign an article ID (like e0318239) rather than continuous page numbers. Use the article ID in place of the page range, and if you need to cite a specific page within the article, give it in the note.

Articles accessed in print

If you read the article in a physical print journal rather than online, you don't need a DOI or URL at all. The volume, issue, year, and page range fully identify a print article. Add the link only when the access was online.

Forthcoming articles

For an article accepted but not yet published, replace the year and page numbers with "forthcoming." Once the article appears with a final year and pages, update the citation to the published details.

Common Mistakes When Citing Journal Articles

• Putting the full page range in a note. A note cites the specific page you're referencing. The full range belongs in the bibliography or reference-list entry.
• Sentence case on the article title. Chicago uses headline-style (title case) capitalization for article titles, unlike APA, which uses sentence case. Capitalize the major words.
• Italicizing the article title. The article title goes in quotation marks; the journal title is italicized. Reversing them is a frequent slip.
• A colon where the system wants a comma, or vice versa. The journal note uses a colon before the page. Watch the punctuation shift between the note (commas, then a colon before the page) and the bibliography entry (periods, then a colon before the range).
• Preferring a URL over an available DOI. When a DOI exists, use it. The raw browser URL is a fallback, not the first choice.
• Mixing the two systems. A parenthetical author-date citation in a footnoted paper, or a footnote in an author-date paper, signals the writer hasn't settled on one system. Pick the one your discipline uses and hold to it.

Get Your Citations Reviewed Before You Submit

Journal citations reward consistency, and holding a single correct pattern across an entire reference list is what's hard after weeks in a manuscript. A reviewer who spots one malformed citation starts checking them all. Editor World's journal article editing, academic editing, and dissertation editing services include Chicago citation review at the note, in-text, and reference-list level, applying the 18th-edition rules that older templates miss. You choose your own editor by field, and a free sample edit is available before you commit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Content reviewed by the Editor World editorial team. Chicago guidance reflects The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition (University of Chicago Press, 2024). Editor World, founded in 2010 by Patti Fisher, PhD, graduate of The Ohio State University, provides professional human-only academic, dissertation, book, and journal article editing worldwide. 100% human editing, no AI at any stage. BBB A+ accredited since 2010 with 5.0/5 Google Reviews and 5.0/5 Facebook Reviews. More than 100 million words edited for over 8,000 clients in 65+ countries. Multiple Gold and Bronze Stevie Award winner. Native English editors from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Less than 5% of applicants are accepted to the editor panel. Recommended by the Boston University Economics Department, University of San Diego, University of Michigan, UCLA, University of Missouri, and more. Page last reviewed July 2026.